There's something wonderful about watch a kid grow and learn with a little help from Mother Nature and a garden of their very own. All one needs is a small piece of land or some large patio pots, soil, seeds or started plants, a pair of garden gloves and small gardening tools to get going. Since this was my granddaughter's first try at growing her own flowers and vegetables, we started with a sweet potato slip in a mason jar so she could actually see the root system develop with each passing day. We talked about what each plant would need in regards to sunshine, watering, regular weeding and how some garden insects are needed to help keep a garden healthy and happy. All spring and summer long we watched her garden bloom and she was simply thrilled. Many life lessons were learned in this first garden and a happy harvest was the results of our efforts. Although my granddaughter became a bit distressed when her green bean plants slowly died off at summer's end and her mammoth sunflowers began to hang their heads, it provided a great opportunity to explained the life cycle of a garden and make plans for the next growing season.
JOURNAL IT! Throughout the spring and summer months, I took digital photos, saved a few sample seeds and their packages, and clipped and dried a few blossom petals to include in a garden journal. We began the project by digitally scrapping the pages and printing them on white cardstock. Seed packets, seed samples and a few flattened flower petals were taped to the coordinating printed cardstock pages. Pages were then laminated on both sides by running them through my Xyron Creative Station. Once laminated, we simply punched some holes, assembled the pages and inserted them into a small 3 ring binder.
