Sparkle Crafts

Sparkle Crafts: Children's Herb Garden

This week, Martin and Sylvia help Daddy build raised garden beds in the story “No Boo Boo Day,” working carefully to avoid getting injured.

Building a garden with children is a truly satisfying family project. A "garden" can be anything from potted herbs on the porch to an entire backyard of vegetable rows. It's up to you!

Take kids through the entire process, from planning the garden space, to researching the plants you want to grow and their needs, to designing how you want to arrange them in your garden. Then there's the fun of planting, tending, and harvesting!

An herb garden is a wonderful way to start. Herbs are often quite hardy and can be used in so many ways, from cooking to home remedies.

You can choose a simple planter like the one above or terracotta pots for a sunny spot on a porch. Or you can pick a spot in the yard where there's plenty of sunshine - and get ready to do some digging. Let's make a round herb garden with a rock border!

What You Need

• Rocks
• Muscle Power
• Soil
• Seeds
• Sunshine
• Water

Find a spot in the yard that your child gravitates to. It should be easily accessible, for tending without help. If you make the bed against a fence, keep it narrow enough that your child can reach to weed and harvest all the way to the back of the bed. If you want to make a shaped bed, be sure that the middle is reachable from all sides.

Use a good soil with compost in it, or add your own compost. We want to nurture a positive gardening experience, so start with the best quality you can to ensure some degree of success. Heap the dirt into a basic shape, and refine it as you tamp it down. Then choose rocks large enough to reach the top edge of your soil. You want to provide stability for your shape and keep the soil in. You can also use cut-offs from branches, bricks, plastic mini-fencing, or anything that will provide a wall around your bed.

As for what to plant, there are so many options! How about the ingredients for herbal tea? You could plant a low border of chamomile, and then lavender further in, and then in middle of the circle, the mint, which we recommend keeping in a pot to avoid spreading. You could choose parsley, chives and sorrel - the latter is a lovely lemony herb that kids love to eat right from the garden. Take the time to plan and draw different designs for the space, and have your child illustrate their fantasy garden!

The planning stage is a great time to go over how to read a seed packet, paying close attention to how much space a plant needs and how tall it will get. The tallest plants should be in the middle of a free standing bed, or in the back of a bed that is against a fence or wall, and all the plants should have similar needs for sun or shade. Your child may prefer to grow veggies rather than herbs in their space. Encourage choices that are good for drying or preserving so the garden magic can be enjoyed all year long!