Gardening with a Toddler

What a difference each new child brings to the home. With each additional child, priorities change. As priorities change, time allotments for activities shift and this change can affect the garden. It seems there are only so many ways to divide the 24 hours that come with each day. Those tasks that we don't get to are just left hanging.

This has really come home to me the last year. Prior to that time, I had many hours available for gardening. My son started gardening with me when he was five years old. Together we planted and tended our garden beds. We started many flats of annuals along with some perennials and vegetables every spring. After our last frost date, we would transplant our seedlings and they would grow. During the off-season, we would look through seed catalogs and plan what we wanted to grow for the next year. Granted, I did most of the work, but he was involved with much of it as well.

Then we added another child to our family. This time, we added a one-year-old and our gardening has changed. Suddenly there was little time for seed starting, seedling planting, perennial dividing, etc. I have converted one of the large annual flower beds (I always did annual flowers in front of the house and perennials in my other beds) to perennials so we won't have to start seeds for it and plant it each year. One large annual bed is enough for now. My daughter, now two years old, wants to "help" plant all the time, so we plant together at a much slower pace and go through quite a few more seedlings - due to overly exuberant planting. But we do get it done and she beams with pride at her flowers. Then she picks off all the blossoms and gives them to me. We may never have a blooming flower in the gardens all summer, but at least she will be happy. It is so wonderful that she wants to share those flowers with mom too!

My son has more freedom in his garden - which is both good and bad. He has more control over what gets planted and where, but with less influence from mom, he tends to pack in too many seeds or seedlings and then neglects watering and weeding. It is a good way to learn responsibility though and he can certainly see the cause and effect relationship taking place there, so all is not lost. I expect that we will see changes over time. Until then, it is his garden and it is great that he does takes such interest in planting it and tending it.