By Bobby Wilson (Metro Atlanta Urban Farm)
Could COVID-19 and the impending lockdown threaten your access to fresh vegetables? If you think so, then the time may be right for families across this great nation to experience the joy and excitement of planning and planting a backyard garden?
A backyard garden can serve as a great teaching tool for parents who are homeschooling their children during these challenging times. One can hardly turn on the television or radio without hearing breaking news on the Coronavirus. To quiet the anxiety, NOISE-free gardening can be used as a source of relaxation along your journey to having fresh vegetables at your fingertips. Gardening can also be used as a tool to teach many subjects and life skills, especially S.T.E.A.M., science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics.
Additionally, gardening can help improve a child’s reading and language arts skills. In today’s times of constant noise, a small backyard garden can serve as a NOISE-free sanctuary for the entire family, a place to relax, to connect with nature and birds, and to discover and gain new skills.
Metro Atlanta Urban Farm can serve as a resource to assist you in designing a garden to suit your needs. We are also available to provide you with seeds, technical assistance, or to answer any questions you might have.
Here are just a few tips for planting a garden:
Location: 8 – 10 hours per day of sunlight
Irrigation: Source of water close by
Soil: Prepared by turning it over, either with a shovel or a tiller
Optional: Build a small 4×4 or 4×8 raised bed; add bagged soil.
–BW
