Simple Ways to Teach Your Family About Gardening

Guest Blogger #397, Entry #992, March 2, 2012

When it comes to spending time with your family and giving them a piece of yourself, you may eventually reach the startling conclusion that while you feel like you are giving everything you have to your family, every bit of time and every ounce of effort (in one way or another), the truth is that the time spent with them is not quality time and the effort you put in is less than it could be. You can’t really be blamed for this; like most parents you probably work so hard every day just to pay the bills and keep the household in order and everyone on schedule that you are running on fumes by the time you are actually in the presence of your spouse and kids. And while there are certainly techniques to cut back on your obligations in order to make the most of any time you do have with your family, you may be looking for a way to bond on a deeper level. If gardening is a hobby that you hold dear, involving the ones you love in this activity could be a great way to get the connection you’re looking for.

Enjoy the outdoors with your family

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Share gardening with your kids

There are a number of reasons why taking on the task of a family gardening project can help to bring everyone closer together. For one thing, we are often so inundated by external static (like blaring TVs, beeping phones, and the mundane but necessary chatter pertaining to the logistics of your daily life) that it can be difficult to orchestrate a worthwhile conversation. So leaving the cell phones on the table and heading to the backyard to get your hands in the dirt could provide an excellent opportunity for everyone to talk about their day or simply enjoy a few precious moments of silence with the ones they love.

Give your kids a sense of growing plants

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Teach your family about gardening

Beyond that, getting back to nature is a proven stress-reducer, and finding ways to work with your hands can also help to calm the constant chatter in your head. For your family, this could help to lessen the tensions that have been ratcheted up through the onslaught of external forces present in your everyday lives. And this is a good place to start when you are trying to rekindle a relationship that has somehow deteriorated through the passage of time. It doesn’t take a masters communication online degree program to tell you that when you’re having trouble connecting with your family a break in the routine can make a difference.

Help your kids learn gardening basics

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So start at the beginning by planting seeds. Teach your family all you know about using the right dirt and tending to seeds properly with the correct combination of food, water, and sunlight. Relay any information you have about keeping pests away, growing and blooming seasons for different plants, the differences between annuals and perennials, and how to get the best and fastest growth. But try to offer up the wealth of your knowledge in a manner that is helpful rather than condescending. And once you train your family and assign them tasks, leave them to their duties unless they ask for help. Trust that your training is enough to see them through. The fruits of your labor (literally) will soon prove that your efforts to improve communications with your family have paid off, and the success will bring you all closer together.

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