Garden Activities For Teens: How To Garden With Teenagers

Times are changing. Our decade's previous rampant consumption and disregard for nature are coming to an end. Conscientious land usage and renewable sources of food and fuel have increased the interest in home gardening. Children are the vanguard of this atmosphere of change. The ability to teach and interest them in growing beautiful green things will allow them to develop a love for the world and the natural hum of its cycles. Small children are endlessly fascinated with plants and the growing process, but gardening with teens poses more of a challenge. Their self introspection makes outside garden activities for teens a hard sell. Interesting garden activities for teens will bring them back to this wholesome family activity.

How to Garden with Teenagers

As enjoyable as it was to teach your little sprout about gardening, growing children develop other interests and lose their natural love of spending time outside. Teenagers are especially diverted by social connections, schoolwork, extracurricular activities and simply teen apathy. Bringing a teen back into the gardening fold may take some planned teen gardening ideas. Developing such life skills as growing food and good land husbandry provide the young person with self-esteem, world awareness, economy and other worthy attributes.

Teenagers and Gardens

Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H clubs are useful organizations for teen gardening experiences and knowledge. These groups provide numerous garden activities for teens. The 4-H slogan “Learn by Doing” is a great lesson for teenagers. Clubs that provide garden activities for teens encourage and enrich their lifestyle and love for the land. Local social outlets such as volunteering at a Pea Patch or helping the local Parks Department plant trees are civic minded methods of exposing teens and gardens.

Teen Gardening Ideas

Pride and self-congratulation are byproducts of growing edibles in the home landscape. Teenagers are notorious bottomless pits when it comes to food. Teaching them to grow their own food supply draws them into the process and gives young people an appreciation for the work and care necessary for all the delicious produce they enjoy. Let teenagers have their own corner of the garden and grow the items that interest them. Choose and plant a fruit tree together and help teens learn how to prune, care and manage a producing tree. Gardening with teens starts with creative projects that affect them and allow the wonder of self-sufficiency to permeate their lives.

Teens and Gardens in the Community

There are many ways to expose your teen to gardens in the community. There are programs that need volunteers to harvest underused fruit trees for food banks, help seniors manage their gardens, plant parking circles and develop and manage Pea Patches. Allow teens to interact with local land management leaders and learn about planning, budgets and building. Any organization that encourages teens to participate in planning and decision making, will interest older children. They have great ideas and just need resources and support to make them a reality. Listening to teen gardening ideas provides them with the confidence and creative outlets that young people crave and thrive upon.