Here at the garden, we attempt to turn gardening into an inclusive family practice. Children are inherently attracted to gardening. Toddlers, for the most part, love being outside, playing in the mud and splashing water. They are shocked and excited to learn their world can expand past the front door. With today’s temptation to vegetate rather than create, resulting from the extensive use of technology, it is important for us to teach our kids there is more to life and how they can create their own sustainable environment. Seed gathering is a project we can do with our kids that will help with creating interest in gardening and teaching them valuable lessons that can help them throughout their lives.
Taking nature walks can be an exciting time. This is especially true if you have vegetation around you that produces viable seeds for planting. We used to take walks through the landscape and pick up Chaste tree, bird of paradise, and Palo Verde mesquite tree seed pods. As a note of warning, make sure the first thing that you teach your child is to never put the seeds in their mouth. A lot of seeds in nature, especially in the desert, can cause stomach upset at a minimum if the seeds are swallowed. As a toddler’s attention span is limited, we looked for a way to keep the waiting period for seeds to come up as interesting as possible. We realized when working with microgreens that most seeds can sprout using the water method for sprouting seeds so that almost every day there is an observable change that can capture their attention.
A picture for children to color will be provided at the Maturango Museum event on 4/13 at 11AM along with the ability to create scent bags to put in your favorite place, such as a car, that could use some fragrant herbs. Come by during open hours on Saturdays, from 10 to 12 to refill your scent bags. Open hours for Saturday the 13th of April will be closed so that we can attend the Maturango Museum event.
Earth day event will be held at the community garden located at 231 W. Haloid on April 20th from 11AM to 2PM. We hope to see you there.
Zen out, Ridgecrest 😊