Seeing with all the Senses

It’s a good time of year to start thinking about a sensory garden. These are so much fun for children of many ages. Young children delight in simple tastes, smells, colors, textures, and even sounds. As children get older, they still enjoy these sensory elements, as well as many of the simple activities these plants can be used for.

Many sensory plants are herbs and are best started in the spring, but some are perennials, which can do much better during the first summer season if they are allowed to overwinter. In the high country Zone 5, where I live, September and early October are ideal times to plant these perennials.

But first, let’s start with some ideas for what to grow in a sensory garden. I’ve starred** the plants that can be planted in the fall. If you do want to grow a sensory garden, it would be good to plan out the whole garden, growing plants with similar water requirements together, and arranging plant heights accordingly. Many sensory plants will be spring plantings, so you’ll want to leave room for them, too!

Plants for smell:

One of my son’s favorites is lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). He picks the leaves and sighs, “mmm, lemons,” with a dreamy look on his face (which is saying something, since he’s four). And then there is lavender, scented geranium, the mints (especially pineapple mint), lily of the valley** (a perennial), agastache** (licorice hyssop), and most herbs. Eli surprised me this year when he smelled the basil and then gobbled up a “basil” soup (that was largely spinach and potatoes, with fresh basil thrown in). He has never eaten it before that I can recall, and it’s an excellent example of the ownership and interest children demonstrate in eating from their own garden.

Plants for taste:

Nasturtium

Mints are good for sensory gardens. They smell and taste delicious to most, and they are hard to damage. They do tend to get weedy, so if space is limited, grow them in pots and bury the pots in the ground. This prevents the mint from spreading too much and also prevents the drying that would occur if the pots were above ground. Some good mints to try: chocolate, pineapple, orange, and peppermint. I like to plant edible flowers, including pansies, nasturtiums, petunias, violets, geraniums, and marigolds. Squash blossoms are also edible! It’s important that children understand that they shouldn’t eat flowers unless they know they are edible, but this is something that a 2 to 3 year old can master (with supervision!).

Plants for sound:

Money Plant

Money plants (Lunaria sp.) are among the most frequently listed sound plants, as the dried flowers make good shakers. I have not found them particularly easy to get established, but they are wonderful for sound and texture, as well as interesting color and shape. Another idea for sound-producing plants are small gourds that when dry can be shaken. And ornamental grasses** are good for both sound, as they blow in the wind, and touch.




Plants for texture/touch:

Bunny tails are a favorite of mine. They can tolerate some neglect and drought but also do well with frequent watering. Eli waters the bunny tails quite a lot and they’ve been content all summer long. Eli did enjoy seeing these come out and feeling the soft tails. One thing I noticed was when he did “pet” the tails, it released a lot of pollen, and potentially seed, so I am hopeful that there may be some “volunteers” in the garden next year.

In my experience, all plants are interesting for children to touch, and they will enjoy having a special place where they know it is okay to touch the plants. Amaranth is a nice plant, as its flowers are velvety to the touch,and its grain, from the Andes, is delicious and a complete protein. Jerusalem sage** also has very soft leaves. Another favorite is lamb’s ears**, as they are so soft to the touch. When Eli was 2, this was his favorite plant, and we would pluck “just one” from neighbor’s yards on our walks (we didn’t have a suitable site for them at the time). I’d rub it gently across his cheeks.

Depending on the space you have, you might also grow some plants that have other textures, such as prickly plants (cactus, coneflowers or Echinacea, hens and chicks). These plants generally grow well in full sun and require little maintenance. And indeed are prickly. I cannot recommend that you plant thistle anywhere, because it just becomes too weedy and if it’s not native, it also becomes invasive to other areas.

Snapdragon

Snapdragons are an interesting plant for touch as well. When I was three, I was both fascinated and slightly terrified by them. I spent quite a bit of the summer sticking my fingers into the snapdragons and rapidly pulling them out of the dragon’s mouth, before they could “bite.” To this day, I cannot resist the temptation to stick my finger in a snapdragon and feel the velvety, hairy insides.

Plants for sight

Goose neck gourd

Children like bright colors and interesting shapes. For color, try to plan a variety of plants based on their time of blooming, so that you have plants blooming through as much of the growing season as possible. Bulbs such as crocuses**, daffodils**, and grape hyacinth** are early bloomers and add delightful color to the doldrums of winter in many parts of the U.S. Spanish bluebells** are an interesting shape and the brilliant colors of oriental poppies are welcome spring additions. Sunflowers are a perennial children’s favorite in summer; grow some of the smaller varieties that are more accessible to children’s heights, or grow tall varieties and make a sunflower house (4-5 at about a foot spacing in a semi-circle can be tied into a little tipi shape). One of the best vegetables we have grown for the sheer joy of watching it, is the jack-o-lantern pumpkins. They get big really quickly, and it is so rewarding to watch it grow each time we return to the garden. Other gourds similarly hold a lot of interest. Some interesting gourds to grow include bird house gourds, snake gourds, ornamental “goblin” eggs, the goose (which really does look like a goose), and dinosaur gourds (also called cave man’s club, albeit small for a club). A good website for gourds is www.thegourdfather.com.

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I took a break while writing this to play with Eli outside. It’s late August, but we made an “ice castle” for his garden gnomes outside the house. I asked him what plants he liked to touch at the garden, and he said “mint, because I like to eat it.” When I asked what plants he liked to touch because of the feel he said, “lamb’s ears. . . we should plant more touch plants next year!” So, there you have it! While we were playing with his gnomes, I also thought that maybe I should add a “sixth” sense to the garden. Call it mystery, wonder, protection, but these garden gnomes hold some kind of magic and mystery for Eli. They are said to protect the garden, but I think they just make him feel good and safe.

Living without expectations

I have had two kinds of vegetable gardens:  before Eli, and after. . .

It's taken me a while to really settle into this.  Four years in fact, and I'm still working on it.  Before Eli, I double dug beds, hand-removed pests, applied mulch and compost and cover crops at all the right times, and started growing seedlings in February.  I had an ideal intensively grown vegetable garden.

Two years ago, I mentioned to a fellow gardening friend that it was taking some adjustment to gardening with Eli, and that I was learning to change my expectations.  He replied that maybe the best recipe would be to have no expectations at all.  It's taken a couple more seasons, but I have come to agree.

The irony of course is that this is the best gardening year I've had since Eli was born.  Now 4, he is able to "help" more with digging, planting, pulling weeds, and watering.  But I've learned some things along the way about what is appropriate with younger ages.

Year 1:  I was working at Collective Roots when Eli was 3 months to a year old.  I didn't take him to work often, but when I did, we spent most of the time running around in the wheelbarrow.  Then I settled in with him at a patch of the garden that needed serious weeding.  I soaked the soil and let him go to town.  He yanked and pulled and tore up that soil with his bare hands.  My only regret was the new light green knit pants we was wearing, for the last time.  But it struck me how powerful this weeding experience was for a toddler.  He could grasp the weeds, pull them out, look at the roots a bit, and toss them aside.  It's a bit like dropping a ball over and over and over again.  They start to realize the power they have over something.  (And they ingest a lot of beneficial bacteria in the process!)

Year 2:  We moved back to Santa Fe and re-joined the Milagro community garden, which I had been a part of pre-Eli.  I was working part-time and the garden was 20 minutes away.  We managed to turn the soil and work in some compost and manure.  This was my big year of adjusting expectations, and trying to get to none at all.  My biggest frustration was that Eli did not distinguish between "rows" and "paths," and he walked in many of the newly planted areas.  Eli loved the garden, especially eating fresh peas, tomatoes, and carrots from it.  And he loved to dig.  But I made the mistake of not having a designated dig spot right in the plot.  The community garden had a sand box and shade structure, but it was too far away from the plot for Eli to feel comfortable.  He was an excellent waterer, and I always made sure to bring a change of clothes for myself and him.  The garden did okay that year, but I admit it was hard for me.  It was a great success in terms of Eli's enjoyment and experience, but he drowned some plants, dug up others, and I was unable to effectively weed or maintain the garden once planted.  If I were to do that year again, I think I'd just grow fewer things, make a big dig spot, and grow cover crops or place wood chips in the paths so that he could more easily tell where he could go.

Year 3:  We started a garden, but it didn't get very far.  The drive was too far with Eli at this age, and he wasn't interested in helping nearly as much.  We abandoned ship early in the season, and I wondered how many years it would be to ever get back to it again.  I worried that my occasional (or more frequent) irritation when Eli would "destroy" the garden led to an overall dislike of gardening.

Year 4:  Imagine my surprise when Eli was delighted that we would have a garden again.  We moved (again), this time to Boulder.  The community garden is just a short walk from our house, with a creek nearby as well.  Eli and I designed the garden together.  I was determined that this year would be different (and better) than the last 2.  I decided to grow more things that Eli wanted.  Which primarily meant designating a large chunk or our plot to a pumpkin patch.  We also planted a lot more cucumber, zucchini, patty pan squash, and peas everywhere.  I created a designated digging spot for Eli as well, and am currently growing a sunflower house above the digging spot for shade and coziness.  Eli allowed me and Jeff to double dig the whole plot, but it required several wheelbarrow rides at intervals.  He also very actively helped plant in March.  But we had a late spring, and when the peas didn't sprout out of the ground with fruit 2 weeks later, Eli lost interest.  I decided to let him move away from the garden until there was more to look at.  As spring warmed to summer, there were bugs and butterflies, weeds to pull, and plants to water, and Eli showed a renewed interest in the garden.  We have a "diggingest day" once a week where we go to the garden to work.  Eli is always excited to see what there is to eat.  He "helps" water for a few minutes and then turns to his shovels and trucks in his digging spot.  Over the summer, he's dug a large hole which makes a temporary pond each time we visit.  At first I was worried about water conservation. . .  And then I thought back to my friend in Santa Fe, and how to live without expectations. . . And what the tradeoffs really were.  Eli probably uses a few extra gallons of water every time we go to the garden, but he loves being there, and I know that water conservation will only sink in if he develops that connection to the garden at all.

I also grew buckwheat this year as a cover crop and space filler.  My thinking was that I didn't know how much time I'd actually have to garden, so maybe I could just plant some warm weather cover crop in the open spaces.  They suppress weeds, draw beneficial insects to the garden, look nice, and keep me from fretting in the garden.  In the end, I like having the buckwheat so much that I didn't cut it all as my zucchinis take over, and I have scattered buckwheat poking up through the zucchini leaves.  I also created a drought tolerant wildflower spot, for similar reasons.  At some point it occurred to me that this also might help counteract the higher water use for Eli's pond.

Another thing that worked was spending time running around the community garden as a whole, just pushing the wheelbarrows.  Eli became a big "weeder," shouting "weeds" each time he encountered something on the ground and pulling it up.  Since there is mostly grass and bindweed in the paths, I just let him go to town.  We sometimes do this for a full half hour or more.  I've come to see how much it pays off to do this, as he is more eager to go to the garden to play the "weedy game" than he ever was before.  And many trips we don't end up playing it at all.  It's just the positive associations that count.

This is all a long winded way of saying that it works to live without expectations in the garden.  And doing so has allowed me to garden more, weed more, harvest more, and enjoy the process more with Eli.  I'm sure we'll go for more cycles, as Eli develops, but I am hopeful that as long as I can be open to the process, and less attached to the products, that it will be meaningful for us both.

More Reasons to Get Diggy: Healthy and Happy Soil!

Many years ago, as I was about to go into the Peace Corps in West Africa, a college friend surmised that it would be a perfect place for me:  I didn't like to eat with utensils, I rotated the same 2 sets of clothes all the time, and I liked to go barefoot in the dirt. 

It turns out that going barefoot in West African soil isn't always such a great thing to do as the larvae of hookworms can enter the body through bare feet.  However, a recent study shows there are multiple benefits to playing in the dirt, if for no other reason than it provides natural exposure to a beneficial bacterium.  The bacteria is called Myobacterium vaccae.  According to research by Dr. Christopher Lowry at the University of Colorado, ingestion of this bacteria (by breathing in soil particles in which the bacteria reside) may be useful in the prevention and/or treatment of a variety of ailments and diseases, including treating allergies and treating major depression by increasing levels of serotonin. 

New research also suggests it may improve children's ability to learn.  According to Dorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, serotonin also plays a role in learning.  Matthews and her colleague Susan Jenks tested the exposure of mycobacteria in soil on the ability of mice to learn.  They found that the mice who were exposed to soil with the bacteria were better able to learn compared to those not exposed.  However, the effects were temporary, meaning that when the exposure went away, so did the effects.

I recently taught a General Biology class to college students and brought this new research in when we were discussing bacteria.  It's amazing to think that we have evolved these natural support systems with other organisms, such as bacteria, that play such beneficial roles in our mental and physical health.  One of the students commented, "so there's some truth to that 5-second rule," and I responded, "or even 10!"  The class laughed, but it's true.  My four-year-old loves to eat carrots straight from the ground.  While we rinse them, I feel good knowing that some of those beneficial bacteria may make their way into his system as well.  I have long felt that getting dirty was healthy, and now there is some research to support it.  Yet another reason we all need to be outside with our children, getting a healthy dose of happy soil!

Heirloom Bean Tipis

One of my favorite bean tipis was one we designed for the Santa Fe Children's Museum.   We grew a variety of heirloom beans up bamboo poles.  The best part of this design was the element of surprise it provided for children.  When the beans were ready for harvest, children could pick different shaped pods, never knowing what was inside.  Imagine their surprise as they opened each mystery pod to find Apaloosa, Anasazi, Scarlet Runner or glowing white cannellini beans.

Bean tipis are very easy and affordable to build.   Children can help with all of these steps, if you allow enough time and patience for their participation.  They will enjoy digging, helping plant the poles, and inserting beans of all shapes and sizes into the ground.  And of course, they can help water and weed along the way, too!

1.  First, prepare the soil where the beans will grow.  Add compost and loosen the soil in a circle approximately 3-4 feet in diameter.  It's important to prepare the soil in advance as it's hard to do this once the poles are in place.

2.  To make the tipi structure, you need about 6-8 bamboo poles each 12 feet high.  Place them in the ground to form a circle (with wider spacing for the opening) to the desired dimensions.  It's nice to leave enough space for 1-2 children, as they appreciate the coziness of a smaller tipi.  Fasten the poles at the top with any kind of string, rope, or wire. 

3.  When the poles are in place, plant the beans!  It's fun to use a variety of beans.  There are also soup bean mixtures which come with a variety of beans already mixed together, or you can choose your own.  I also like to mix in some morning glories for extra color.
 
Check out the Zursun Idaho Heirloom Bean website for some interesting bean varieties:
http://zursunbeans.com/beans/

Or my long time favorite:

Seeds of Change
http://www.seedsofchange.com/default.aspx

4.  Water.  Allowing children to water gives ownership and adds excitement as they watch the beans grow.

5.  It's nice to add some kind of soft mulch or leaves inside the tipi as bedding and seating for children.

Sometimes beans are susceptible to bean beetles (yellow ladybug looking beetles, yellow eggs and larvae on the undersides of leaves).  These can be physically removed (and children will love to help with this task).  Or you can cover beans with netting during the early stages of growth.