A backyard garden or a front porch garden provides a positive activity for the whole family. Homeowners often make the mistake of thinking that landscaping must only be done by professionals. This is incorrect.
Planting a garden and designing a landscape offers a creative outlet, health benefits, and the opportunity to see the fruits of your labor.
In Jeremiah 29:5 we see the Bible talk about gardening. “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” This is a mandate from the Lord about how we should learn how to create our food source from the natural bounty of His Creation.
If it is not possible to grow fruit-bearing trees or plants that produce an edible crop, you can always plant beautiful flowers in the garden or just use your artistic side for landscaping with rocks, stumps, benches, and ornamental cement castings.
Children should be introduced to this creative and beneficial activity at an early age.
Start with a small area
Whether it is a pot, a planter box, or a section of your garden, you can start small. This allows you to see if your children have a knack for gardening. Even a pot with a small plant would do to help them see that their effort and care help plants to grow.
See how they take care of the plant and then you can trust your children to take care of bigger things in the garden.
In Isaiah 61:11, the Bible shares that a small seed starts a garden, which offers an illustration of spiritual growth. “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”
While you start your child with small steps in gardening, you can teach them how the Creator starts with a small seed of love, kindness, and understanding which grows into compassion and service to others. You can let your children know that you want to see them blossom and flourish.
Gardening provides a great bonding experience and also a chance to let your child know that the Bible has a lot of information you want to share with them. You will cherish this time sharing the Bible and gardening with your children.
View parks, rose gardens, and other places in helpful publications
You can also explore parks, rose gardens, and other beautiful places from various publications which will help inspire your children to want to develop their own gardens.
Creation Illustrated magazine always contains a gardening feature and will be able to share with you some great gardening tips and uplifting life lessons in both their print and online editions. It is an absolute delight for you to share a vision with your children. By visiting or reading about well-cared-for parks, gardens, and other stunning places in nature, you can gain an experience and create memories for the whole family.
Bond with Them
A wonderful benefit that you can gain from gardening is the fact that you get to bond with your children. Whether you make it a daily activity or a weekend event, gardening with your children allows you to spend time together outdoors without a lot of distractions from electronic devices.
When you create something with your children, you create a core memory for them. You allow them to see that life is worthwhile and that they have skills they can share with others, which boosts the confidence of your children as well.
When you draw close to your children, you are acting in the Lord’s will and can flourish as said in Isaiah 58:11, “The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
When you teach your children about the beauty of gardening, you are satisfying their emotional needs and developing children who feel loved and taken care of.
Getting Down To It
Now that you know the importance of gardening with your children and how you can get started with it, it is time to go to the hands-on information.
What do you plant?
You can plant a lot of things that will help your children get started. Plants such as lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, and snow peas are just a few choices that often do well and provide ongoing produce for salads that everyone can enjoy. Pumpkins, potatoes, and carrots are also some of the plants that you would want to look at that will last in storage into the winter months.
But check with your local nursery to find out what grows best in your climate. Reading up on what kind of soil, how much to water, and what kind of fertilizer to use will help you in planning and planting your garden.
Where to plant?
If you already have grown kids who are ready for gardening, you can always try to plant in the following areas that already exist.
The garden bed or planters
As stated above, you can start small. You can check out a small garden plot, pots, or planter boxes and let your children help decide what will go where.
Reuse the sandbox
If you have a sandbox that your children used to play in, you can reuse it and turn it into your children’s garden. You can convert this small space and see to it that your children will take care of it, help protect it from pests, stay on a watering schedule, and help with the weeding.
What should you provide?
When gardening as a family, there are a lot of things that you should do to help your children love the activity.
- Give them serious tools. If they are at an age where they can handle tools, let them use them. You can teach them better if you are handling the same tools.
- Engage with them. The best way to encourage a behavior is to communicate with your children and make sure that they are doing it right. Teach them well and they will not forget.
- Be encouraging about their work. Make sure that you let them know that you appreciate their work, and they will feel more motivated.
- Help your children keep a log of expenses and how much produce they harvest. This will teach them about money management and help them see what it costs to grow their food.
You hold the future of your children. You should teach them life skills that will help them for a long time to come. Gardening is always a good idea and a great experience that you and your kids can share. Help them see the beauty and benefits of gardening, and see to it that gardening is something they look forward to every year!
