Introduction To Herbs For Kids: Start Your Herb Garden

Make a home for your new best friends!

Have you ever watched a little seed sprout into life? Have you seen a baby plant grow into a big, beautiful plant? It is magical! You can be a gardener and help little plants grow! Invite some of your newly found herb friends to grow in your garden and take care of them so they will grow up healthy and strong.

If you have been following along with our Introduction to Herbs for Kids series, then you know that we have already explored a lot of the herbal world together. We have learned about making special friends with herbs as well as how to make some wonderful, fun things from our herbal friends plus much more. Growing herbs is also a wonderful way to work with plants and add to your herbal knowledge. Growing your own herbs is another way to learn about the plants in which you get to interact with them while they are fresh and vital. Using fresh herbs is a true delight because they are full of life, fragrance and flavor. Are you ready to start your own garden? Let’s go!

How To Grow A Garden

Your garden can be as big as a large plot of land or as small as a little garden pot. Whatever space you have to offer is the perfect space. There are some basic guidelines to follow when planting and caring for a garden. We will talk about a few of them. If you want more information about how to have a beautiful herb garden, there are plenty of books to read that are full of useful tips. You can also ask folks working at your local plant nursery and at your local extension county office for help.

Helpful gardening books:

• Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together With Children by Sharon Lovejoy
• A Kid’s Guide To How Herbs Grow (Digging In the Dirt Series) by Patricia Ayers
• Growing 101 Herbs That Heal by Tammi Hartung
• The Medicinal Herb Grower by Richo Cech
• Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide: 33 Healing Herbs To Know, Grow and Use by Rosemary Gladstar

Step One: Make A Plan

Before you get outside and start digging, it is a good idea to do a little planning. What kind of space do you have for a garden? What herbs are you interested in growing? Will those herbs grow well in the space you have available? Draw your plan out on a piece of paper or use the activity sheet below to help you make your plan. Also remember to get your parent’s permission and help before starting your garden!

Step Two: Know What Your Herb Friend Needs

What are the basics things that a plant needs to grow happily in your garden? From our botany lesson we know that plants have roots for drinking up water, minerals, and vitamins from the soil. Plants also have leaves that are rich in green chlorophyll that catches energy from the sun to help the plant make its own food. So we know that in order for our herb friends to grow successfully they need to have enough sunlight, water, vitamins and minerals.

Plants need more or less of each of these things depending on where they like to grow. Some plants like to grow right out in the hot sun while some prefer to live in a cool shady area. Some plants need lots of water and other like less water. Doing a little research about what your plant needs to grow healthy and strong will help you pick the best place for planting. Look at the chart below to see what the herbs you want to plant need to be happy and then pick a spot in your garden for them that they will like.

Step Three: Make Your Bed

Have you heard of a garden bed? This is the special place where your plants will grow. It is important to make sure the soil you have in your bed is ready for the plants. You will need to dig up the soil especially if it is compacted down. The soil in my yard is hard and thick with clay. So every time I plant something in a new area, I start by spending time digging up the soil and turning it over. Then I add things to the soil that plants like such as topsoil, compost, egg shells, coffee grounds, and even manure. You can find out what the soil in your area needs to make a great garden bed by visiting your local plant nursery. Also, before you start digging be sure to have your parent’s permission.

Step Four: Plant Your Garden

You can buy little seedling plants or grow herbs from seed. You may be able to find seeds and seedlings in your local area. If you can’t find them from local folks, here are some wonderful places to purchase them online.

Online resources for seeds and plants:

• Mountain Rose Herbs
• Horizon Herbs
• Botanical Interests

When you buy seeds to sprout or plants to grow there is usually information on the seed packet or with the plant that will tell you about the plant’s water, light and soil requirements. Reading this information is a great way to find out what your plant friend needs to be healthy and happy. In our next lesson we will talk about some fun ways to sprout seeds at home.

Tools For The Garden

When growing a garden, it is helpful to have some handy tools to help you get the job done right. You and your parent may want to gather up some of these tools before you make your bed or plant your plants so that you will be well prepared. Tools to consider having on hand include: a hose or watering can, spade, shovel, garden fork, hand weeder, and a basket or bucket for moving around large amounts of material such as soil, mulch and eventually your harvested plants!

Step Five: Take Care!

Once your garden is planted, be sure to take good care of your herb friends. Visit your garden every day to give your herbs water and to pull up any unwanted plants that may have found their way into your garden bed. While you are there, take some time to say “hi” to your herb friends. Do you notice how is the garden changing day to day? You may want to draw the plants, take pictures over time or make some notes about their growth.

Favorite Plants For A Child’s Herb Garden

Here is some very basic information to help guide you towards herbs you may want to invite to grow in your garden. Visit your local nursery or look at gardening books for further information about the herbs you want to grow.

This chart was generated with growing information from: Tammi Hartung, Richo Cech, and Patricia Michalak.

An Extra Special Note About Mints, Sages, and Thymes

There are a great many varieties of mints, sages and thymes to choose from when planning your garden.

Mints – Beyond peppermint and spearmint, our favorite mint is apple mint. It has the sweetest fuzzy leaves and a wonderful flavor. We also love chocolate mint, orange mint, pineapple mint, and ginger mint.

Sages – Regular garden sage is a wonderful plant to grow but you might also want to consider pineapple sage or the lovely tricolor sage.

Thymes – Lovely thymes to consider are delightful lemon thyme, golden lemon thyme, orange thyme, French and English thyme, the super tiny minus thyme, and wooly thyme.

Be aware that mints spread readily and will gladly expand into whatever garden space is available to them.

Step Six: Leave It Alone

There maybe be some helpful plants growing in your yard already that can be used as herbs! Sometimes these plants are considered to be weeds but herbalists know better. If you find any of these plants and they are growing in a place that is okay for them to stay and grow, then you may want to just leave them alone.

Some examples of helpful plants to keep an eye out for are:

• Dandelion
• Plantain
• Red Clover
• Alfalfa
• Lamb’s Quarters
• Thistles
• Wild Lettuce
• Chicory
• Nettle

What is a weed?

One of my wise teachers once told me that a weed is any plant that is growing in a place where you don’t want it to be. Perhaps it is just a new friend that we don’t know enough about yet?

Activities For Kids Of All Ages

Garden Planning Activity

It’s time to plan your garden! Download the Garden Planning Sheet to get started! 

REFERENCES: 

Andrews, Valerie. (1990). A Passion For This Earth: Exploring A New Partnership Or Man, Woman And Nature. New York: Harpercollins.

Cech, Richo. Growing Information Retrieved from https://www.horizonherbs.com/

Hartung, Tammi. (2000). Growing 101 Herbs That Heal. Vermont: Storey Books.

Michalak, Patricia S. (1993) Rodale’s Successful Organic Gardening: Herbs. Pennsylvania: Rodale Press.