Gardening with children

My 3 year old son loves being outdoors. We are lucky to have a large garden and there is always something to appeal to him - mini-beast hunts, mud-pie making, watering the plants, pretending to mow the grass, harvesting the crops or making general mischeif!

Yesterday we had a scorcher, I am sure it hit 30 degrees at times. We lubed-up with the old Factor 50 and popped on our hats for a spot of weeding. The enthusiasm of a 3 year old weeding lasts about as long as mine - 5 minutes!

The weeding was closely followed by digging and retrieving some potatoes for a delicious lunch. He loves this job and would help dig up the whole crop if I wanted him to. A few runner beans and a handful of juicy red tomatoes and lunch was complete.

We then studied the bees for a while - looking at the different types and their different coloured stripes. He is fascinated by Bees after watching Bee movie and having me read the rhyming story of The Beeman to him http://store.barefootbooks.com/uk/the-beeman-2.html
A lovely book and would thoroughly recommend it.

My son then retreated to his sandpit to play with his tractors and diggers. Why he has a sandpit I don't know, I have more sand on the patio! However the break meant I was able to get on with some more weeding.

I was given a solar powered radio as a Christmas gift and I love it - I take it all around the garden with me without having to worry about spending a small fortune on batteries. A dose of The Archers is good for the soul and helps pass the time when your back is aching. I put on the music too and we have a mad 5 minutes dancing (what will the neighbours say?)

When the sun had retreated to the front garden we set about a spot of watering out back, especially the pots and what is left of my hanging baskets. My son has his own watering can but will insist on trying to carry my 2 gallon number! When I suggest we get out the hosepipe this sends my son into another realm - if I could bottle his beaming smile and sell it I'd make a fortune. We pretend to be firefighters for a bit and then spray the dogs! Poor hounds but I am sure they appreciated a spot of cooling down.

We never have a dull day in our garden - gardening with children is simply put FUN!