That Was Easy

Jennifer Polanz

There’s been a lot of hand wringing lately about getting the next generation involved in gardening and rightfully so. This upcoming generation of kids is the first that may not outlive their parents because of poor eating habits and lack of exercise. But there’s hope and I thought I’d share a story with you to show why.

In May, I got a box of impatiens in the mail to try out. They were hanging around in their pots for a couple of days before I decided one afternoon to get them in the ground. My daughter, Katie, loves to plant, so I asked her to help. Of course, she said yes. At the time I thought she was a bit of an exception from other kids since she’s been planting with me since she could walk.

We start digging our holes and her friend Lauren from down the street came wandering up. As 7-year-old kids tend to do, she didn’t say a word and just watched us. I asked if she wanted to help. Her eyes lit up. “Yes!”

I got up and got her a trowel, then showed her where to dig. Silently, she got right to work. Her 5-year-old brother Nate wandered up. “I want to dig, too!”

I got up and got him a trowel and showed him where to dig. He jumped right in and furiously started digging.

The 5-year-old next door—neighbor Jack—comes over. “Hey, where’s my shovel?” I get up once again and get another trowel (thank goodness I hoard trowels). I hand it to him and show him where to dig. My job just got a whole lot easier as I sat and watched them all dig. When they were ready I showed them how to carefully pull the plants out of the pots and put them in the holes. Then we covered them up with the dirt and firmly, but gently, tamped them down.

They enjoyed watering them, since their two favorite things are to get dirty and wet. Once they were done they slowly wandered off one by one. Lauren was the last to go, and to thank her, I gave her a 4-in. verbena. Again, her eyes lit up as she said “Thanks!” and ran home.

I have no idea if that verbena is still alive, but it doesn’t really matter. I learned a lot that day. Kids don’t mind some work, especially if it gets them dirty in the process. And they love to watch things grow and evolve. My kids can’t get enough of watering the plants, picking the flowers and watching the tomato plant bear fruit. The only challenge is to get them to wait until it’s actually ripe enough to pick.

So let’s take a real hard look at this. Maybe the problem isn’t the kids not wanting to go outside—maybe it’s the lack of interest on the part of parents to supervise outdoor experiences. The kids in my neighborhood aren’t atypical. They’re normal, everyday kids who love to be outside and play. But an activity like gardening needs an adult to guide them.

Here’s the thing though: If mom and dad are sitting inside playing video games and watching TV, then what do you think the kids will want to do? Kids learn by watching and what they’re seeing isn’t all that great for them.

It would be in our best interest to appeal not just to the kids, but to the parents, as well. Parents are always looking for low-cost activities to do with their kids. You know how popular those fall festivals are with the apple cider, pumpkins and hayrides? It would be great to come up with something like that during the summer to involve flowers. A Festival of Flowers! Something simple and low-cost those parents could do with their children to foster a sense of wonder about plants.

Let’s make it fun to be out in the garden with our kids again—whether it’s containers, square-foot gardens, a real Victory garden or even a front-yard flower bed. It doesn’t matter. What matters is when the kids’ eyes light up and they find joy in simply planting a seed. Then you know you’ve got ’em. GT