This time 3 years ago I had just set out on an adventure that – although I didn’t realise it at the time – was going to change my family’s life and how we spend our days really rather considerably. We’d not long moved house and for the first time I had a garden. Despite having very little gardening experience I soon caught the bug for growing my own fruit and veg – perhaps because at times it’s the grown up equivalent of kids messing about with mud.
First M and now J too wanted to get their fingernails grubby alongside mine, and before long they had both learned that the only good slug was a stamped-on slug 
Now, every spring we spend as much time as possible (and it is never seemingly enough given the vagaries of English weather) in our garden sowing seeds and preparing the soil for bounty later in the year.
There are lots of perfectly good non-fiction books for children about gardening, but I’ve yet to find one that has inspired and taught M, J and me as much as the (fiction) picture book Eddie’s Garden: and How to Make Things Grow By Sarah Garland. This is a story of a family working together over the course of one growing season to create an urban vegetable garden from scratch. Along the way, the two children, Eddie and his cheeky younger sister Lily learn a great deal about being green fingered, from how to collect and sow different seeds, the role of different insects in the garden to how to catch and (organically) dispatch every gardener’s no.1 enemy, the slug.
Four pages of child friendly notes are found at the back of this book providing further detail on how to grow the various vegetables and other plants mentioned in the text, as well as some sound advice on soil preparation, container gardening and pests, amongst other things.
If you want to start gardening with kids this is the very first book I would thrust into your hands! For a start it is a full of information that my kids have hungrily absorbed without any real awareness that they’ve been learning the basis of photosynthesis, food chains and sustainability. The story itself is beautifully and simply told with a good dose of humour and acute observation about family life. I’m sure it’s such a hit with M because the whole garden creation id driven by the children – it is their idea and vision which the adults in the story simply help to facilitate.
Although I can’t believe the text wouldn’t leave you wanting to start gardening, should you have any doubts about the venture Garland’s detailed, warm illustrations will definitely win you over. her observations of slightly chaotic (but all the more recognisable for that) family life, full of love and fun, reminds me (in terms of their content, though not especially their execution) of Shirley Hughes.
There is LOTS of advice out there about gardening with kids, but here are my top tips based on the last 3 springs I’ve shared with my girls.
Some music to garden by (and these are *really* good!)….
And if it’s raining and you can’t get out in to the garden here are some other gardening activities you could try :
Do you garden with your kids? What are your top tips? If you don’t garden with your kids, and would like to, what advice would help you get going?
17 Responses
jen
thank you for including our blog in this post! your site is inspiring!
Zoe
Oh thankyou Jen!
Catherine
Thanks for the great gardening links. My son loves gardening. It is his special thing to do with Grandma. But I am trying to get him more jobs in our garden.
Andi
I love the song!! It’s especially perfect as I currently have 5 different varieties of tomatoes to go into the garden this year. Thanks for including it for me!
Zoe
Wow Andi – 5 different types! I’ve got two different ones going well – a mini plum and a golden cherry type – yum yum!
Dawn/LittleGreenFingers
Thanks for the link Zoe! Dx
Mama King
What a great post full of wonderful ideas! I know my girls will love many of these ideas.
Thanks for the link!
Martha
Another great book is the Tickle Me Plant Book. They show you how to easily grow a real plant that MOVES when you Tickle It! The leaves instantly fold and even the branches droop when you Tickle It
Men and woman love to play with this plant that seems to love affection
(http://tiny.cc/Ticklemeplant) See the video if you need a fun gift
jackie
What a wonderfully inspiring post. And a reminder that I really need to get out there … stat.
: )
Thank you.
jackie.
TwigandToadstool
Thanks for including our Garden Goddess craft among all the great gardening links!!!
Terrific gardening info…one fun thing we’re doing in our yard this year is designing a little butterfly garden…totally appeals to my daughters fanciful sensibilities!!!
Happy planting everyone!!
maureen
amandab
When we picked up this book at the library there was a carry on! Princess did not want to borrow it, but I told her that I had ordered it especially and if she didn’t want to read it that was fine.
By last night she was keen, and by the end she was loving it (especially Lily!). She told Dadda all about it (and, again, Lily!) today when we met him for lunch and he has promised to read it with her tomorrow night when he is home.
We have borrowed a couple of other Garland books, but are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Eddie’s cooking adventures!
magg, red ted art
oooh, great to have a book recommendation.. have been doing some planting with Red Ted and was “worried” that if we read Jack & the Beanstalk I would set unrealistic expectations!!!
Zoe @ Playing by the book
Hi Amanda,
I’m so glad you were able to get hold of the book. Yes, Lily is an adorable character – very easy to fall in love with. My girls love playing at being Eddie and Lily (they like to water each other with the watering can!) Yes, eddie’s kitchen is great too – and a perfect follow on from eddie’s garden.
Ian @ Tidy Books
We love our vegetable patch. Strawberries are awesome as they can be literally picked and eaten. Potatoes are also cool, as they love water, children can have great fun watering them, with no fear of them being overly watered. We have added two fruit trees this year, one was free from the council, and we have also make room for pumkins, more for carving later in the year than eating if I’m honest.
Zoe @ Playing by the book
Hi Ian,
I think growing veg to do stuff with rather than eat is a great thing – we’re growing jersey kale this year, not because we will eat much of it, but because it has great building properties – it’s meant to grow enormously tall and then the girls can build dens with the stem!
Reading with Princess « HomeAge
[…] first one was a recommendation from Playing by the Book on this post,” Eddie’s Garden: and How to Make Things Grow” by Sarah Garland. We have read it […]
A Permanent Flux » Reading with Princess
[…] first one was a recommendation from Playing by the Book on this post,” Eddie’s Garden: and How to Make Things Grow” by Sarah Garland. We have read it […]