If you are an avid gardener, you know how rewarding it is to place seeds into the ground and see plants grow up in their place. Guess what? Your kids can reap the same rewards from working on vegetable gardens and will learn a whole lot of great stuff in the process. Science and math and creativity, oh my! There are plenty of reasons to get kids and vegetable gardens together, but what is the best way to do so?

Choosing your Crops

The first step in creating kid-friendly vegetable gardens is to select crops that you both enjoy growing. You can choose vegetables that your kids like to eat, so they can create an entire vegetable garden filled with the foods that they love. You can also select fast growing crops, like lettuce and radishes that will offer more immediate gratification for their planting efforts. Finally, create your vegetable garden around a theme, such as a pizza garden that contains tomatoes, peppers and basil.

Get Real

Keep in mind that when kids get involved with vegetable gardens, you may be giving up your ability to enjoy nice straight rows of crops. Your lettuce may sprout up among your beans and your carrots may crop up all over your garden bed! However, the lessons that you child will learn will far outweigh the compromise in aesthetic quality and organization that you might be required to make. And you may find that it's rather fun to wait and see where your various crops end up!

Allowing them to Help

Vegetable gardens do not end with the planting of the seeds; once those seedlings begin to emerge, there is watering, fertilizing and weeding that must take place. Get the kids involved with these chores as much as you can, as long as they can tell a difference between the weeds and the beans and you keep an eye on their watering efforts. With the proper guidance, your children will learn what is required in creating a happy, healthy garden, and you will both benefit from the time that you spend outdoors together.

Give them their Own Space

Older kids may enjoy cultivating their own small plot of land, or creating their own gardens in pots that are the perfect size for them. Allow them to choose the crops for their very own miniature vegetable garden, and they will receive the ultimate satisfaction of growing and harvesting their very own crops.

Kids and vegetable gardens go hand in hand as long as you take the time to teach those half-pints the finer points of your own green thumb. This year, get down and dirty in the garden with your kids; you are guaranteed to reap much more than vegetables!