5 Ways to Grow a Gardener

From Go Erie (PA).

"Put a cherry tomato on a child's plate, and she might wrinkle her nose.

Take that same child and cherry tomato, put them in the garden and watch that child pluck the tomato, warm from the summer sun, right off the plant and pop it in her mouth.

Psst ... Mom and Dad, the secret to getting your kids to eat more vegetables is to start from seed.

"Kids are more willing to eat vegetables when they have personally planted and picked them," said Sue Scholz, a Penn State master gardener who writes a weekly garden column in the Erie Times-News' House to Home section. "Gardening plus kids equals healthy kids who like vegetables."

Several Erie area schools seem to agree with Scholz's equation as educators have begun to incorporate gardening into school lessons and lunches, while tending to plants right there on school property.

Both Tracy Elementary School in Millcreek and Iroquois Elementary School in Lawrence Park have school gardens and both schools report students who are more willing to try the fruits -- well, veggies -- of their labors.

"I had a first-grader who had never tried a green bean until she ate one picked from the school garden," said Katherine Hall, a health teacher at Iroquois Elementary and chairwoman of the school's garden committee.

Iroquois Elementary planted their first garden last year because, in the words of Bill Tarbell, a third-grade teacher at Iroquois and a member of the school's garden club committee, "we wanted to teach kids that food comes from the ground, not Giant Eagle."

Don't laugh, say local gardeners. You would be surprised at how many kids don't realize where the food on their table comes from.

"One gardening friend who helped at a community garden this summer told a little girl to pull up on a green carrot top and she said the kid was amazed that a carrot was attached," Scholz said. "She had no idea that carrots grew in the ground. She asked if she could eat it right then and there and was thrilled that she could."

"Gardening introduces kids to food through all five senses," said Gayle Morris, an agricultural economist at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania who, along with retired teacher Patty Dicks, coordinated the garden at Tracy Elementary school in Millcreek Township. "It also encourages questions as kids observe and experience nature in action."

No experience required; patience helpful

You don't need a four-year degree and a formal lesson plan to teach kids about gardening. You don't even need a green thumb. This is a DIY project that any mom, dad or grandparent with a little patience can handle.

Kids, seeds, soil and water. Yes, it's likely to be a messy proposition. Cultivating a love of gardening in children requires getting your hands (and probably your floor, counter and sink) dirty, but with patience and a bit of cleanup, you can grow your own little gardener

"I don't think you can avoid the mess," said Jess Thompson, a Fairview grandmother and avid gardener who will be planting seeds with her grandchildren, Jaci Thompson, 6, and Pierce Thompson, 11, both of Fairview. "I don't have a recipe for that. We'll just clean up after it."

Thompson said she and her grandchildren will be planting in a Jiffy Heated Professional Greenhouse this year, a seed starting kit she bought at Lowes for about $39.

"What I like about it is that it offers bottom heat; a mat you plug in," Thompson said. "I've been doing Bonsai for years and I know that bottom heat is important. It's the roots you want to get established and growing."

If you want to establish some gardening roots in a child you love, here are some tips:

- Let kids pick and plant. "Take them to the garden center and let them pick out their own seeds and plants. Let them plant everything themselves, just give some guidance as to how deep to plant the seeds," Scholz said. Each seed packet gives recommended planting depth.

- Keep it simple. You don't need grow lights or an elaborate seed planting location. A simple seed starter kit placed in a sunny window and rotated regularly will do.

- Plant seeds now. If you plan to start your garden from seed indoors, do that now so they will be ready to plant outdoors in six weeks (late May or early June).

- Start small. "Whatever you do, don't start with a large garden that needs rototilled," Morris said. "If it needs (to be) rototilled, it needs (to be) weeded. That becomes a chore as opposed to a fun thing to do."

- Don't overbuy. While many plants are sold in four- and six-packs, there are some plants you will not want six of, such as zucchini. Single plants can be found at most professional garden centers. And don't feel obligated to plant every single seed in each packet. Plant only what you can take care of.

- Contain or lift. Every expert we talked to recommended starting with a container garden or raised bed vegetable garden.

"You can plant a lot of vegetables in containers," Morris said. "Look for anything with the word 'baby' or 'diminutive' in the name. You can find a large variety of these in seed catalogs."

A raised bed is as simple as "nailing a few 2-by-4s together to form a box," Morris said. "Put some landscaping cloth under the bed to inhibit weed growth."

Hall said she liked the raised bed box gardens at Iroquois Elementary so much that she built some at home. "They require less maintenance," Hall said. "And you can try a wide variety of stuff in a small space if you use the square-foot gardening method."

- Consider going square. Both schools we talked to use the square-foot method of gardening in which the garden is divided into square feet and one plant is placed in each square. For more information on square-foot gardening, visit www.squarefootgardening.com or read "All New Square Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew.

- Plant pick-and-eat veggies. "The further you get from the picking to the eating process, the harder it is to get kids to try it," Morris said. "Plant things they can eat raw, like tomatoes, beans and cucumbers."

- Grow a fort. "Get some 4-by-8-inch lattice sheets and make a teepee with them," Scholz said. "Let beans, morning glories or cucumbers climb up them and the kids will have a fort."

- Weeding be gone. "Don't let their first experience with gardening be weeding," Scholz cautioned. "Make it fun to garden, not work. Let them try things and make mistakes."

- Let them get dirty. "Don't complain if the kids are getting dirty and wet -- that's the idea," Scholz said. "That's what bathtubs and washing machines are for."

"It's so wonderful to see the students working in our gardens, getting dirty," Hall said. "They are so happy out there."

Why not pick up some supplies and plant that smile -- and possibly a taste for veggies -- in a child you share your life with?"