by Alanna

Do you smell that?? Ahhh the sweet smell of spring. "Yuck, it stinks" is the reply I get from my two darlings. Yes, they are right. That smell of mold and mud isn't really that yummy a smell, but to me it is sooooooooo beautiful. Those that know me know that I am not really a winter person, but boy oh boy, come spring there is a bounce in my step and a long lost smile on my face. That smell means longer days, sunny days and that defrosting mud, well, that means gardening. Yippee.

There is something so wonderful about gardening with children. No matter how small or old they are, everyone can find something to like about gardening. After years of working with children I found that it is the one activity that everyone gathered around to participate in. My children are no different. Over the past couple of years we have started our seeds at this time of year. I can remember my father sitting at the dinning room table sorting seeds and meticulously placing them in a wet paper towel to get the started and then, once they root, transplanting them to some nutrient rich soil. It is this type of fondness that I want to instill in my children.

From watering the plants in the house, to picking out seeds from the seed catalogue, my children are eager to help. This year I have something different in store. Usually we plant the seed in that black container with the clear plastic lid that acts as a greenhouse of sorts. Somehow it is lacking, not enough excitement if you know what I mean. This year, however, I think we will knock it up a level and plant in different containers. Even though they have already picked out their favourite seeds (watermelon, pumpkin and cantaloupe) we will start with some easier and faster growing seeds. It will work better in our orange peels, yogurt containers and egg shells. Once we get these seeds growing away, we can then just plant them along with the planters in the ground (except the yogurt containers), but of course before we do that we need to draw on some faces.

These were made with yogurt containers, nylons (used), soil and grass seeds. FamilyFun.com

We don't have a lawn, so grass seed is just what we need right now. We also are starting lettuce in orange halves, but we haven't gotten any pictures yet. These can go right into the ground once they are started. All you have to do is temper them outside for a day or two and they can go outside quite early. Both the grass and the lettuce are excellent choices for children. They grow rapidly and are very simple to take care of. With the grass they can actually cut the grass with scissors and watch it grow back. You know, give it a hair cut. Now what could be more fun than that?

A word of caution - make sure that the eggshells are well cleaned out before the children handle them. You can even put them in the oven to burn off any of the excess residue. Once this is done, they are safe to use. You can also put them in 1/3 of toilet paper roll to hold them stable.

Have fun starting your seeds, Remember, getting dirty is part of the fun.

Alanna is a mother of two beauties, Nora age 3 (aka coconut) and Avery 5 (aka polka dot). Former ECE turned mother, party planner and blogger. Never a dull moment around this house.

When we bought our new house this winter I was worried about what state we might find the garden in when the snow melted. Based on the evidence in the backyard and the owner's comments, it looked like we would be sharing our yard with a very large family of rabbits. But lo and behold not a hint of rabbit presence when we moved in. After we finished building the sandbox, we decided to add a small vegetable garden next to it. My 4-year-old is an outdoorsy sort who loves to garden and eat vegetables. Last summer the first thing he did upon arrival at my parents was rush out into the backyard to pick and eat cherry tomatoes.

Our first step was clearing a small, flat area in the backyard. We chose a spot near the back corner where it would be out-of-the-way of flying balls and scorching sun.

Levelling the spot was half the fun and necessitated many shovels and even work gloves.

We chose to use 2x10 untreated wood to build a frame for our garden. The wood cost less than $15 at Home Depot and we had them cut it there into 2 three-foot and 2 six-foot lengths. We decided to use a frame so that, if we need to, we can add a wire fence around the perimeter if local critters decide to use the kids garden as a salad bar.

The assembly was a simple process: all I needed was a drill and 12 deck screws. It took approximately 10 bags of soil to fill the box: we thought we'd only need 6 but it packs down quite a bit after you water it.

Because we started in mid-June, we used plants instead of seeds to start our garden. The boys chose strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, and broccoli to start us off this year.

We now have little green tomatoes growing in the garden and my 4-year old checks on them every day. His favourite part is filling up his watering can at the rain barrel and watering all the plants. A quick tip: rain barrels sell for at least 50% retail cost if you buy them on www.usedottawa.com or www.kijiji.ca.

And so far, not a single rabbit has nibbled on any of our greenery!

Sara is mom to a 4-year-old firefighter and 2-year-old monkey. You can find her at her blog, My Points of View