Gardening

 As a parent one thing you can do with your child is seed sorting. Collecting seeds from the foods you eat and then planting them. You can collect them all year and keep them till your next harvest. Drying them after removing them from your food and then place them in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. This is the best way to store them. 

In February start your seed germination indoors. Find the sunniest place in your home to place your pots. I love using window sills but also use a large shelf that I set up just for plants. 

A green house is handy as well when it comes time to bringing your plants outdoors. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a green house but you can make some with windows or water jugs.

This method works great because it’s recycled materials and free! Milk jugs work great as well. 

I personally use miracle grow or some other fertilizer on some plants but I also use compost which we have made ourselves with our own compost that we have right in the backyard. 

You can save scraps and lawn clippings to create your own compost as well. We bought our compost bin for around $70. 

You will have two separate bins in this compost unit to compost in so while your left side is composting you can start filling up your right side. It’s amazing to see your trash turn into nutrients for your garden. I even add my egg shells. 

Once your weather is clear of any threat of frost you can then plant your flowers or vegetables in the ground. Be sure to water the plants and make sure your child is helping you with this because remember you are teaching them that food is in fact free. We can teach them that with a little dirt, sunshine and effort we can grow food for free. Imagine what this little bit of knowledge can do for your child for an entire lifetime.

I also would like to add that I have purchased seeds at the dollar tree and YES!!! They work!!! So give it a try. They have so many garden supplies in stores now and kids just love gardening and they love love love eating the results of what they grew and most times it can actually help them like vegetables even more because they grew them.

 I started my seeds last week and I am already so excited to see all the results reaching towards the sun growing just like little children. It’s not too late for you to start your seeds this year so get your gardening materials together and grab your kids to get ready to grow some food.