by Sara Mcgrath

Created on: August 20, 2010   Last Updated: September 08, 2010

I kept finding little signs in the garden marked with something like "peach tree" where one of my young daughters, presumably, had planted her peach pit. Obviously, they wanted to participate in the gardening. I just wasn't sure at first how to incorporate them in a way that wouldn't result in me jumping around trying to mediate the whole thing or save plants from trampling or drowning. When I discovered square-foot gardening, I knew it was the answer.

Now each of my three young daughters has her own garden in a 3x3 box with a square-foot grid. They held the boards while I nailed the boxes together. They rode back and forth in the wagon as we picked up more vermiculite or peat to mix with our compost. They picked their own seeds. We've had so many interesting discussions along the way and the girls have learned so much about life.

We make the compost using food scraps from the kitchen and with worms. Oftentimes, garlic, carrots, or broccoli will sprout right in the compost. The girls carefully transplant those into their gardens. Each little garden hosts a hand-made fairy house and hopefully a fairy. These match the clay garden spirits hung on the fence, the bird houses, and the clay flowers, all hand-sculpted by my daughters especially for their gardens.

In the course of this gardening experiment, the girls have set up toad houses, a bird bath, and houses for honeybees. They used their mini shovels to help dig a swale and build berms. Together we followed the guidelines for setting up a wildlife habitat garden and met the certification requirements for the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat Garden project.

The girls are so proud of their creation and full of good will toward the plants and animals we share the garden with. They've gotten to know the birds, bees, worms, slugs, rodents, and even raccoons who frequent. They've named the plants. Our homemade and homey garden has become so welcoming and peaceful especially because my children had a significant hand in making it.

And I still find little signs or transplanted clover blossoms or dandelions.

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