As Fall has set in - an indoor garden for children

If you have young children around an indoor garden is the perfect project to teach them
about nature.  It is also an avenue to teach children about the responsibility needed to care
for something on an ongoing basis.  Simple is best, even for older children – as they
prove themselves and their garden thrives they can expand the plants that they grow.

To enrich the learning opportunity purchase clear containers to grow the plants in.  If you
can not find a traditional pot that is clear make sure the container you use either has a
drainage hole in the bottom or layer gravel on the bottom before adding the soil.  Once
the plant starts to grow more the roots will become visible in the pot.

Children will love to grow their own vegetables and maybe even eat them once they are
ready.  Buy each child a large container that is theirs to take care of and let them pick the
type of vegetable they want to grow.  The easiest vegetables to grow indoors are carrots,
tomatoes, and radishes.  There are a wide variety of tomatoes that you can grow from
beefsteak to cherry tomato.

The next time you eat an orange, save the seeds.  Children can plant the seeds in small
containers about 1 inch down into the soil.  By giving the plant watered and in the
sunlight, in two to three weeks they will have their own citrus tree growing.  They can
choose to keep it indoors or plant it outside in the summer when the small plant has
become bigger and stronger.  Try the same with other fruit seeds too from watermelon to
apple seeds.

Getting children to help with your houseplants is a good idea too.  Children love to help
out with adult chores and it gives you a break at the same time.