For Kids... 



Gardeners of the Future 



Tanya Jackson 



"Inch by inch, row, by row, gonna make this garden grow. 

 All it takes is a rake and hoe and a little bit of love." 



New Hampshire's own Shaw Brothers ohen sing 

 this little song at their performances. Of 

 course, those of us who make horticulture our 

 business know that gardening takes a great deal more 

 than that. It takes learning — every day, a pleasure in 

 hard work, appreciation for the beauty and good eating 

 that we create from seeds and soil and sunlight and 

 rain, and — yes — luck. 



I truly believe we need to work at passing this joy of 

 gardening along to children. They are our future and gar- 

 dening — in all its guises — is important to that future. Not 

 all kids learn about gardening as a matter of course 

 these days. Family farms are no longer common and not 

 everyone grows a vegetable garden — once a staple of 

 family life. But a small garden grown by or for a child 

 can help nurture this love of soil and growing things that 

 we need to keep alive for the future. 



Kids' gardens are fun. Kids love bright color, unusual 

 textures and smells — unusual plants in general, plants 

 with funny names, and, of course, plants that taste good. 



In the Kids' Garden at the Urban Forestry Center 

 (managed under the jurisdiction of the New Hampshire 

 Division of Forests and Lands, Department of Resources 

 and Economic Development! on Elwyn Road in Ports- 

 mouth, we try to add each year to what is already there. 

 We seek input from kids and these are some of the fea- 

 tures we've come up with together. 



A "Smelly Garden" — a tub of plants containing pep- 

 permint, anise hyssop (strongly scented of licorice), per- 

 haps an oregano thyme (a pizza scent to kids), maybe 

 onion chives or garlic chives, and certainly a Jacob's 

 Ladder Plant [Polemonium caeruleum), whose flowers smell 

 just like grape KoolAid — can both teach and entertain 



And a "Fuzzy Garden" could contain lamb's ears, lych- 

 nis, Silver Mound artemisia, and perhaps a thick flannel- 

 leafed mullein plant. 



There are lots of structures for kids' gardens. Most 

 popular, probably, is the Bean Tepee, several poles 

 placed in a circle and fastened together at the top. This 

 is a great way to show off vining plants — beans are good 



for a lot more than just eating. Plant your tepee with 

 hyacinth bean for the beautiful (and tasty) flowers. The 

 brilliant red flowers of the Scarlet Runner bean attract 

 hummingbirds. And Parks Early Riser pole bean is one 

 of the best I've eaten — it makes a broad flat bean that 

 is tender and delicious and will produce for a long time 

 if the beans are kept picked off and not allowed to ma- 

 ture. Kids (and my dog — who loves beans) do a fine job 

 at this. These pole beans are tasty right off the vine! 



We have a "whirly-gig" trellis built of poles and whip- 

 like branches swirled around a central pole, a wattle 

 fence (similar to those found in England) for gourds to 

 climb, and several other tepee-like set-ups for such 

 flowering vines as balloon vine, sweet peas, and a tall 

 "Red Pear" tomato that bears delicious little red pear- 

 shaped bite-sized fruits. Sweet 1 00s would be another 

 tomato this is great for a kids' garden. It's indeterminate, 

 thrives on a pole or trellis, and tastes great. (It's a good 

 idea to make sure that all plants in a kids' garden are 

 edible, so morning glories and their relatives — lovely, 

 but poisonous — are out.) 



Make gardening fun for kids by doing things with the 

 vegetables they might like to grow. Pumpkins at the 

 edge of your garden could bear a greeting for everyone. 

 Simply carve the word "Hello" in the tender outer skin 

 of an immature pumpkin. As the pumpkin grows, the 

 word grows too. A big friendly smile carved on another 

 nearby can say it all! 



We have a Rainbow Garden — a series of concentric 

 arches, each planted in a color of the rainbow — at the 

 Urban Forestry Center. Pale blue ageratum, a deeper 

 violet shade of ageratum, and a row of green Swiss 

 chard complement the Yellow Boy and Orange Boy mari- 

 golds and red salvia. There's even a pot of gold (mari- 

 golds) at the end. Adults as well as kids love this big 

 colorful arch and enjoy sitting on the bench facing it. 



And our Sunflower Forest contains several hundred 

 sunflower plants, both short and tall. It's fun to walk on 

 the path down the middle of the "forest," look up at the 

 tall nodding heads, and measure your height against 



ADGUST 4- SEPTEMBER 1996 



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