April is National Gardening Month and April 22 is Earth Day making this time a year a great time to talk about taking care of our earth and sustainability. Sarah Rushford from our Wauwatosa/West Allis Ebenezer Child Care Center was on Real Milwaukee on April 10 to talk about how you can start your garden plants inside your house with recycled materials and get your kids involved in this great activity this year.
If you missed the segment you can watch it here: https://www.fox6now.com/real-milwaukee/gardening-with-kids-ebenezer-child-care-centers
Gardening is a great activity to do with your kids because:
-it teaches them where their food comes from
-it exposes them to healthy vegetables (there is nothing better than a cherry tomato plucked straight from the vine)
-it teaches them responsibility for caring for and harvesting plants
-working with soil has been proven to reduce stress and make you happy
-it’s something you can do together
-It can help with the family’s food budget
Containers that work great for starting plants:
Yogurt cups
Starbucks or fast food plastic drink cups
Rotisserie chicken containers or plastic cake containers – greenhouse effect
Ziplock sandwich bags
Label your containers with a permanent marker or popsicle sticks.
If you are on a budget you can even use seeds from the plants in your fridge to start your plants (Tomatoes and peppers are perfect for trying this!) so all you have to do is by potting soil which is like $3-$5 a bag depending on what size you buy.
Plant according to the seed packet directions
Make sure to place indoors by a window with plenty of sun and keep the soil moist.
