Teach Your Child Organic Gardening

Organic gardening involves methods of improving the quality of the garden soil by using natural biological substances. Not only is gardening a fun activity to do with your children, but organic gardening is also a lot safer for them. Pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables have posed serious health hazards both in the past and even now. Also many people see organic gardening as a way of protecting the environment, which is also something that you should want to teach your children. Another advantage of organic gardening is that less waste is dumped into landfills. Food scraps and yard wastes make up a large amount of our garbage. The organic elements however can be piled up and allowed to decompose into a rich compound which is known as compost. It may not sound very pleasant but when it comes to your garden it is a gourmet delight. It is also a great way for you and your kids to get out and exercises and enjoy the sunshine. They will also learn how things grow as they watch tiny seeds grow in to healthy plants.

The first thing you will want to look at before you begin your garden is the soil. Most gardens contain clay soil or sandy soil. Sandy soil has large particles that allow water and nutrients to drain away too quickly to be of any benefit to the plant. Clay soil is made up of tiny layers that are so tightly bound together so the water cannot penetrate the hard surface. In this case the roots actually end up getting suffocated. What you will need to do is balance the soil . You can do this by using a mixture called loam. Once this is done air will be able to circulate freely through the soil, which will allow microorganisms to go about their work of adding nutrients to the soil. You can add large amounts of compost to help you achieve this balance in your soil. If you are going to have your child help you with this process you will want to make sure they have gloves that fit well. Compost carries millions of bacteria although most of it is friendly bacteria that will break down the soil and help the plants to grow. There are also some crops which help to break up the heavy soil and increase the organic matter, such as clover and alfalfa.

When gardening with your child make sure you teach them every step that is needed in order for your plants to grow. You can also tell them how the amazing earthworm helps to improve the soil in your garden. As the earthworm tunneled deep into the ground it aerates the soil, and brings various minerals toward the surface and helps to provide better drainage for water. You may even think about purchasing the book Step by Step Organic vegetable Gardening. This book is a great teaching tool in helping your child to understand the differences between organic gardening and regular gardening. If you are concerned about pests and do not want to use a pesticide in your garden consider toads. A toad can eat about 10,000 insects pests in only a three months time. They eat just about everything crickets, caterpillars and the list goes on. You kids will also think it is pretty cool to watch the toad eat and they will be learning something in the process. Birds are also very effective at helping to control garden pests. You many also want to purchase the book Gardening withought Poisons. It has tons of helpful suggestions that you can use on how to get rid of pests without using any harmful chemicals.

Spring is right around the corner, and this is really a great activity to do with your young children during their spring break. Not only will it keep them from running wild but it will help the to learn. And they will also love the time that they get to spend with you.