We love children's books about gardening

We've been enduring quite a few days of intense summer heat lately, and our time in the backyard has been a bit limited.

So, because their mother's obsession is getting to them, my kids have been loving to spend our increased indoor time reading books about gardening. I love children's books, and even more when they're packed with good quality info and beautiful artistry, because we all know children's minds absorb everything. I'm trying to raise little gardeners, and I've found that the books listed here are wonderful tools.

Keep in mind that my children are 1 and 3 years old, so my recommendations will appeal to young toddlers, but not exclusively. These books definitely work for older kids, as well.

If you're a gardener hoping to stir some wonder in a little gardener's mind, or help children in your life know more about the garden, here are a few books you should read. I'll update this list as I find more (I have a large queue of children's gardening books that I can't wait to check out.)

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A children's book for learning about bees

The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall

Any vehicle-less book that captures my vehicle-loving son's attention must possess a litle bit of magic. "Honeybee" by Kirsten Hall has bright, enchanting illustrations and so much information about the way bees collect pollen and turn it into honey (without resembling a textbook). In fact, my husband and I can be rhyme-scheme snobs, and the rhyming in this book is so fantastic. I'm serious: She must use magic to turn bee facts into such an engaging book.

Age range: 4-8

A children's book about the life you'll find in a garden

In a Garden by Tim McCanna

Kids get a taste of the life-giving nature of the garden as this book explores a garden through the seasons. Spoiler: It starts and ends with a seed! I also appreciate that it shows some of the relationships that are fostered in a garden, from the insects and the plants to the friends who tend the garden together. It's a sweet book with beautiful illustrations and a nice rhyme scheme.

Age range: 4-8

A children's book about colors in the garden

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Here's a board book for young children that does double duty: Teaches them their colors with a rainbow of flowers, and teaches kids to identify and name some common plants. I'd say it's a great primer to becoming a plant nerd because, as a fellow plant nerd, it's encouraging to see a simple board book help children learn how to recognize and name plants.

Age range: 4-8

A children's garden activity book

Plant, Sow, Make, & Grow by Esther Coombs

This is actually an activity book, but it reads like a picture book. Intricate and playful illustrations make the book interesting for even my young toddlers to look at. The words and information help the adult guide young children through garden-related activities, but it's written simply enough for young readers to understand and initiate each activity on their own, too.

Age range: 4-11

Share your favorite kids gardening book!

I'm sure you have a favorite kids gardening book of your own. Please share it with me! Post a photo of the book to social media with the hash tag #GardeningBooksForKids and tag me @VintageUrbanGarden!

What's next to read?

Here's a list of some more books I'm hoping to read soon. I'll be sure to add them to my list of recommendations if any of these end up joining our permanent collection.

Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson

This is an interactive children's book with prompts to wiggle their fingers to water the seed or clap their hands to bring out the sun. I am sure my little ones will be giggling over this book.

Age Range: 4-8

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

There's a series of these books, and we have one called "Over and Under the Pond", also by Kate Messner. They make science interesting and are packed with quality information.

Age Range: 4-8

The Big Book of Blooms by Yuval Zommer

The colorful illustration is enough to intrigue me, but the fact that this children's book dives deep into the world of flowers is the most compelling feature. It looks like the book explores specific plants from a variety of climates and from around the world. How interesting! The many high reviews are quite telling, too.

Age Range: 4-8

Check Out My Previous Posts:
My Houseplants Are Vacationing | Vintage Urban Garden
My Entryway containers | Vintage Urban Garden
My Garden’s Story | Vintage Urban Garden
To Deadhead or Not? | Vintage Urban Garden

Check out our Edible Plant Guide

Why are my strawberries molding?

Gray mold (and other fungal diseases) spreads in cool, wet weather, and spores can overwinter in leaf litter and debris around the plants.

Here are a few tips to help keep mold problems down:

• Rake off any dead leaves and moldy straw and replace with fresh, clean straw, especially when plants are blooming and setting fruit.
• Make sure there is adequate space and air movement between plants so the foliage dries after a rain or a dewy morning.
• Always pick all the fruit so no berries are left behind to get moldy.
• Use drip irrigation or water close to the ground so foliage stays dry.

Check out our article on 7 common garden diseases

My strawberries are deformed. Why?

Deformed berries are often due to poor pollination. Bees are the best pollinators of strawberries, so encourage them to take up residence in your yard. Cold temperatures, rainy and windy weather can slow bee activity, so you might not get as many pollinations if the flowers are blooming at an inopportune time. You can hand-pollinate the flowers if necessary by dusting each blossom with a soft paintbrush, moving from flower to flower and transferring the pollen from the brush. Some insect pests will cause berry deformities as they chew on the fruit, and erratic watering while fruit is developing can also cause misshapen berries.

I have slugs on my strawberries. What do I do?

Slugs can do a lot of damage to strawberries by eating holes in the fruit and foliage. They emerge from damp debris at night to feast, leaving a tell-tale trail of slime wherever they travel.

If you have a slug problem, try placing a wet board or damp burlap on the ground near the strawberry plot. They will crawl under it during the day, and every morning you can pick up the board, remove the slugs and destroy them. Slug bait can help reduce the population as well. Plus, keep moist debris such as leaves away from the strawberry plants. If you find they are spending the day under wet straw mulch, you may have to remove it for the season.

How do I keep birds from eating all my strawberries?

A mesh bird net, draped over a set of stakes to hold the mesh above the plants will help deter birds from snatching all your prized berries. It will also help keep rabbits, deer, and other critters from raiding the berry patch. Try a thin, white row cover to protect them from insect pests. The same row cover can save delicate plants and blooms from freezing with a late spring frost.

My strawberries have mushy brown spots on them. What is this?

Tell-tale sunken, watery-looking brown or black spots will indicate the plant has anthracnose — a fungal infection that is spread by splashing water and wet foliage. To prevent this pathogen from taking hold, avoid overhead watering and use drip irrigation instead, use straw mulch so water doesn’t splash as much, and don’t work in wet foliage. It is best to remove infected plants and destroy them, and rotate the bed to a new location.

See more great tips like this in our class,Homegrown Garden: Harvest More Food in Less Space.

Love growing your own vegetables but just don't think you have enough space? You might be surprised how much food you can pack into every corner of your garden! Check out our class, Homegrown Garden: Harvest More Food in Less Space, to learn more about seed-starting, choosing the right varieties, space-saving vegetable gardening tips and even amazing recipes for your bigger harvest!

We love to hear from our readers. Share your favorite garden tip!

When winter comes around, don't give up on growing vegetables in your garden. Take things indoors to create your own winter windowsill vegetable garden. Lots of popular vegetables are good candidates for winter windowsill gardens.

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Proper light is important for growing vegetables indoors successfully

The key is sunlight. An indoor garden needs as much light as it can get during the shortened days. So find a sunny window, preferably one that faces the south for the best light to grow vegetables.

Kitchen windows are perfect if they have adequate light. The garden is right at your fingertips for care and harvesting. But a sturdy table in front of a living room or family room window may give you more area to work in. If you don't have adequate light you can also look into providing additional grow lights to make sure your vegetables are getting proper lighting to grow.

Try growing vegetables in a hanging basket

Try a variety of cherry tomatoes like ‘Sweet 100’ or ‘Christmas Grape’ in a hanging basket indoors. They only grow to a certain size, which saves space. Plant leaf lettuce varieties weekly for a continuous harvest. Be sure to follow the sowing and fertilizing instructions for each variety.

Growing tip

Put vegetables with similar requirements together in the same container. This way you’ll be able to give each plant just the right amount of fertilizer and water.

Vegetables that you can grow indoors

The list below shows more edibles that will make a delicious and beautiful indoor garden on whatever windowsill you choose.

• Carrot ‘Short-n-Sweet’
  
• Celery
  
• Cherry tomato ‘Sweet 100’ and ‘Christmas Grape’
  
• Claytonia
  
• Cress
  
• Endive
  
• Lettuce ‘Galactic’, ‘Buttercrunch’, ‘Nevada’ and ‘Vanity’
  
• Oregano ‘Hirtum’
  
• Spinach ‘Popeye’s Choice’, ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Tyee’
  
• Swiss chard ‘Bright Lights’ and ‘Charlotte’

Start new vegetables from scraps

Don’t throw out those vegetable scraps quite yet — learn how to sprout new vegetables from old ones. Some produce can be sprouted from the parts you would normally throw away, just in a glass of water!

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How to grow vegetables from scraps or stem cuttings

1. Cut the useable leaves off for your recipe, leaving 2 in. above the stump/root end. Place the stem or root end into a glass and add 1 to 2 in. of water. Above you can see how this is done for green onions and romaine lettuce.
2. Keep the glass of water with stem cuttings in a sunny spot on the kitchen counter.
3. Harvest new leaves when they are the size you like.
4. Check the water level every day and refresh if it becomes cloudy. Plants may peter out after a few cuttings.

Growing tips

• You might notice the flavor of the vegetables becoming more bland at each cutting — that’s because the water doesn’t provide the nutrients that soil does, and this will affect the taste.
• These resprouters can be started in a small pot of soil, as well. Start the cuttings in water, then once a few roots have formed, plant them in potting soil to grow in the window or set them outside in the garden.

Vegetables you can grow easily from scraps:

• Bok choi
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Fennel
• Garlic chives
• Green onions
• Leeks
• Lemon grass
• Romaine lettuce

Three Sisters planting method

[Companion planting](https://www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/how-to/deal-with-pests/companion-plantings-that-really-work/ "Companion plantings that really work") is a popular method of growing different plants together to the benefit of each. There is scientific evidence that supports some plant associations, while others, such as planting basil with tomatoes, don’t have any supporting evidence. The Three Sisters polyculture technique is one well-known ancient Native American companion planting method that works. The illustration above shows how the Three Sisters — corn, beans and squash — help each other when planted together.

• Corn stalks provide support for climbing beans.
• Squash's prickly leaves protect the crops from raccoons and shade the ground which helps prevent weeds.
• Beans return nitrogen to the soil. This will be available to the corn and squash in later years.

Seeds for Three Sisters Companion Planting:
My Fair Lady Bicolor Sweet Corn seeds
Climbing Honey Nut Baby Butternut Squash
Spanish Musica Pole Beans

Herbs are also great companion plants, too!

Culinary herbs are great additions to a garden because they emit strong scents that camouflage your crops from pests or draw in beneficial insects. For instance, plant tomatoes with borage, which attracts parasitic wasps that kill tomato hornworms. Many herbs also bring in pollinators, which are necessary in a vegetable garden or orchards.

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