How to get the whole family involved in gardening?
Photo by Amber Faust on Unsplash
Gardening is a very rewarding and productive activity. Not only does it produce food for you and yours, but it also provides a lot of enjoyment as you watch your plants grow. However, gardening can be a lot of work, and that’s why it can be hard to get the rest of your family involved. Let’s talk about some ways in which you can try to draw them into the hobby and turn your garden into a group venture.
Encourage your family to get involved
Even if your family does not want to help in the garden, they probably want to share in the bounty that comes from that garden. So, whether you are growing squash, tomatoes, peas, melons, or anything else, you should encourage them to help, even if it is with something small. Showing them your gratitude for their help may encourage them out in the garden to help pull weeds and harvest fruit.
Encourage a little competition
Competition is one thing that can motivate people to get outside and work, even in the scorching summer heat. The desire to be a “better” gardener than someone else can be a powerful motivator indeed, so use this to your advantage. All you really have to do is start a discussion on the subject of “who is the best gardener in the family?” This will naturally spark a debate, and that’s all it takes to get started. You might even encourage this friendly competition by offering a special reward for the person who shows themselves to be the most diligent gardener.
Get the family interested in seed trading
There are numerous places on the internet where you can trade different varieties of garden seeds with people all over the world. This can be a great way to incorporate the internet and social media into your encouragement efforts. Seed trading opens up a lot of new possibilities, giving you opportunities to try weird plants that you may have never even heard of before. Of course, you need to make sure that you only get seeds for plants that can do well in your climate.
Get everyone involved in the composting process
Chemical fertilizers are troublesome in several ways, but composting is a better alternative for several key reasons. First, composting is a lot more environmentally friendly. All of us will produce a large amount of organic trash in our lifetime, and it makes sense to try and reuse that waste.
If you have a larger family, composting will not be practical unless you can get everyone in on the act. Of course, rotting compost is kind of disgusting, so it pays to find a good compost spreader for sale. These are basically rolling drums with steel mesh on the outside. This allows the compost to fall out of the drum evenly, creating an evenly spread layer. Just remember that it’s best to drag it behind you so that you don’t end up walking through that nasty stuff.
Get them to start small
When someone is getting into a new hobby, they often don’t want to jump in head-first. Instead, they dip their toes in the water and get used to the feeling. A similar approach can be used when trying to encourage your family in the garden. For instance, if you are trying to encourage a small child, you shouldn’t just turn them loose with a whole acre to manage. Instead, put them in charge of a single plant. At the same time, teach them how to care for that single plant, and you will get them emotionally invested in the health of that plant. Obviously, you should choose a plant that is relatively easy to manage.
Conclusion
There are lots of ways that you can encourage the rest of your family to help in the garden, and these are only a few of them. With a little thought and creativity, we are sure that you can come up with a few more. Although it can be very hard to get people motivated, the rewards of gardening can be very great indeed. Whether you are growing food plants or decorative plants, there is something to be said for the satisfaction of exercising your green thumb.