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School’s out for summer, plant a garden with your teen

As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, it’s the perfect time to get outside as a family. However, my teens would rather spend time in front of the television, watching an episode of The Office for the umpteenth time or playing video games. This year I’ve come up with a plan and I’m ready to share it with you. Read on for helpful tips and learn about the benefits of planting a garden with your teen.

Our teens’ screen time obsession is growing like a weed

According to a report from the Pew Research Center, 95% of teens say they have a smartphone or have access to one. Also noted in this report, 45% of teens say they are online on a near-constant basis. Further, roughly nine out of ten boys have access to a game console at home.

These statistics just reinforce the fact that when given the opportunity, our teens will in fact choose to be online, unless, of course, we provide them with a fun and engaging alternative.

Replanting the couch potatoes outside

A couple of months ago, I proposed to my teens that we plant a fruit and vegetable garden. We had attempted growing vegetables haphazardly in recent years but never really put in the time or effort required to successfully yield a harvest. This year, we decided we’d roll up our sleeves, dig deep (literally and figuratively) and make it happen.

Finding the right time for planting a garden with your teen

It’s important to note here that we live in central Florida. That means our planting season is earlier than most. So, depending on where you live, your timeline may shift slightly. This handy growing calendar will help you determine your growing zone, which will inform you what to plant and when to plant it in your location. For example, we are located in zone 9, and if we choose to grow lettuce this year, we will need to wait until late September to plant.

Give your teen a say in decisions about your garden

The best way to get the whole family excited about planting a garden with your teen is to ensure that everyone gets a say. Let’s face it, teens aren’t exactly the biggest fans of most vegetables. So I knew it would be beneficial to give mine the option to choose vegetables or fruits that they might actually eat.

In addition to determining which produce your family will enjoy, if you are just starting out, you probably want to begin with fruits and vegetables that are fairly easy to grow. This year, based on timing and what our boys preferred, we decided to grow tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, strawberries, baby watermelons, basil, and corn.

Develop a blueprint when planting a garden with your teen

You will need to evaluate the space and decide the best location for planting a garden with your teen. This is a great opportunity to get your teens involved in the process. If your kids are kinda nerdy like me, they can try one of the many free online garden planners. And if your teens are Minecraft fans like my son, they can design a garden in Minecraft. Yes, I said it. Minecraft.

I’m a visual person, so I appreciate seeing things plotted out on old fashioned graph paper. It’s really up to you and your family which route you choose. I do recommend paying close attention to how much space each of your plants will need and how far they will spread. We learned the hard way with cucumbers this year that they spread like crazy and take up a LOT of room. They are taking over our garden!

If they can build it, teens will come

Another great activity to include when planting a garden with your teen is to build a raised bed in your backyard. My husband and sons built a simple raised bed for the cost of a few pressure treated 2x8s in a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. The satisfaction that they found in designing and building the bed with their own hands made a huge difference in their connection to our garden project. There are plenty of free plans and instructions online for building a raised bed, so do your research and determine what fits your space and your budget.

Florida soil is mostly sand, which makes it challenging to grown anything successfully in the ground, hence the reason for building the raised bed. We measured the area of our garden, dug out the sand/dirt and filled it with organic soil, mixing in plenty of black cow compost.

Getting started with container gardening

If you don’t have a space for a garden in your yard, you have plenty of other options. You could plant in containers on a patio or deck. You just need to make sure that your plants get the right amount of sun. We grow our basil in a pot on our patio because I like to keep it nearby so I can easily snip some when I need it for a recipe.

This year, we made the decision to grow our strawberries in an Earth Box. If you aren’t familiar with this amazing invention, the Earth Box is a complete system that makes gardening effortless and is a perfect solution for those who have limited space and/or who may just be getting started. We found that our strawberries grew better, faster and yielded more fruit than in previous years when we grew them in the ground.

The best tools for teen gardeners

When planting a garden with your teen, you don’t need much more than some seeds or seedlings, some dirt, a shovel, and a water source. But if your teens are anything like mine, they love trying out new gadgets and tools. There are a plethora of options to choose from but buying a gardening tool set offers an affordable solution complete with just about everything you need.

The benefits of planting a garden with your teen

As referenced earlier, teens and their screens continue to sabotage the time our kids spend outdoors. Planting a garden with your teen is a fantastic way to get outside into the fresh air, but the benefits of gardening go even further.

• Gardening is good for the mind: Teens will use their brains for math, science and problem-solving in the garden. They will use these skills when planning and building a garden bed, when calculating fertilizer and water ratios and when measuring the space needed for optimal growth. They will begin to understand the life-cycle of a plant and what it takes to sustain growth in a living thing.

• Gardening is good for the soul: I remember when my boys were young. They took advantage of every opportunity to get their hands in the dirt. Planting a garden with your teen provides them with the chance to return to the simple pleasures of childhood, being outdoors, and enjoying the beauty of nature. Today’s teens are feeling overwhelmed and stressed in their daily lives. As reported in a study by Science Direct, spending time in the garden has been shown to help to improve mental health and well-being.

• Gardening is good for connection: Being outside in the peace and quiet provides us with uninterrupted time to connect with our kids without the usual technology-related distractions. We’ve had some pretty awesome conversations while tending to our plants. Gardening also gives our kids the ability to connect with nature and the environment.

• Gardening is good for the body: Gardening is practically all manual labor. Whether building a garden bed, unloading bags of soil, digging a bed or planting seeds, gardening challenges our teens to be physical. It gets their blood moving and makes their bodies stronger. Planting a garden with your teen also encourages them to try new healthy foods. They will learn more about the importance of fueling their bodies with healthy fruits and vegetables rather than donuts and soda pop.

• Gardening is good for building confidence and self-esteem: I can tell you from experience that nothing tastes better than that first bite into a ripe strawberry or a juicy tomato that you grew in your own garden. Knowing that they grew their food from a simple seed instills a sense of purpose and confidence in our teens. Additionally, being the caretaker of a garden gives teens a sense of accomplishment and helps them learn responsibility.

Hydroponic gardening is our next big adventure

Next year, our goal is to try our hand at hydroponic gardening. The word hydroponics comes from two Greek words: “hydro” meaning water and “ponics” meaning labor. Gardening without soil isn’t a new concept but it’s new to us. From what we’ve learned in our research, there are lots of benefits of hydroponic gardening including faster growth rate, greater yield, and a number of benefits to the environment. We are a DIY kind of family and my younger son is obsessed with the mechanics of how things work, so we’re planning to design and build our own hydroponics garden very soon! If your family enjoys DIY, this may be another great way to start planting a garden with your teen.

Planting a garden with your teen this summer

At the risk of getting sentimental, there are only a few short summers left before our teens head off to college. We try to take advantage of any activity that will enable us to spend more time with our boys.

Planting a garden with your teen provides the chance to connect with your teen for very little investment of time or money. Start with one small container and work your way up from there. Planting a garden with your teen will build a bond and create memories that you’ll cherish for years to come.

Please comment below and let me know if you are thinking about planting a garden with your teen. We certainly aren’t experts but we’d be happy to share what we have learned along the way. And we’d love to see your photos and hear all about the yummy and healthy foods you and your teen are growing in your garden!