Most kids love the idea that they can do something adults do. They also seem to love it when those efforts are useful to others. Bucket gardening is just such an activity. It’s easy, fun, and can be used over and over by the family or someone in need. It’s important to teach kids life skills, as well as help instill in them a helpful and giving attitude toward others. Bucket gardening can do just that.
All kids will need is a 5 gallon bucket, various vegetables to plant, an egg, and some soil enriched with plant food. They may also want to wear a sun hat and some gardening gloves. Planting a tomato in the center is said to be a tradition of the bucket garden. Other vegetables can be planted around it. The egg should be cracked and put underneath the tomato plant for extra fertilizer. It’s a good idea to use a variety of vegetables and herbs to get the most use out of the bucket garden when it grows. You may want to buy enough supplies so that you also can plant one as a way to instruct the kids on how to make a bucket garden.
From planting the bucket garden, the kids gain skills and knowledge on growing their own food. Other benefits of gardening include exercise and stress relief. The bucket garden can be placed on a patio, near a sunny apartment window, on a balcony, or on the porch.. This versatile garden is portable and easy to maintain in a variety of living conditions. Because of this, bucket gardens are often given as a gift to the hungry.
This is where the lesson on being helpful and giving comes in. Kids can make a bucket garden to give to the hungry. It can even be turned into a friends and family event where your child’s friends and family can all gather to make these bucket gardens for those in need of a food supply. Bucket gardens are very ideal for the hungry because the gardens will produce vegetables again and again, rather than be a one-time use, as with canned vegetables.
Source:
http://www.examiner.com/x-8250-Denver-Gardening-Examiner~y2009m6d8-Bucke...
