How your garden could grow

Make a one-inch-deep trench along the base of the tunnel on either side. Drop in a bean seed every four inches, cover with soil, and water thoroughly. On the east side of the tepee, plant walking-stick cabbage seeds about one inch deep and one foot apart. On the west side, make two more mounds (as above) and plant the pumpkin seeds: four seeds about an inch deep in each mound. Cover the seeds and water thoroughly.

These plants need lots of water. Every day, poke your finger into the soil near each plant. If it's dry, water thoroughly. A soaker hose is a good way to water, because it prevents the leaves from getting mildewy. Feed weekly with liquid seaweed or fish emulsion.

When the pumpkin vines are about 10 inches long, pull out the smallest ones. Allow only two pumpkins to grow on each vine, and they will become giants! When the gourd vines reach the top of the tepee, snip the top to produce thicker growth around the tepee. Be careful not to step on the roots of the vines. When the cabbage stalks are two inches thick, start stripping off the lower leaves.

For detailed instructions, and ideas for what you can do with your plants, see Sharon Lovejoy's 'Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots.'

'Gardening is caught, not taught," says gardening expert and author Sharon Lovejoy. Two of her books – "Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots" (Workman Publishing, 1999) and "Sunflower Houses" (Workman, 2001) – contain a bumper crop of ideas for turning kids on to gardening.

Her advice to parents and teachers: Communicate your passion, not your know-how, to children. Use the "Hey, look at this!" approach. If a child isn't interested in gardening, 99 percent of the time it's because he or she hasn't been exposed to the wonder of it, Ms. Lovejoy says.

Lovejoy grew up playing in her grandmother's large garden, but the garden she tended herself was modest. Keep children's gardens small, and make sure the plants in it are appropriate to the site. (Consult local nurseries.) Note sun and water requirements. Organic fertilizers are safest: Seaweed or fish emulsion stinks at first, but kids seem to like that, Lovejoy says. Don't spray chemicals, as children tend to nibble in the garden.

Find out what kinds of plants your kids are most interested in. Do they want to try to attract hummingbirds? Grow something weird? Most kids enjoy growing something very large, like pumpkins. Don't forget plants that are fun to touch or smell.

Lovejoy strongly recommends giving budding gardeners an "explorer's kit" that might include a magnifying glass, a notebook (for observations and drawings), a sheet of Plexiglas so kids can look at the underside of insects (put the bugs on top), a stethoscope for listening to plants drinking, a "catch and release" canning jar with nylon screening across the top, a measuring tape, a camera, and a flashlight for nocturnal exploring.

Explore with your children, Lovejoy urges. They probably won't do it on their own.

Teachers and home-schoolers can find ideas for lesson plans at Lovejoy's website: www.sharonlovejoy.com

Projects from: 'Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots: Gardening Together with Children.'

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