Gardening With the Family

Cultivating a family garden is a fun, rewarding way to nurture curiosity and teamwork. It's also a great way to foster healthy lifestyle choices and spend time working together outdoors.

Perhaps you want a flower garden that produces beautiful blooms for cutting or a vegetable garden that provides fresh produce for everyone to enjoy. Once you know what kind of garden you want to grow, select a patch of land that gets plenty of sunlight and can be easily watered. Consider testing the soil to ensure your garden will thrive. If you find it's not suitable for gardening, try building a box garden or using planters filled with better soil.

Gardening offers plenty of opportunities for younger kids to help with simple, supervised tasks, such as digging small holes for planting, watering growing vines and harvesting vegetables when they're ready. However, digging up larger areas, using fertilizers or working with thorny plants are chores that should be left to the adults.

If your outdoor space is limited, an indoor garden is a fun way to bring nature inside. All you need is a warm, sunny spot — even if it's just a small corner. For the chefs in your family, consider planting a windowsill herb garden. You can also try growing seasonal flowers that need less sunlight. Low-maintenance succulents are a great option for young kids, as plants like cacti require less time and care.

For a whimsical touch, decorate stones or paint signs and place them in your garden alongside what you've grown together.