local foods

Ten Tips for Gardening with Children

  1. Start small. It’s OK to dream big and start small. Whether you grow in containers, in a school or community garden or in your front or back yard, make the best choices for you and your family’s growing space, interest and goals.
  2. Learn about plants. If you are new to gardening, or it’s been a few years, review some basic plant science. At the very minimum, all plants need light (sun), water (approximately an inch a week from rain or supplied by the gardener) and nutrients (from a healthy soil). For your benefit, learn about the plants you would like to grow, including knowing potential challenges and possible solutions. Know your local resources like the Horticulture Hotline for Lucas County. Keep safety in mind. This is always important but especially with young children who are inclined to “explore” by putting things in their mouth.
  1. Keep it simple! You don’t have to be an expert on gardening. Just like doing other new things with children, you get to learn together. If they have a question, talk it through and discover the answer. Use the resources listed above, children’s books and youth garden websites
  2. Decide on plants. What plants to grow? Gardens are as diverse as the people who grow them! You can grow whatever will work in your space and your kitchen. When gardening with youth, consider growing some radishes, sunflowers, cherry tomatoes and mini-gourds. Why? Radishes grow fast. Even if you or your kiddos don’t love radishes, they are one of the first vegetables to harvest. Sunflowers are bright and tall (or chose a small variety for smaller spaces) and edible! Miniatures like cherry tomatoes (for an easy snack) and mini-gourds (for fall decoration and crafts) are fun because they grow plentiful and are just the right size for smaller hands.
  3. Up-cycle household items for garden tools and supplies. Use kid-sized tools for planting and digging. Even spoons will work well when held in small hands. Before sending common household items to the recycling center, consider up-cycling them into garden tools. An empty milk jug can become a watering can or cut into a scoop for garden soil. Plastic knives can be used as plant labels and stuck in the ground.
  4. Keep chore time short. Make a game of weeding, or limit to five minutes. Watering (or water play) is usually the fun part of gardening, especially in the hot summer!
  5. Let them play. Follow their lead. If they’d rather play in the soil or look at bugs than pull weeds, it’s OK. They are still learning while playing.
  6. Let them have growing space. Give children their own spot or container to garden and let them grow their own way. A preschooler may want to plant and re-plant, dig and explore similar to a sandbox. Include containers with pebbles, sticks, seeds, small tools, and other garden-related items to explore. Set up a Mud Kitchen with bowls, buckets and plastic kitchen tools. For elementary-aged children, take a 4-H garden project or use a small space to create a miniature garden such as fairy garden or dinosaur garden.  In large garden spaces, create a play space by planting a Sunflower House and Beanpole Tepee. It is helpful to mulch wide paths to define the walking and playing space from the garden growing area. Add benches or straw bales for seating.
  7. Enjoy! Enjoy yourself and your fresh produce. It’s a great time to explore and learn together, reconnect with nature, observe daily changes and growth and prepare new recipes.
  8. Share your garden story and share your extra produce. Use social media to post your garden pictures, sneak a zucchini on your neighbor’s porch on August 8th and consider donating extra produce to a local emergency food pantry.

Links:

Ohio Local Foods and “Dining In” on FCS Day, 2018

Welcome supporters of Ohio local foods and families eating together.

This page is designed as a starting point for information for OSU Extension to promote both Dining In Day on December 3rd and Ohio Local Foods. A few of these resources are dated from previous years but the content that is useful for 2018 is noted on this page.

OSU Extension Local Foods Signature Program (retired)

Because the program is retired, there is some dated information on the website but it also has lots of great resources for current projects. The following links are all part of the Local Foods website but this will highlight how they might be useful in 2018.

Adding A Youth Flavor to Extension’s Signature Programs

The 4 lessons on local foods were designed by 4-H youth as a resource for other older 4-H members to facilitate learning activities with their clubs and communities. This is also helpful for OSU Extension staff as an introduction to the topic of local foods. The introduction to this set of 4 lessons includes a few Frequently Asked Questions about Local Foods.

Description of Local Foods Week (note, this is from August 2017)  “Even during wintertime, Ohio local food is available, whether it is fresh produce grown with season extenders or crops that can be held for long periods of time in cold/cool storage as well as baked, canned, frozen and dried foods”.

How do you identify and find local foods? Ohio Local Food Directories  

Please note that all the links might not be up to date but there should be some good leads. “Just like there is no one definition for “local,” there is no one best way to search out local foods. Local foods are available for purchase at businesses like grocery stores and restaurants or purchased directly from growers at farmers’ markets, auctions, farm stands or CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). This summary of online local food directories is not an exhaustive list but it is a starting point for Ohio consumers to locate favorite local foods. No endorsement is intended for products listed, nor is criticism meant for products not listed.  This summary lists the titles of the online directories in alphabetical order.”

Farm to Health Resources

Includes Farm to Health Series Cards with a focus on different Ohio produce with information and a recipe (note: carrots includes Carrots, Winter Squash and Sweet Potatoes, all crops that could be sourced locally during the wintertime). In addition, check out the Placemats on local foods that can be printed for the family table. All of the placemats focus on local foods but the one titled “Seasonality” shows a calendar of all 12 months and some foods that are local and available during that time of year. This might be useful for a December event like Dine In Day.

2015 Dine In Blog Post on Live Smart Ohio (and short background on Ellen Swallow Richards)

“Thank you Ellen Swallow Richards: You have reminded our modern families that science is valuable, history is fascinating and family wellness is meaningful.”

 2018 Dine In and Local Foods Questions

  • What foods are local to your area? Remember, there is no one definition for “local” in regards to food. What food connections are in your community, whether it’s directly in your county or state or region?
  • Who are potential community partners in relation to local foods and “Dining In” on Family and Consumer Sciences Day? Local farmers market? Stores that sell local foods? Emergency food pantries that are helping families put meals on the tables?
  • Who are community and individual leaders who grows and raises local foods?  Who grows a vegetable garden or farm? Who does home food preservation? Who raises livestock to freeze, dry or can? Can they help spread the word about Dine In Day?
  • Who are your colleagues who can help promote Ohio Local Foods and Dining In? ANR, 4-H, CD colleagues. Community partners like Farmers Bureau, schools, FFA, 4-H clubs, FCS teachers and FCCLA
  • What local foods do you dine on?