To contact us:

Please click on this link and fill out a form, we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Children’s Gardens

             Mother Nature’s Sentry - First mark out a five foot magic square. In each corner of the square put a five foot stake (or taller). In the middle of your square dig a hole large enough for a five gallon bucket so that the lip sticks out of the ground about an inch. Drill 1/4 inch drainage holes in three rows all around the about three inches apart. Stagger the rows. Plant your tomato starts at each stake but dig a hole about a foot deep and put some wood ash into the hole. Bury about five inches of the plant above the roots in the ground (less if the plant is small) these will grow into more roots. Put old boots or shoes on either side and slightly in front of your plant so that it looks like feet to your stake. You can even put a cross bar about where arms would be or add some weapons (sturdy wooden sticks that can be held by the tomato plant but are stuck in the ground). As your soldier grows tie him to the stakes with old nylons. You can even add a hat to the top of the original stake. Every day have the children take care of their soldier and fill up the five gallon bucket with water. Once the bucket is full, place the lid back on the bucket so that dirt doesn’t get kicked in and fill the holes. This should be all the water these four tomato plants need.

             Here is the story that goes along with the soldiers.

             Mother Nature had a very important treasure that she wanted to ensure was taken care of. She looked and looked for just the right caretaker for her treasure. Finally, she found four little green plants that desired to grow very tall and strong so that they could watch for signs of trouble and tell Mother Nature of what they saw. Mother Nature knew that these four plants would be a great help to her so she allowed them the honor of guarding her treasure. She told them that in order to be able to see everything that went on in the garden they needed to each stand on a separate corner of the magic square. So she dug a little hole and placed some ash from the strong trees in the bottom of the hole to help them grow big and strong just like the trees. These four brave plants climbed into the holes and Mother Nature covered their feet with rich soil so they would stay warm. Every night Mother Nature would appoint a helper to come and fill the plants’ bucket with water to help the plants grow big and strong so they could see everything that went on in the garden

             As they grew, Mother Nature noticed that they were growing tall and strong indeed so she gave them special shoes to fill. They were special because they used to belong to the human children that lived near the garden. Now Mother Nature knew that the plants were ready to protect her treasure. In the middle of the night Mother Nature visited the garden and buried her treasure nearby. As a signal to the plants that the treasure was there she had flowers bloom on their bodies. The plants told her everything that they saw and the human children said that they would help by watering the plants and helping them stand straight and tall. So, as a reward, Mother Nature gave the plants the ability to capture the sunlight and turn it into balls of sunshine for the human children to eat. And to this day whenever you see the flowers on a tomato plant you will know that Mother Nature’s treasure is hidden nearby.

By not planting your plants in rows but in small blocks you are mimicking nature keeping more moisture in the ground.

Fun gardening projects to do with your children

And how to landscape with children in mind

The Suburban Home Farm

Timely Information and Support for the

Urban and Suburban Home Farmer.