Gardening is a useful and relaxing practice that most people enjoy doing. Not only is it fun and creative pastime activity, but it is also very educational for kids, so make sure you include your children and teach them about gardening as well. By joining you in nurturing and growing plants or simply enjoying the beautiful outdoors they are more connected to nature, happier and healthier. However, gardens are also places where kids can get injured. Still, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t let your kids experience the joy of spending time in a garden. Here are some precautionary measures you can take.
Examine the soil
The first thing you should do before you even consider having a garden is examine the soil, for the sake of your kids’ health and your own. For example, some soils were exposed to industrial contamination and they could contain harmful chemicals that can endanger your kids directly or through food.
Choose a safe water source
Irrigation is necessary for all gardens, regardless of the plants you plan to grow, but some water sources might be more dangerous than others. For example, wells need to be tested regularly for bacteria and other contaminants. They can also be risky for kids who love running around the garden, so you should make sure the well is always covered to prevent kids from falling inside. Running water provided by your municipality is usually safe, but you should also test it, just in case.
Kid-friendly landscaping
There are a few things you need to consider if you want to make your garden child-friendly:
- Laying a turf: Regardless of the size and the purpose of your garden, you should have at least a small lawn for kids to play safely.
- Choosing the plants: There are some gardening plants that are dangerous for kids. Avoid potentially poisonous plants, such as Oleander and Castor Bean. Roses with sharp and strong thorns are also not the safest choice.
Make the trees safe
Trees have always been kids’ favorite retreat and an endless source of fun activities outside in nature. Because kids will be kids, they will always want to climb the trees or insist on putting a swing on it. However, not all trees are good trees, and if you are dealing with white cedar tree (poisonous fruit) or a rotten tree with easily breakable branches, consider opting for tree removal services, and planting another, safer kind.
Store the tools
Power tools and other gardening tools present a major hazard for the kids. That’s why they need to be stored in the garage out of the reach of small kids or in a shed that can be locked. The access to electricity for power tools should also be child-proofed with outlet covers.
Be careful with chemicals
Like tools, chemicals you are using, such as insect and weed killers, should be stored somewhere where kids cannot reach them. Closed, locked shelves in your garage or a shed are good options. Of course, we suggest minimizing the use of chemicals and opting for more natural ways of maintaining your garden.
Supervision
Finally, the best way to keep your kids safe in your garden is to be around them, so that they are always under adult supervision. This supervision doesn’t mean you should be passively observing your children in the garden, rather you should try to educate them about the appropriate behavior in the garden and slowly introduce them into the world of gardening by allowing them to help you.
So, whether you are starting your garden from scratch or just want to overhaul your old garden to make it kid-friendly, these tips should help you succeed in it.
Will Sandford is a Sydney based wood architect, blogger and contributor on interior design and ecology blogs. Besides that, he is also interested in home improvement combined with green technology. Proud father of lovely girl and little boy. In his spare time, Will enjoys decorating his backyard. On free weekends, Will is visiting his parents in the countryside and helping them with their beautiful big garden and orchard. He is also a regular contributor to SmoothDecorator website.
The humble parsnip, a mainstay of the Sunday Roast has been cultivated since the Ancient Greek and Roman times. Long before Sugar Canes were harvested this tapered cylindrical cream coloured vegetable acted as a sweetener for foods. Originating in Eurasia (Europe and Asia) and closely related to both carrots and Parsley this root can be eaten in both its cooked and raw forms.
Measuring Scales.
Peel and Dice as many parsnips as it takes to measure 500g. If you have an electric steamer cook them until they are soft enough to mash around ten to twelve minutes. If you intend to boil the parsnips do not use salt as this recipe does not require salt.
Use a scone/pastry cutter to cut the scones and place them on the baking tray. Re-roll the leftovers until you have used all the dough.
Slice and fill with pickle/chutney and cheese.
In “The Office” I managed to keep the Yellow Suffer Tomato going until the second week of December before it finally succumbed to blight. I didn’t manage to put the amaranths seedlings into individual pots as I found it too cold for me, and with the nerve damage in my fingers I kept dropping things with my woolly gloves on. I tried thin gloves but once the cold was in my fingers I couldn’t do anything anyway. So now I’m at the stage of just checking the pots every few days and just giving the plants a tiny drink of water if the compost is mostly dry. I can’t risk watering them after 3pm in case there is a frost, but as they are still growing I can’t let them get stressed or dehydrated either – it’s harder than keeping them alive in the summer!
My Snow Princess Calendulas are getting far too big for their 3 inch pots, I didn’t put them in the Ty Mawr borders as I wanted to keep these separate from the yellow/orange ones, mainly because I want to see how they perform outside and to collect some seeds heads once they are spent. There is a tiny turnip that seems to be semi dormant, and a few tiny lavenders just freshly hatched from their pods. The violas are flowering like mad making the greenhouse smell divine. The Larkspurs are about 4 inches and the remaining cornflowers are about 6 inches high. There is still no sign of the grasses, or Liatris, Foxgloves, Red Hot Pokers or olive trees, there is however lots of little Heleniums popping up in the seed trays. Sadly the hyacinths didn’t come back, but I can still feel the corms so I’ll leave them for a bit longer. In the border of course are the house plants as well as Aloe Vera’s and money tree.
Back in the summer I won blogger of the month with “The Sentimental Gardener” and used the prize money/gift voucher to bag myself an 
Leaving harvesting as late as possible will give the most cropping potential. When the moment arrives, usually when the top growth has been blackened off by the first air frost, cut back the remaining stems to about 10 cm and dig up the crown consisting of the bulky storage tubers (the crop), plus small propagation roots, or ‘buds’ growing just under the surface. The crowns for next year’s plants are stored much like dahlias for the winter in a cool but frost-free place where they won’t dry out.
The big tubers, carefully snapped from the crown, are crunchy, sweet and refreshing immediately — after washing and peeling can be eaten just like a carrot — but they do have the potential to become sweeter if left out in the sun for a few days. Only undamaged tubers can be stored for several months in paper or hessian sacks, much like potatoes, in a frost-free garage or shed. Any damaged tubers should be used immediately or made into syrup.
Crunchy yacon is a delicious and different addition to savoury salads — try substituting the apple in Waldrof salad with diced yacon, or combine grated carrots, yacon ‘sticks’ and sliced celery with a grain mustard vinaigrette — in fact it absorbs dressings and sauces of all kinds very readily, making it a tasty vehicle for other flavours. In the Peruvian tradition of ‘salpicon’ (fruit salad), versatile yacon can also make a delightful fruit dessert when chopped and added to your choice of pineapple, melon, papaya or mango, dressed with fresh orange juice. If used raw, the flesh of yacon will discolour, much like an apple, so after peeling and preparing, sprinkle immediately with a little dilute lemon juice, or dressing, to preserve its attractive white colour. Alternatively, for a hot dish, yacon can be roasted with other root vegetables tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and herbs, or even just simply steamed.
Once you have grown enough yacon to have some spare you can think about extracting the sweet liquid using a food processor — about 12 kgs makes a litre of the precious syrup. Simply wash and peel the tubers in batches then whizz them up thoroughly; place in a large pan and simmer down gently at about 103 C until a delicious dark brown syrup is formed. This sweet liquid is wonderful on porridge, or has a great affinity with cocoa when making ‘guilt-free’ chocolate treats!
