Urban Farming - Involving the Children

The kids and I set about creating a tiered herb garden yesterday afternoon.  This project was inspired by one in the book The Ultimate Step-by-Step Kid's First Gardening Book.  The book is fabulous and brimming with wonderful, kid friendly gardening ideas.

This project is perfect for kids of all ages.  I had an 8 year old, 5 year old, and 4 year old helping, plus a 2 year old watching on.  We modified the plans a bit to accomidate our meager budget!  Instead of pretty terra cotta pots of varying sizes, I found some plastic and metal pots in the dollar bins at Target (small, medium, and large.  Make sure they'll nest).  They aren't as pretty, but they'll serve our purpose well.  I am also banking on the herbs growing large and hiding the pots a bit.

First things first, make sure you have the right tools gathered.  We had our three nesting pots, a bag of soil, a trowel, some seeds, and a few small herbs.  We chose basil, thyme, lemon balm, chamomile, and curly parsley.  There is a bit room for more, but that's what we had.  Steer clear of mint, as it grows rampant and will take over your pots!  Have fun choosing your favorite herbs or try new varieties.  There are so many to choose from.

After we gathered our tools, we set the medium sized pot inside the largest pot and filled in all around with potting soil.  We had a few herbs that were already a bit large, but mostly we had seeds (trying to be economical!!).  We planted a couple types of seeds and a couple larger plants in this bottom tier. 

We filled in a bit more and then set the smallest pot into the middle one and filled in around it.  We planted a few more herbs in our middle pot.

We then filled the top pot with soil and planted a lovely bit of curly parsley to crown our herb garden.

This fun project was quick and easy!  It was perfect for including all of the children and gave them a real sense of ownership in our garden.

Try this project with your own little ones!  Keep it in a sunny place and let them water it each day.  Very soon, their own herbs will be gracing the kitchen!

I am really enjoying this "Urban Farming" series.  I would LOVE to have you join in, either with comments or links to your own posts in the combox, so that we can all see other peoples adventures in Urban Farming!