Central Florida Green Guide

Introduction

I started putting in a 100 sq ft kitchen garden for myself last summer. I’m still nowhere close to being done installing beds and I’m still learning as I go along when it comes to growing edibles. But I’ve really gotten to love spending time with my preschooler puttering around in the yard. I’ve watched her make mud pies, catch anoles, plant marigolds, find caterpillers, harvest herbs, and draw endless pictures of little squares with dots inside them representing seeds.

I decided it was high time she had a 4×4 ft raised bed of her own.

For those who want to give it a whirl, I wrote a series of mini articles about organic square foot gardening with small children that explains how to copy our efforts at your own homes:

All Articles in Series:

• Square Foot Gardening With Children (and Kid’s Tools)
• Building a wooden raised bed frame
• Filling Your 4 x 4 ft raised Bed
• Making the Grid and Insecticide Recipe
• Planting Your 4 x 4 ft Raised Bed
  
• Making Seed Tape
• Photo Progress and Fertilizing

The budget for a 4 x 4 ft bed is between $100-$150 depending on where you source your supplies.

If you want to jump ahead on your own, the Orange County Library has copies of Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening and his website provides tips for the basic set up. The GardenWeb community has a great SFG FAQ and the SFG folks at Flickr have a good collection of photos.

Goals

We only have three goals for our little gardeners:

1. Set up an organic 4 x 4 ft SFG correctly
2. Plant it up
3. Grow something for a while

Whether or not the plants last the season or we get to actually harvest anything edible is bonus.

Children’s Tools

Children especially like having their own garden tools. I bought my daughter a metal and wood long handle set that included a leaf rake, rake, hoe, and shovel by Toysmith for about $25. Brio also does a metal and wood set. We mainly use these to stir dirt around when setting up a new 4 x 4 or digging in new compost in an established 4×4 at the start of a season.

Julia also has a small hand shovel, trowel, and scissors for harvesting. We use these the rest of the time during the season.

I was recently at the SuperTarget on Orange Blossom Trail and Town Center Blvd and noticed they had brought back the colorful long handle tools they’ve had for the last two years in animal designs. The also have the hand tools, garden boots, butterfly nets, watering cans, magnifying glass, and more.

There are online retailers also:

• Child Size Garden Tools
  
• 6 Piece Kid’s Tool Set
• Little Gardener Tools
  
• Kid’s Garden Tool Set
• Child’s Gardening Equipment

Let It Be

Preschoolers are best at digging, watering, and harvesting. Just don’t be surprised if they dig what you don’t want dug, water what you don’t want watered, and “harvest” everything down to nothing well before it is time to actually harvest.

If the children want to plant feathers and sticks right along with the seeds — why not? If they want to plant and unearth the same flowers over and over — go right ahead.

My daughter recently planted peas — cooked ones. She’s still waiting for them to pop up. She’s also planted earthworms and toads. They didn’t seem to mind it because they burrowed down even further.

Let it be. Kiddie gardens aren’t going to be like a grown-up’s garden. Keep your sense of humor and let their garden become whatever it may. You can always make a second raised bed for yourself to maintain and grow things for dinner. The kiddie raised bed is for growing wonder.

You may find that while your crops are tasty, theirs are more exciting!

Next Article:

• Building a wooden raised bed frame.