Gardening with youth

Gardening is a great activity to have youth get involved with.

Youth are becoming more and more interested in gardening and Michigan State University Extension knows just how important this discovery is. It is now a culture that is trending and becoming more distinctive throughout many communities across the U.S. Do you ever wonder how to get more youth involved? Do you have the skills to led youth in this gardening quest? Don’t worry it is much easier than you think.

The first thing you need to do is to rally some support from youth that are interested in gardening and or being more active and healthy outside. Once all of the hard work is out of that way, solicit your youth to determine what they want to grow in the garden (make sure it is something that they can grow in the area according to your climate and geographical location). Create a plan of the layout of the garden in respect to what you will be planting. Don’t forget to involve the youth in every step of this process. Determine if you want a raised bed garden or not. This will also peak interest from other youth and may instill a life-long passion for gardening and environmental stewardship for some of the youth. This also creates a hands-on learning environment that is ideal for children.

After you choose what you want to plant in your garden, have a conversation with the youth on the best way to maintain the garden by weeding it and watering it. It is a significant amount of time, energy and resources to maintain a garden which is something youth should know right away. Consider making a maintenance schedule before anything is even planted. Consider asking the youth for their suggestions on maintaining the garden. MSU Extension recommends that you engage youth in every aspect of the planning execution, maintenance and harvesting stage of gardening to give them the experience that will teach them to appreciate gardening.

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