Gardening With Kids At Home And In The Community
Getting kids into the garden is the first step in teaching them about sustainable living, healthy eating, where our food comes form, green living- and so much more.
How to get the started:
Give them their own space—either a spot in your garden if you have one, or their own few containers.
Let them use kid-sized gardening tools. There are some fun and affordable sets out there, with smocks, too.
Choose hardy vegetables that they like—green beans, sweet potatoes and peas—and are likely to do well. Or some flowers that attract butterflies.
Let them plant and water and don’t worry about neat rows or muddy hands and feet.
Visit some community gardens and farmers’ markets so they can see other gardens and be inspired by the results.
Outside of your home
Our Kids’ Village- ourkidsvillage.com/site/ 504. 206.9290
A program brought by NOLA Green Roots, it is designed to give kids the opportunity to familiarize themselves with what’s for dinner through an understanding of where plants come from and what it takes to grow their own. By harvesting the day’s dinner direct from the ground, we encourage kids to make the connections between effort and bounty that will serve as lessons for a lifetime.
NOLA Green Roots nolagreenroots.com/ A non-profit organization that facilitates garden training through community gardens.
Edible Schoolyard –www.esynola.org/ 504.267.9053
integrates hands-on organic gardening (3 gardens) and seasonal cooking (2 kitchens) into the school curriculum, culture, and cafeteria programs for students of FirstLine schools.
Parkway Partners Schoolyard Gardens Program – parkwaypartnersnola.org 504.620.2224
gardens are used to teach Math, Science, Art and Language Arts in 10 area schools. Call for info on starting one at your child’s school.
City Park Botanical Gardens, Growing Gardeners Program for ages 6-9 to play and learn about a variety of gardening topics.
Longue Vue House and Gardens Kinder Garden – ages 18mo. – 3yrs dig, do, and discover in the beautiful Discovery Garden.
Community gardens/great resources:
New Orleans Food and farm network www.noffn.org 504.483.6967 A great resource for al that is happening in community gardening in New Orleans. Workshops, farmers markets, growing sites, and more.
Composting Network
504.206.9298
Kid’s Gardening
School Garden Wizard www.schoolgardenwizard.org