EARTH DAY!

Girls in the Garden wants to help you be green!

We have spent a large amount of our time in the outdoors, and from those experiences we have gathered many different activities to do ourselves, or with children. Since Earth Day is upon us we thought it would be a great time to share some of our ideas with you!

- Everyone can do their part by limiting waste by composting, recycling, and reusing.  Also by turning out lights, hanging your laundry outside to dry, and using fans in the summer, all of these things help the environment while saving you money.

- I’ve found you can have a garden anywhere from garden beds at your house, to pots on a balcony or windowsill, to a mural on a wall!  Planting herbs and vegetables also cuts down on grocery bills while making your property more aesthetically pleasing.

Exploring the outdoors with children is a great way to learn new things about nature and each other. Below are a few ideas to do with your children this summer!

* A great way to have an outdoor adventure is using a discovery kit! Kids can put these together themselves by collecting small rulers, magnifying glasses, bug jars (old jam jars, pasta sauce jars, etc) nets, journals and any other objects you will find useful on your nature trek!  As you explore the outdoors keep your eyes open for different insects like grasshoppers, mosquitos, lady bugs and more!

*A great game to play with older children is to have a scavenger hunt! Make up lists with pictures of insects, small animals, or different sorts of plants! This keeps kids active in the outdoors, while learning about their environment.

*A great way to add some variety to your child’s garden beds is to have themes! One of my favourites is a baby bed, fill your pots or garden with plants like; baby beets, silver dollar sized patty pan squash, sweet farmex carrots, cherry tomatoes, baby lettuce, bambino eggplant, and batwing pumpkins! These are all very small vegetables that the kids will eat right from the plant!

Gentle Giant beds can also be prize worthy with plants like; long pole beans, cucuzza squash, Dill’s Giant pumpkins, and walking stick cabbage.

** The biggest part of being environmentally aware is being conscious of what you’re doing, and how you’re doing it! Don’t throw away those old boots or haggard pots, let your kids paint them, plant them and love them! Almost anything can be reused in the garden and landscape. Use your imagination and let your yard come alive!

Being green is all in how you perceive it, simply be aware of your environment and what you put into it, for your kids and your grandkids will be left to care for what you haven’t. Make a positive change in your life today, and you could change more than you imagine!

"Man - despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments - owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."