Preface Think back. Can you remember a natural, outdoor space that held some magic for you? Maybe it was a lake where you discovered the peace of rowing a boat or skipping stones, or a field of tall grass where you played hide-and-seek with friends. Over time, all of us discover certain outdoor places where we feel both a sense of peace and the spark of adventure. In these places we feel that we are part of something immense and phenomenal as we remember our connection to the plants and animals, sun and rain, soil, and everything else that makes up the natural world. Now imagine if you were able to spend time in this place every day, year after year. Envision watching this place grow and change over time, just as you grow and change. What impact would it have on your life? How might this place influence your perspective, your decisions, your sense of yourself and the world? This is the gift of the family garden. As we harvest vegetables, run through the sprinklers, or gather with friends to celebrate the apple harvest, the family garden is a place where--day after day, year after year--we are reminded of our membership in the intricate web that connects all living things. A New Perspective on Gardening Many gardeners find that once they have children, gardening goes the way of late-night dinner parties and Sunday morning sleep-ins: right out the window. Raising kids and maintaining a garden can be a juggling act and, at times, a family's garden may be forgotten or neglected. In this book, we hope to make it easier for you to merge the garden into your family life, to engage your children in various aspects of your outdoor spaces, and to manage your family garden, no matter its scope or scale. It may seem counterintuitive, but kids can make great gardening companions. In home gardening, rewards may be measured in basketfuls of strawberries, tomatoes per plant, or even the diameter of the largest pumpkin. Once you involve kids, however, you may start to look for other rewards, such as the frequency with which you hear phrases like, "More kale, please," or "I watered my pea seed every day, and today it is being born!" Your children's love for the outdoors, their sense of connection to plants and animals, and their enthusiasm for fresh fruits and vegetables are the real harvest of a family garden. Returning to Our Roots Picture this. Sonya, age 8, is weeding her pumpkin patch. Out of the corner of her eye, she is surveying the corners of her family garden, looking for the toad she heard croaking last night. Her mother is pruning a shrub and giving the trimmings to Sonya's 6-year-old brother, who is collecting the big sticks for a fort and adding the small trimmings to their compost pile. Sonya's father is grilling garden-fresh vegetable kabobs for everyone, while her grandmother uses a field guide to identify the bird she sees playing in the birdbath. For centuries, children and adults have worked together to cultivate the land. In this century, however, the prevalence of large-scale farms and grocery stores has made growing our own food less necessary, and thus less common. Many families, however, are returning to their roots, planting window boxes, patio containers, front yards, backyards, and community and school gardens. Everywhere you turn these days, from big cities to small towns, you can find families revisiting the longstanding tradition of gardening together. What is behind this resurgence? Why have families started to trade pre-bagged salads and microwave dinners for seeds and trowels? Whether they are building miniature fairy homes from sticks and leaves or watering their very own tomato plants, kids in a garden have loads of opportunities to explore the outdoors, get physical activity, and gain exposure to fresh, healthy foods. As they see melons growing out of the soil or chickens laying eggs, they begin to recognize that food comes from plants and animals. As they lend a hand in caring for those plants and animals, they develop a sense of connection to the natural world around them. By weaving a garden into family life, parents and kids discover learning opportunities and make memories that will last a lifetime. We hope to provide a new generation of parents, grandparents, and other family members with the inspiration and information they need to get dirty, plant seeds, and harvest and enjoy the garden's delicious rewards with today's younger green thumbs. Excerpted from The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids: 101 Ways to Get Kids Outside, Dirty, and Having Fun by Whitney Cohen, John Fisher All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
