The Children's Garden: want a great way to spend your summer vacation? Do what we did! - children grow organic flowers, vegetables and herbs at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia

Ranger Rick, May, 1997 by Janeen Adil

Here's where we spent last summer--The Children's Garden in Richmond, Virginia. It's part of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. We came here every week to work and have fun. We grew flowers, herbs, and vegetables. And no one cared if we got really dirty!

Our garden was special because it was an organic garden. That means we didn't use pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Instead, we worked with nature. If insects were eating up our plants, we picked the insects off--and brought in insect-eating ladybugs to help us.

Come on and take a look at what we did!

The first thing we did in the garden was make our beds! Not the kind of beds we sleep in--but garden beds. Most garden plants like lots of light, so we put the beds where they'd get at least six hours of sun each day.

To make a bed, we dug up the soil so it was nice and loose. That made it easier for roots to grow long and strong. Then we pulled out rocks and raked the soil smooth.

Plants or seeds went in next. We pushed the seeds down as deeply as their packets said to--just like tucking them into bed. Finally, the seeds and plants got a big drink.

Meet the Weed Patrol

Having a garden is a little like having a pet: You need to take care of it. After our plants started growing, we kept an eye on them. Weeds were one of the things we watched for. Weeds can take over a garden, stealing water, sun, and air from the garden plants. Then the garden plants don't grow very well. They might even get a disease and die. So good-bye, weeds, good-bye!

Sometimes Japanese beetles and other insect pests helped themselves to our plants. We just picked them off and stepped on them or dropped them into a can of soapy water to drown them. (The grown-up gardeners showed us which insects were pests and which ones weren't.)

We also made sure our garden had enough water. If it didn't rain for a while, we got out the watering cans. Whew--that was a lot of work. At least we didn't have to take our plant "pets" for a walk!

Nah. This is where we toss the weeds--into our compost pile. Making compost is a special way to do recycling right in the garden. It's kind of like following a recipe. First we throw weeds (without seed heads), rotten tomatoes, dead leaves, grass clippings, and other plant stuff into a bin. Next we add a little water and soil and stir the whole thing up.

Then the compost starts to "cook." Tiny lifeforms such as fungi and bacteria feed on the dead plants. That action makes the compost heat up! Finally, in a few weeks, we get--ta, da!--super-food. The finished compost looks like crumbly brown fertilizer. We used it instead of chemical fertilizer to help plants grow bigger and stronger. So which is smarter--turning grass clippings and garbage back into plant food or throwing them away? You've got it!

Toads were some of our garden's best friends. They ate lots of slugs and insects before the creepy crawlies could chow down on our plants. That's why we made flowerpot houses--to help keep the toads around.

Toads weren't the only ones who turned insects into meals. Ladybugs, praying mantids, spiders, birds, and even bats were also our garden buddies.

We learned that working with nature is a balancing act. For example, some birds helped by eating harmful insects such as squash bugs. That's good. But then the birds turned around and ate our strawberries. That's bad! So we had to figure out different ways to protect the garden, such as putting nets over the strawberries.

Toadily Awesome Bug Zapper

All Done--Have Some!

The grownups who work at the Botanical Garden taught us a lot about the plants we were growing. They even got us to act out what we were learning. One time, we had to "ketchup" on learning about tomatoes.

Every week there was a different program at the garden. Some days we planted; other days we weeded and watered. And every week we learned more about garden- ing. We decided that a garden's a fun place to hang out and do things together.

Almost every week, there was something new to harvest. But we had to wait all summer for the potatoes to be ready. Digging them up was like looking for buried treasure. You never knew what you'd find! See all the different kinds of potatoes? We grew white ones, red ones, yellow ones, and even blue potatoes! After we washed the dirt off, we stored the potatoes in a cool, dark place. Some of us even used them to make french fries. It's so good to garden!

Rangers: With soil, water, seeds, and plants, you can start an organic garden too. Ask your librarian to help you find organic gardening books--and how to find garden clubs or groups in your area. Now's the time to get started!