Gardening with Kids: A Montessori Home
One of the very first blog posts I ever wrote (back in 2007) was about gardening. It’s been quite a journey over the years! Matt and I built awesome raised beds when we lived in Colorado. However, we ultimately failed to grow very much at all. When we settled in Houston, our house had too much shade for gardening. We then lived in a rental house in Austin and didn’t want to start anything. Finally, we settled into our current home. I fretted about whether or not to put raised beds in the front yard. I’m so glad I did! Gardening with kids is now a regular part of our life as we work to cultivate a Montessori home.
We basically only have two seasons in Austin: Spring/Summer/Fall and Winter. When Matt and I are gardening with kids, we try to keep it manageable by planning stuff during Spring Break (March) and Fall Break (October). We are running behind this year!
We were on a cruise this Spring Break and have since used our weekends for things like adventures to small Texas towns. So now it is nearly May, and we are just getting going for the season!
This Year’s Garden Plan
We worked with the kids to figure out what they most wanted to plant in our four, 4’x4′ beds. We landed on:
- Tomato plants
- Cucumbers
- Sunflowers
- Watermelon
We also have the following growing around our edible yard:
- Rosemary
- Loquats
- Persimmons
- Peaches
- Pears
- Thyme
- Mint
- Bay Leaves
- Lemon Grass
- Pomegranate
Of course gardening with kids isn’t only part of a Montessori home. However, it is an integral part of the Montessori approach. At our school, for example, every classroom from pre-K3 through 3rd grade has a garden right outside their classroom. We then have a communal garden for the 4th-6th graders.
Benefits of Gardening with Kids
Gardening with kids helps them build immense awe for the universe around them. They watch as a tiny seed grows into something that can then sustain human life. They witness old rinds decompose and add back to the soil. They find things like worms whose “cosmic task” is to improve soil quality. They start to see how everything is connected; how everything benefits something else; and that it is our job to protect the fragile Earth and find our role in it.
