Digging Your Family
When I was at Tyler Arboretum a few weeks back, I picked up a copy of Jan & Michael Gertley’s The Family Garden.
The Gertley’s book is designed for a 32′ x 32′ garden - not exactly an ideal layout for my urban garden. But the book’s projects are nicely divided so that you can choose one or more of the projects if you’re not inclined to do the entire garden.
My favorite project - and on my “to do” list for this summer - is the bean house. The bean house was also the first project that the Gerstleys developed for the book.
The bean house is a simple facade with a door, all scaled for children. The frame of the house is built with PVC piping and string. The sides of the house and the roof are bean plants trailed on the string. As the bean plants grow, the house becomes more enclosed. It has that whole “fort” feel for kids and looks lovely in the garden. I have the feeling that my kids are going to hide in it all summer…
Clearly, the project isn’t meant to be completely put together by children. But there’s lots of input that they can offer in terms of aesthetic and placement in the garden. In this respect, I guess The Family Garden isn’t a “children’s book” but it is the best kind of book for children: the kind that you can read together with your family.
Towards the end of the book is a list of projects specifically for children, including jack o’lanterns (we started ours from seed last week) and gourd birdhouses. There are also a number of recipes based on foods that you can grow in your garden like cupcakes with edible flowers and garden omelets. It’s important that children understand where their food comes from - and think about how smart they’ll feel at restaurants!
Whether you live in the city (like I do now) or in the country (where I grew up), there are plenty of garden projects in this book that can be adapted to fit your yard. Give it a whirl. Your kids will thank you for it.
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