Fifty years ago, everyone had a garden—it was almost a necessity—but now, it’s an activity at which grandparents are often the experts. Which means, with the renewed interest in “green,” that it’s a perfect multi-generational family activity

Three Secrets for Getting Your Kids—and Grandkids—Involved in Gardening

1. Do you value gardening and express the enjoyment you receive from getting your hands dirty? If you have fun, your children will have fun too. It’s contagious.
2. If children feel they are making decisions, they have something at stake and feel more involved. Let them pick some vegetables or flowers that will go into the garden. (Seed catalogs have great color pictures and can be invaluable in descriptions of varieties.) Let them decide where things will go in the garden; involve them in every step of the process.
3. Work alongside them—don’t make them feel they are doing your work. If they’re small, get them some kid-sized tools. Throw dirt clods, show them worms and insects in the soil, make the beds into funny designs. Laugh. Rinse. Repeat.

Choosing What to Grow

Flowers: Flowers can be a border or the whole garden. Use crayons to draw the garden map first. It’s wonderful to start plants from seed but transplants and the flowers they produce are the first things to mature. Since it is important to show results quickly, annuals are always a big hit.

Greens: Tell kids something is healthy and they may not want it. But, if you start them early, you can usually educate children before they become too picky. Sugar snap peas are like candy off the vine and usually the first thing to mature in the garden—a great first crop. Things with color other than green are usually good, too. Butterhead/Boston and Bibb lettuces come in lots of colors and are sweeter than normal lettuce. Yellow summer squash is quick to mature. If you pick the squash while still small (4–6 inches long) and cook it lightly, the flavor is excellent.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes are a necessity. Since most gardeners buy transplants or plants in pots, selection may be more limited than with seed packets. Avoid heirloom varieties, even though they taste better: The fruit usually are less attractive, the vines get very tall and unruly, and they are more susceptible to disease. Ask the garden center for a good disease-resistant variety. Cherry and grape tomatoes are great and taste like candy. Once they turn red, you’ll be harvesting all summer long. For something different, try a yellow tomato variety; they are usually lower in acid.

Sunflowers: Popcorn and sunflowers can be big hits with kids. They don’t take up a lot of space and can be fun to harvest. And almost any melon type will be a success—once they mature they encourage seed-spitting contests.

Pumpkins: A garden is not complete without a pumpkin. Choose a larger variety (but not a ‘giant’ pumpkin—they are technically squash and are usually too big and heavy to carve). Here’s how: Dig a hole about the size of a half-bushel and fill it with composted manure. Now plant two pumpkin seeds right into the compost. Pumpkins require lots of nutrients to grow strong, and the manure will give them just what they need. When the pumpkins are still green, scratch your names in the sides. When they mature, the names will be a white marking on an orange pumpkin. How cool is that?

Kids learn all kinds of things when they work and play in the garden: the power of patience, persistence, and responsibility; pride as tiny seeds and small plants become a bounty of vegetables and cut flowers; and that work outdoors can provide moments of unmatched wonder.