Welcoming your children into your garden can be totally terrifying. Especially if you are a type A, it needs to be THIS way kind of person …..and so is your kid.  As I do with most things I need or want a solution to, I did a quick internet search. Scanned a few blogs and they all had similar lists which I will share with you here:

Step 1: Have a plan

There. That’s as far as I would get. A plan??! I’m reading this blog IN THE MOMENT! My phone is in my hand, my child is getting antsy, going to blow any second and you want me to sit down and come up with a plan? Ha! 
So, what’s the answer? How do I continue to garden, keep my plants alive and entertain my toddler? Find moments to let them help, and absolutely, I repeat, absolutely don’t worry about them getting dirty.
I try to always bring Caley with me to the garden center. I allow her to pick “any plant” she wants….well, by “any”, I mean, I point to the area of under 5 dollar plants and she gets to grab a one or two. These are hers, she will get to plant them. 

This gives her ownership too. She picks the pant, gets to put it in the ground and of course water it (this part sometimes leads to a good mud party but that’s great entertainment too! Definitely at least 20 more minutes for you to get things done)

Not a mud fan? My daughter’s have also become experts bug hunters! Caley loves helping look for the green caterpillars. These little bugs make me crazy! They can totally end up devouring my vegetables. I really avoid using pesticides because we are eating most things in the garden and I don’t want to worry when my girls or pets are playing in the yard. So…when Caley wants to help in the garden she now has a job (and she loves it!) She collects them (thinks they are her pets). I let her put them in a little bug cage…some grow to be moths (Yay pollinators) and there are less bugs eating my precious plants…again Yay!

The girls often pick flowers from the nursery as well. Of course they pick the brightest and hardest flowers to keep alive. One of the biggest challenges is teaching the girls to not step on the plants or pick the flowers when they are playing (they love playing “enchanted garden” which means stomping around behind the plants which always ends in flat flowers). So I have turned this old wheel barrel into a dedicated flower garden. With it being raised, they tend to stay out of it (can’t crawl around or walk on the plants) and the flowers have a better chance of survival.

Some of my favorite things to grow is anything we can eat! Also, bonus…Caley and Cora will “help” by picking some veggies and eat them as a garden snack…Pruning and kids eating their vegetables?? Win, win!

So again, where to start…Herbs were my way in. Sometimes starting with vegetables can be intimidating and time consuming (but SO worth it). Benefits to starting herbs in your garden or on your kitchen window sill:

• Takes up very little space
• Loves being in a container
• Grows year around (generally…and definitely here in So Cal)
• You can use RIGHT away
• Grows fast
• Pretty tolerant of over watering (for when your little one really wants to help with the hose)
• Loves to be pruned…aka USE them in your cooking tonight, tomorrow, the next day…
• Kids can totally help pull the herbs for you…they love helping!

As a side note… one of my goals is to reduce the amount of produce we buy from the grocery store. We have pretty much been able to stop buying herbs. I LOVE walking out and picking fresh herbs year around. Herbs I am currently growing:

• Rosemary
• Lavender
• French Thyme
• Lemon Thyme
• Basil
• Lemon Balm
• Green Onion
• Parsley
• Oregano (Greek)
• Oregano (Mexican)
• Sage

I have since expanded into seasonal fruits and vegetables (more on what “seasonal” means here in Southern California, stay tuned).

In conclusion…the garden is ours. It is absolutely not perfect, but it is fun. A few plants will not make it, but that’s okay! We spent the day outside, got a little dirty and the kids are eating their veggies! Again, Mom win!

I’d love to hear of ways you have brought your little helpers into the garden with you!