Category: New Gardener

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Garden in place workshop

The LA County Master Gardeners have been hosting a Tuesday morning workshop on gardening. Here is a video Diego and I worked on – good for understanding space and expectations of a toddler in the garden.

Often, we think that we’re going to have a beautiful garden, like those in magazines. Really, it’s a challenge to maintain a garden like that, and even more of challenge to have grown up expectations of kids.

Check this out and start feeding your curiosity – kids can garden, but we need to manage our expectations of what gardening will look like for them.

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Gardening in the age of coronavirus

There are so many things to talk about but I haven’t been able to slow down. Today, I am sick, in bed. It really sucks. While I’m down for the count and trying not to be scared and just slow down.

I want to post a how to get started guide, since I’m seeing a lot of activity online from people who want to get garden started.

  1. find the space you want to use. Meaning, where is the area that you envision your garden. You can grow something whether you’re on a balcony or you have a lot of space.
  2. how much sun do you get during the day? The reason why I ask you to pay attention to this is because you need to find a natural system that works. You don’t want lettuce getting blasted by 12+ hours of sun a day.
  3. A water source is important, you want accessibility for either a drip system or a close enough water source if you plan on handwatering.
  4. What zone are you in? Determine your zone so you know when your frost dates hit, what you can grow in your area, and so on. You will learn more and more through experience but this is a good space to start.
  5. Find a reputable nursery in your area, one where you can ask questions. Find a seed company while you’re at it. I like rareseeds.com and seedsavers.org.
  6. Find a support group, some friends who you can bounce ideas with and learn and share.
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Worm composting with preschoolers

About three months ago we donated some red wigglers to Grandview Preschool. I have sadly been too wrapped up with work to tend to them as well as I should have. The good news is that it’s been rather chilly and the worms do well with this type of weather.

I asked the kids to feed the worms, we gave them some food that was in my fridge a little too long and I hope to be able to repurpose any leftover food and give them to our wiggly buddies. The long term goal is to have the preschool incorporate the chickens that they keep and the worms into their ecosystem of food waste. For now, we will take baby steps until the kids and teachers become acclimated to the changes.

Here is more information on red worm composting: https://unclejimswormfarm.com/red-worms-eat-compost/

toddlers and compost