Growing plants can be a rewarding and fun activity. Seeing a seed go into the ground and then come up a few weeks later as a flower or a vegetable or fruit plant often gives people a good feeling, but it also has many other benefits. If you have the chance to start your own garden this summer, why not try it and learn some valuable skills?

If your family has a garden or a farm, you probably know a bit about where foods like apples or potatoes come from. People who grow up in cities with few plants around them, however, might have very little connection with the annual cycle of planting seeds, caring for the plants, and then picking the produce in fall. Learning about plants by working with them can give people a new understanding of the food they eat and the flowers they enjoy.

Gardening is a good chance to learn about the different kinds of fruits and vegetables and their various growing seasons. Have you ever noticed that you tend to eat certain types of fruits and vegetables more often in spring than in fall? That’s because each type of produce has its own season. Even if it is available during other times of the year, it will probably be more expensive and not taste as good as in its own season. Also, it is a good note to add that not all produce from your supermarket comes from Canada. Fruits and vegetables that you buy at the store may come from places like California (oranges, strawberries) or Mexico (peppers). The reason for this is because these places have a consistent climate, unlike Canada’s 4 seasons.

Through gardening, you can also learn about animals and how they help or harm plants. Bees, for example, are important for spreading pollen from one plant to another. Earthworms help break up the soil, but cutworms can kill plants by chewing through the stems. Each animal has a role that you can learn about.

Gardening could also be a good chance to spend time with your family. If your parents or your brothers or sisters enjoy spending time outside, gardening could be a good chance to visit together as you weed and water the garden, pick the produce, or just enjoy looking at it.

Being outside in a garden for a few minutes every day could be very good for your health. Even if you have many other activities every day, spending time outside with your plants will give you fresh air and exercise, which could help you feel much better than you would after spending the whole day inside. You can spend time with your hands in the earth, enjoying the sounds of the birds and watching the butterflies and other insects, and you’ll have some delicious food at the end.

If you decide to start gardening, you should begin by choosing the plants that you want to grow and then learning as much as possible about them. Plants are often good in one climate but not another, and they might need more space than you have in your yard. If you choose well, learning to become a gardener can be a fun and rewarding activity.

Bibliography:   

Earth Easy.com. “Gardening with Children.” http://eartheasy.com/grow_gardening_children.htm.

Miller, Susan. “How Gardening Teaches Kids to Grow.” http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/creativity-play/how-gardening-teaches-kids-to-grow.

My Yard Garden.com. “Gardening with Children Because Every Child Belongs in a Garden.” http://www.myyardgarden.com/gardening-with-children-every-child-belongs-in-garden/.

Seasonal Wisdom.com. “Five Reasons Why Kids Should Garden.” http://www.seasonalwisdom.com/2011/06/five-reasons-why-kids-should-garden/.