Gardening for Kids

Written by Judy Williams


Children are continually bombarded with advertising for fast food and unhealthy treats. One ofrepparttar most important lessons you can teach them is how to tend and grow their own food fromrepparttar 148757 garden.

There are plenty of quick and easy projects thatrepparttar 148758 children can get involved in. The projects will teach them about nutrition, nature, recycling and organic gardening. That's a good outcome!

The no dig garden is a particularly good project for children becauserepparttar 148759 garden can be built and planted in just a couple of hours. You do not have to preparerepparttar 148760 garden for weeks in advance, as with other growing methods. There are detailed instructions for building a no dig garden on my website (www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com). If a full on garden seems too ambitious atrepparttar 148761 start, try something simpler.

  • Growing bean shoots isrepparttar 148762 quickest way to grow edible things. In just a few days,repparttar 148763 kids will be able to pop fresh bean shoots in a salad or sandwich or just eat them as they come. This will also work with alfalfa, cress and snow pea seeds. Putrepparttar 148764 seeds into a clean, wide mouth jar and place a mesh material overrepparttar 148765 mouth. It must be a material that water and air can pass through, but notrepparttar 148766 seeds. A bit of discarded pantyhose secured with a rubber band will do. Soakrepparttar 148767 seeds overnight in water. Next morning, drainrepparttar 148768 excess water and placerepparttar 148769 jar on its side in a bright room, near a window. A couple of times a day, re-wetrepparttar 148770 seeds, drain and return torepparttar 148771 bright space. The seeds will sprout and grow very quickly and within a few days will be ready to eat.
  • To propagate your own garden seedlings build this portable greenhouse! Wash a 2Lt plastic bottle (soft drink or soda water type) and using a knife or sharp scissors, cut it in half along one side. Force it open and fill one side with good quality potting mix. Plant your seeds and water gently. A very light mixture of water and liquid fertilizer will kick startrepparttar 148772 seeds. Closerepparttar 148773 bottle back up and seal with tape. Placerepparttar 148774 bottle in a sunny position. Your seedlings should be well on their way and ready for repotting in 2-4 weeks.


  • Daylily: A Perennial Favorite

    Written by Sherri Allen


    Whenever a beginning flower gardener asks me what to plant, my answer is alwaysrepparttar same -- daylilies. Without a doubt, daylilies rank high amongrepparttar 148683 easiest, most adaptable plants forrepparttar 148684 flower garden. Daylilies will stand up to all butrepparttar 148685 most severe abuse and neglect, repeating their colorful show year after year.

    Growing Habit: Like their name Hemerocallis ("beauty for a day") indicates,repparttar 148686 individual daylily flower lasts only one day. A single plant may produce over 50 flowers, however, extendingrepparttar 148687 blooming period of a plant for several weeks.

    Daylilies produce a wide array of blooms. Some varieties provide single trumpet-shaped flowers. Others are double, ruffled, fringed or spiderlily-like. Bloom sizes among varieties range from 2 - 8 inches. Gardeners especially value daylilies for their wide range of colors, as there are varieties available in every color except blue. Some daylily blooms are a single color, but many are multi-colored.

    Most daylilies have arching foliage that grows 18 to 24 inches tall. Some varieties have erect foliage, however. Some grow as low as 12 inches and others reach 3 feet. Leaf color ranges from pale green to dark green with a bluish cast.

    Daylilies are perennial plants, with deciduous, semi-evergreen and evergreen varieties available.

    Location: You can find daylily varieties for all U.S. zones, however, daylilies thrive in zones 4 - 9.

    Although they are adaptable to most soils, daylilies do best in slightly acidic, moist soil that is high in organic matter and well drained. Excessively rich soils may result in increased foliage growth and decreased blooming.

    Daylilies prefer full sun, but will tolerate light shade. Inrepparttar 148688 hotter regions, some light afternoon shade will protectrepparttar 148689 blooms of some daylily varieties from fading.

    Although daylilies are drought-tolerant once established, consistent watering while they are budding and flowering will produce better-quality flowers. During hot weather, they should be watered at least weekly with 1/2 to 1 inch of water to encouragerepparttar 148690 best and longest-lasting show.

    Propagation and Planting: When planting daylilies, whether divisions or newly-purchased plants, you should dig a hole slightly larger thanrepparttar 148691 roots to be surerepparttar 148692 roots are allowed to spread out. Make a small cone of soil inrepparttar 148693 center ofrepparttar 148694 hole and placerepparttar 148695 plant on top, fanningrepparttar 148696 roots outward and downward. Carefully workrepparttar 148697 soil in aroundrepparttar 148698 roots. The crown should be set not more than an inch or so belowrepparttar 148699 soil surface. Tall cultivars should be spaced 24 to 30 inches apart with smaller types 18 to 24 inches apart.

    Daylilies are very easily propagated byrepparttar 148700 division of old clumps. You should divide clumps when they become overcrowded, usually every 4 to 6 years. For very vigorous cultivars, you may need to divide them more often. The best time for dividing old clumps and resetting divisions or new plants is from late summer to late autumn. You may also plant them inrepparttar 148701 very early spring, however this may result in decreased bloomingrepparttar 148702 first season.

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