1. Planning
Starting a garden doesn’t have to cost too much. Look around your home to see what materials you already have that you could use.
You can make raised garden beds from almost anything. You can make raised beds from cinder blocks, tires, or old wheel wells. There are many ideas to be found on Pinterest! (Just be careful with using wood, as some may be treated with chemicals you don’t want leaching into your soil)
If you are planting in pots, make sure there is a place for the water to drain out at the bottom. Heck, you can make your own pots. Reuse plastic bottles/cartons, old bowls, baskets, crates etc. Get creative. You don’t need to spend a lot of money.
Here are some budget friendly ideas I have found and put together on a Pinterest board:
Before you get started, think about where do you want to plant? Pay attention to where the shade is during different parts of the day. Is there good water drainage or does water tend to puddle up in certain areas? What is the soil like?
Ron Finley’s Masterclass is the most entertaining way to learn about gardening! He shows you just how simple it is to grow your own food (Just don’t watch it with your kid! Mild explicit language present.)
2. Planting
Seeds
Seeds are a perfect place to start as they are cheaper and will also allow you to cover the plant life cycle with your child. Cucumbers and bell peppers are great for beginners. Sunflowers are also great to start from seed and they attract lots of birds and pollinators. Don’t over do it, just start small, because those seeds grow into massive plants. Do a little bit of research on sunlight, seasons, common problems, etc. to help your garden be more successful.
Seedlings
Another option to consider is using seedlings. You can find affordable seedlings from your local neighbors on Facebook marketplace or Farmer’s Markets. Pro Tip: Save your vegetable scraps! Some scraps can regrow into a whole new plant. Green onions and celery will start to grow roots when left in a cup of water on your window sill. You could also save seeds from your NonGMO green peppers, strawberries, avacados. This takes a bit of extra research (aka YouTube), however, it could save you some moolah. If you are brave enough, try growing a plant from a cutting of a friend’s mature plant.
Trees/Shrubs
Fruit trees/shrubs would make a great addition if they are in your budget. Most fruit plants are perennials, so they may take a year or more before they start to produce fruit. So the cost is higher when buying a plant that is already producing fruit. Strawberry plants are a little more affordable. They spend their first year getting their roots established, but should produce berries the following year. Strawberries tend to be very popular with kids! They are also fairly easy to grow.
Picky Eating
As your child develops, they will likely go through phases where they want to eat the same thing everyday, or they all of a sudden don’t want to eat one of their favorite foods. Having a garden helps encourage the exploration of new foods. Kids will be more open to trying something new if they planted and cared for it themselves. Many children prefer crunchy vegetables such as cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, sugar snap peas. Strong flavors can be off-putting for kids. But still try to incorporate a variety of foods in your garden with different textures and colors, such as purple carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherry tomatoes, orange/yellow bell peppers etc.
3. Enjoying the Bounty
Our first year, we planted more cucumbers than we could eat, but we enjoyed watching them grow and picking them. If this happens to you, you can always donate the surplus to a local pantry or create a farm stand with your child. Kids LOVE having lemonade/farm stands and being little entrepreneurs. Having a farm stand would spark their interest in learning about money and how to count it.
Food Prep
Children love being able to do things independently and gain lots of self confidence from it. Letting your child be involved in preparing the food that they grew in the garden would give them so much pride. Let them chop, mix, season, bake and share their creations with their family and friends.
One activity that we love doing every summer is picking wild blueberries. We bring home a HOARD of berries! Then we bake wild blueberry coffee cake together. This year, my daughter took pieces of the cake she made to a few of our neighbors. She was very proud of herself and got so much enjoyment out of the whole experience.
Click Here to learn more ways you can incorporate food preparation into your Montessori homeschool environment.
