I use 6 year olds to pull weeds, I showed them what kinds are "bad plants" and they love pulling them out to look at the roots.

Hey Ruthie! So glad you had a fun time working outside with the helpful young man. My own son is 13.5, and I sure do make use of his now "considerable braun". Just today he hauled 10 heavy bags of soil for me and re-nailed some loose fencing. He will do anything physical like this, but hates to do weeding etc. It is true, he is now stronger than his own mother. Maybe I should have another child so I can continue to garden once he leaves home .....

My 3 and 5 year old nephews visited and they loved helping me pick my cherry tomatos.....until there were no more ripe ones and the 3 year old started picking the green ones:) It's never too young to get them out there!

Ruthie, you have more seeds on order? Might I suggest a 12-step program? I need to join myself. "Hello, I'm Lelia, and I'm a seedaholic". Soon you may need several 14-year olds as your gardens expand. I'll bet you piqued his interest, and I'll bet he'd love to see what results from his labors.

I know what you are talking about regarding getting some good help Ruthie.

One of the real joys of my life right now is the interest that I share in gardening with my grandson who will be 15 next week. He is very good help, picks up things very quickly and has a genuine interest in gardening. in the garden for me. Today he, his brother and an Uncle (another of my sons) helped me work on one of my shed roofs that has started leaking with all this rain that we have had. We took a break to cut a watermelon to rehydrate and had an enjoyable time.

That's so cool, guys! I had a neighbor girl over the other day and naturally I took her out back to see the garden. I ended up sending her home with some marigold seeds to see if she could start some.

So cool Gone fishing....Our Grandsons are not close enough to be any help but not sure they would be interested any way...What a lucky man you are to be able to share that connection with your Grandson.

Hey Bill, that is a good boy for sure, and he will have great memories of the time he spent with you growing things. Is that ornery Tom's garden in the background?

Wonderful! I love to see the kids getting into the gardens.

My daughters, 7 and 10, both started their own compost piles this year. They are used to the bins I have been managing for years, and generally consider compost "dirty and gross." But they understand that it makes good stuff, and that it is better than sending scraps to a landfill.

I sifted my compost for the first time this year and when my seven year old saw the result, she said "Mom, it's so pretty!" I had to smile and think "my work is done."

The ten year old turned the full size compost for me yesterday. I was surprised that she wanted to - as the compost critters usually bother her sensitivities.

It is interesting to see that as the children on this thread get older, they naturally start doing things that are gradually more labor intensive.

The best way to learn gardening is from grandparents. I wish my grandchildren were not far away. Be grateful if you can garden with yours.

Jim

My 18 month-old loves to come dig in my garden, and if I give him a bucket, he wil pick all the red tomatoes he can carry...except he calls them "boo bahs" (he associates them with blueberries) and if I am not careful he'll shove them in my pants while I am weeding.

Occasionally I will find mangled tomatoes in his diaper. I look forward to potty training.

Laree can you imagine the look on my face when I read that as 18 YEAR old? My nephew did the same when he was that age, hiding stuff everywhere lol

Thanks peoples! ":^) I am grateful Ruthie. I have lost two way before their time, one at 17 and one at 21, so I treasure them.

Yep, raise, that is Tom's garden. We are really over grown now from two months of incessant rain. I called him this afternoon on the pretense of asking if he had enough tomatoes, just to be sure he was doing O.K. He is.

I wish that your and Ruthie's grand children were closer too Jim, it is special. I already have bout a million memories saved up.

That is wonderful Patty, so many adults just have a vague idea what compost is, if any clue at all.

Laree, you are going to have to get that little man some overalls or something to wear with some pockets on them. Doncha know us guys gotta have pockets? I found a squashed tomato in my pocket the other day. Kinda wondered what I kept feeling that felt wet? Nahhhh! We have had lots of rain and the plants are often still dripping when I pick my way through the jungle.
Bill P.

You know, I was that 14-year-old once, helping (and learning from) my DD Grandfather. The gardening & wood lore that he taught me are his lasting legacy. Many of us found our love of gardening that way, as indicated by the responses to another recent thread.

My own grown children have only a passing interest (though I have not given up yet). But one of my grandchildren is a great little helper (she's 6, and very bright) and I will provide encouragement at every opportunity.

Love of Nature is more often than not a product of our upbringing. We who have gardened long should make greater effort to expose the young (and not just family) to such nurturing hobbies... good job, Ruthie!

Hey Gardeners! and I know Ive posted this pic before, but I just wanted to share my 15, 13, 8, and 3 yr old helpers and future growers ....one more time....

{{gwi:79217}}

My 8 year old asked me the othr day..."Daddy, when we gona pick carrots again?" When Football season begins, When football season begins.....GO Bengals! and good Gareden to Ya!

I started gardening with my parents and grandparents at a very very young age. My grandma Bayler kept an immaculate "Victory garden" of veggies and flowers in her tiny skinny lot in Avon, Pennsylvania. My grandma Cress had her kitchen garden planted out in front of the farm house in addition to all of the acres of crops raised on the farm in China Grove, NC. My parents gardened the back half acre or so of our yard. It was our garden produce that kept us fed; supplemented by ham, bacon, beef, eggs, milk, butter, peanuts, corn, potatoes, melons, and chicken from my grandma's farm. We would go to my grandma's farm on the weekends to help pull corn or pick up pecans or sucker the tomatoes or.....whatever. I never liked the big gardens growing up...too much to keep neat and I apparently have a thing about liking neatness particularly at the edges. My grandma Bayler's little yard was a jewel. My grandma Cress's farm was big production.

Funny though, the voice I can still hear years and years later is the heavy German accent in my Grandpa Bayler's voice as we went out to pick cukes and squash together at my parent's garden..."now Janet, careful with your feet, you daresn't step on the wines."