Did you know that kids who garden are more than twice as likely to eat the recommended 5 servings of vegetables a day? This is just another reason to include your kids in gardening this Summer. This Spring, my husband built a raised garden for me by Backyard Botanical. With the kids help, we planted our garden a couple weeks ago. With the loose soil and height of the raised bed, this was the easiest garden planting I’ve ever done! We all had a great time.
Why Vegetable Gardening is Good for Your Kids
According to Saint Louis University research, a “garden produce creates what we call a positive food environment,” says Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., director of Saint Louis University’s Obesity Prevention Center and a study author. She went on to say that “When children are involved with growing and cooking food, it improves their diet”. The difference is in where the vegetables come from. Kids that eat vegetables grown at home are 5 times more likely to eat and try new vegetables compared to families without home gardens.
Mulching our Raised Garden
There was one last step before we could start planting and that was adding mulch to the inside floor of the Backyard Botanical Oasis Garden. You could keep this a nice grassy area, however with all the rain we’ve had, it was a muddy mess so we chose mulch. Plus, adding mulch will make it a maintenance-free garden area, which I am all for! In the past, with traditional gardens, I have mulched the entire garden for weed control. Being that I am using all new soil and it is a raised bed, I don’t foresee many weeds so I am not mulching the garden.
Elijah, my 6 year old showed off his muscles and helped me spread the mulch. Sometimes we get lucky and kids want to help and actually do help!
Kids helped plant our vegetable garden
We decided to plant several tomato and pepper plant varieties for great salsa this fall as well as bok choy, peas, carrots, and broccoli that we started indoors by Growums earlier this Spring. Elijah really enjoyed planting the seedlings that he started indoors! Gardening is an excellent way for kids to understand the entire process it takes to get vegetables from seed to their plate. Kids are more likely to eat vegetables that they worked all all summer long growing.
Even young kids can help with gardening. Both my kids are young at 4 and 6 but there are plenty of jobs they can do in the garden. I’m not sure how we will split up the responsibilities this summer yet. For now, they enjoyed digging holes, planting, and watering the plants.
Gardening is already getting my kids excited about fruits and vegetables. I hope to instill life long healthy eating habits in my kids, gardening is just one way to do that.
As a side note, I got a little over zealous with my garden plant purchases, as I do every time we plant a garden. I couldn’t resist all the plants! I planted additional plants in a new flower bed I made in the front yard as well as in several older flower gardens. I am eager to see how those plants do compared to the plants that are grown in my raised garden.
Buy Backyard Botanical Oasis Garden
Now is the time to plant your garden! You can buy the Backyard Botanical Oasis Garden on the Backyard Discovery website for $549, which includes shipping. Tell them AkronOhioMoms sent you!
This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to Backyard Discovery who supplied the product for review and the ongoing relationship with AkronOhioMoms.com. Check out the great selection of Wooden Outdoor Playsets, Wooden Backyard Sheds, Play Houses, Dog Houses, Gardens, Swing, Pergola, and Outdoor Accessories from Backyard Discovery at www.swingsetsonline.com.
