Gardening is good for your kids – it's official! A report from researchers in the US has confirmed the mounting evidence that schoolchildren who learn gardening as part of their day-to-day studies eat more healthily and do better in their studies. They found students who get their fingers dirty on a regular basis behave better, too.
As if that wasn't enough, Spanish scientists have also shown that green spaces in city schools improve mental development because of reduced exposure to traffic pollution and the psychological effect of looking at fields and trees rather than roads and buildings.
So help your kids out by sharing your love of gardening with them. A little early success is hugely encouraging, so start with flowers which are easy to grow from seed like sunflowers, marigolds and nasturtiums. Seed potatoes, plus bean and pumpkin seeds are also easy for little fingers to plant and guaranteed to produce gratifyingly big, healthy seedlings.
You'll find all these, plus sowing kits specially designed for little gardeners with all they need to get started, on sale in our garden centre here in Hereford, as well as all the kit they'll need from pint-sized trowels, forks and wheelbarrows to gardening gloves for little green fingers.
