1.Preparing for Toddler Gardening
Before involving your toddler in gardening, ensure you have knowledge about the best times to plant crops, prepare the soil to be soft enough for your toddler’s tools, and select a sunny, well-draining space. To achieve optimal results, add compost liberally.
2.The Unpredictability of Toddler Gardening
Plant 32 bean seeds in one hole, but forget to add any in the second. Cry when compost needs to be taken to the shops, as toddlers are too immature to understand the big picture.
3.Keeping it Simple and Fun
The author emphasizes the importance of keeping goals simple and allowing children to grow various crops. They mention a toddler’s tardiness in planting late tomatoes and zucchini, but note that green beans are planted later in the summer, and the late tomatoes will fruit soon.
4.Creative Garden Design
To make vegetable beds stand out in gardens, use a dinghy to create different colors and textures on the walking paths. Train your toddler to stay on the dinghy avoid baby crops, and use tomato cages to keep them off less obvious young plants. This will help keep the soil rich and prevent the formation of rustic edges around vegetable beds.
5.Encouraging Toddler Participation
A “can-do” garden lets toddlers engage in tasks like digging, filling pots, picking ripe tomatoes, and pushing a cart. They enjoy helping briefly, focusing on tasks like gathering tomatoes rather than weeding. When gardening becomes less enjoyable, they can play with a plastic tractor or feed the chickens, ensuring a positive garden experience.
6.Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits
Encouraging children to try new foods like radish and Swiss chard is important because they imitate what they see. Planting crops that can be eaten raw can also provide fun recipes for toddlers to try, as the mother of a toddler who consistently tasted raw potatoes suggested.
7.Learning Through Play
Toddlers are learning outside the box by scattering bean seeds, hiding under sunflowers, and pretending peppers are treasures.
