Advice for teaching kids to garden

Question: What would be the first things you would teach kids to begin to love gardening?

Background:  I am planning a series of articles for homeschooling moms to encourage them to get the kids out there in the garden.  I've used Charlotte Mason schooling methods, including nature study and usually short daily gardening activities, as part of a practical, helpful, and "structured but free" afternoon.  Naturally, over the course of schooling your kids for years, they will become pretty good at gaining consistent skills like gardening.   I've already got some articles on microgreens and sprouting (for winter or urban activities) and I'm looking to add some beginner-level outdoor gardening activities.

Where would you start? What have you found easy, yet powerfully fun and amazing with a near-guarantee success rate?

Would you go for seed starting, or straight to intensive gardening like square-foot raised beds?  Would you stick with the easiest annual vegetables, or start adding in the easiest perennial edibles? Would you go for the showy pollinator plants? Or companions?  

Where would you start?  And thank you for all of your ideas!

I can't say that I have had success in getting my kids to love gardening, but they do have a healthy respect for what gardening provides. My eldest, who will be 21 this year, has helped with the garden throughout life, but mostly because he likes to eat things. When he was old enough to walk and follow me, I was just learning to really garden myself. The thing he really learned quickly was what he could eat from the garden. I wanted to give him a connection between what we were doing in planting, weeding, and watering with the results so I taught him to pick peas and eat them fresh along with the winter onions a friend had gifted me. I don't think he really cared to do all the work, but he loves to eat veggies. I hold out hope that when he has done his adventuring he will someday raise his own garden.

My youngest, a six year old, is my biggest helper because I know so much more about what I'm doing these days. I just have him come with me to the garden and I give him tasks to help with each time. He too is learning what he can eat right from the garden and how to plant the seeds. When he gets tired, I let him venture off to be a kid. Sometimes if we task master things too much kids don't gain a positive view of them. I like to find the balance of having him help dig potatoes, harvest strawberries (his favorite), and going to play which selfishly gives me some quiet time in the garden that I love. It is win win.

One of my favorite memories was learning to plant some bean seeds in the 3rd grade (more or less).

This involved a paper egg carton, some (12) bean seeds, water, and cotton balls.

I can't remember if the teacher furnished these or if we brought them from home.

When we moved to our homestead this is exactly how I planted my seeds.

When my kids got old enough I taught them so they could help in the garden.

Our daughter is really into gardening so I hope she remembered the seed-planting lesson I taught her.

Here are some threads that might help give you or others some suggestions:

https://permies.com/t/55643/year

https://permies.com/t/178991/Incorporating-kids-homesteading

https://permies.com/t/207818/Teaching-kids-ethnobotany-st-century

https://permies.com/t/211821/Skip-PEP-curriculum-interactive-kids

Jean Rudd wrote:Question: What would be the first things you would teach kids to begin to love gardening?

There are some great ideas on the threads that Anne has suggested. It's a bit difficult without knowing the circumstances and climates of the children. Being able to grow something they can eat, preferably straight from the plant would be my preference. Whatever is easy and vigorous; peas and tomatoes are often good. Strawberries will usually fruit a bit in their first year from plants. You don't want to propose something that involves going out and buying stuff though, so maybe growing veg from waste may be a good idea? We have a recent thread on that, and Anne (again) has linked to some more here.

The other important thing that kids may enjoy is composting. I think it is important for them to realise that plants need food too and this can be obtained through recycling food wastes. It's fun to learn about the organisms in compost heaps from worms to microbes too. I quite like the idea of Marco's worm tower here
 which might work even for places with no garden. I'll try and insert an image from the link.