- ISBN13: 9780761110569
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Plant a pumpkinseed with a child, and cultivate wonder. This simple act of reconnecting with children with nature is Sharon Lovejoy's purpose and joy and gift. Author of Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Ages and Hollyhock Days: Garden Adventures for the Young at Heart, Sharon Lovejoy is a nationally known garden writer whose books, television specials, and projects at her learning landscape in California have introduced thousands of children to the pleasures of gardening.
In her newest book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, she presents 12 spirited, easy-to-implement ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together. Illustrated throughout by the author's own lyrical watercolors, each garden includes a plan, the planting recipe - seeds, seedlings, and growing instructions spelled out step-by-step - and activities. There's the Pizza Patch , a giant-size wheel garden planted in "slices" of tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, and basil. A Flowery Maze to get lost in. A Moon Garden of night-blooming flowers, including a moonflower tent. And Mother Nature's Medicine Chest.
Discovery Walks teach kids how the gardens work, and a chapter on gardening basics includes a child-friendly 10-Minute Plan for planting and maintenance, plus a list of the top 20 plants guaranteed to make gardeners out of kids.Amazon.com Review
Green thumbs and non-green thumbs alike will fall in love with Roots, Shoots, Buckets, & Boots, a remarkably fun and informative introduction to the wonderful world of gardening--and more specifically, gardening with children. Learn how to make everything from a pizza garden (pizza-pie-shaped, with herbs and vegetables for a fabulous pizza at harvest time), to a sunflower house (a secret hideaway with stately sunflowers and lovely creeping morning glories), to a moon garden ("Fragrance is the color of night"). Chock full of helpful hints, clever and artistic touches, and intriguing "recipes" (Moth Broth and Compost Sandwich, to name a few), this idea book will spark creativity and a lifelong fascination with gardening. Nine concepts for theme gardens are presented in a clearly defined yet non-rigid manner that is just right for encouraging young gardeners. Sharon Lovejoy, award-winning author and illustrator of several gardening books, including Hollyhock Days: Garden Adventures for the Young at Heart, has a true knack for working with all kinds of living things, including children. She understands how quickly young people will be turned off by inflexible rules, and instead encourages budding green thumbs to experiment and explore, while providing them with useful guidelines and helpful information. Wonderfully earthy watercolors make this cozy book even more welcoming. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
Related posts:
Nothing takes the sting out of winter like planning a garden. And if you have children, or have the prospect of rounding up a few on loan when spring comes, this book will warm you all the way through. Author Sharon Lovejoy (Sunflower Houses : Inspiration from the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups and Trowel and Error: Over 700 Tips, Remedies and Shortcuts for the Gardener) gave us a treasure trove of ideas for good “clean” fun in her 1991 classic, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children (Gardening together with children).
Lovejoy gives detailed directions for a number of garden projects that kids are sure to love, from a Pizza Patch to a Sunflower House to a Flowery Maze. While her garden is in California, I think most of her planting suggestions would work in my colder zone. She weaves in snippets of poetry, folklore, mythology, and of course some basic botany and horticulture. Pure magic! What child could resist a mini-garden planted in an old boot or glove? or the scarecrow and worm box projects? or Mother Nature’s Tea Party? Nature-based crafts and activities abound. Children are too often alienated from the wonders of nature — and doesn’t the future of the planet depend on their connection with its simple bounty?
Do choose your plants carefully to avoid toxic elements, and supervise in accordance with the youngsters’ ages. And if you live in the Southern hemisphere, remember that when you stand in your garden at noon the shadows point south, not north. Whether you’re an experienced gardener or a novice, all you need to know is here in Lovejoy’s charmingly illustrated, jam-packed book. Recommended if you want to unleash your creativity and delight a child — or yourself. I’ve been reacquainting myself with this old friend because it’s on my Christmas list for the nieces and nephews. Five stars and highly recommended.
Linda Bulger, 2008
Rating: 5 / 5
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
I got this book for my wife. She and my daughter have been using it for several weeks now. They have two or three projects. It really very nice to see and experience.
Rating: 4 / 5
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
I have many books about gardening with children, and this is my hands-down favorite. It is brimming with joy and enthusiasm that is guaranteed to inspire you to find a piece of earth for your children to garden.
Sadly, I live in one of those modern suburban neighborhoods with postage stamp sized yards, but there is a very inventive chapter on container gardening that inspired me to look for unusual containers for plants, such as boots and hats. And I’ve been able to use elements of her garden plans, such as sunflower houses and moonflower poles, in various corners of my yard.
This beautifully illustrated book (hand painted drawings) is very child-friendly, with passages that exhort your child to “Snuggle up inside your moonflower tent and wait for the night. Close your eyes, listen to the insects tune up for their evening conert, and inhale the aromas of the opening flowers.”, and “Nibble tiny corn ears and alpine strawberries small enough for fairies to eat.”
I do wish a little bit more attention had been paid to pests though. We had a problem with squirrels chewing off our sunflower heads (we planted too close to the fence — very disappointing to the kids!), birds eating our strawberries (we used netting next time), and deer sampling just about anything I put in the front yard. Experience is a good teacher, but perhaps an appendix with a heads-up about strategies for protecting beloved plants would have been nice…
Rating: 5 / 5
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
I’m in the early stages of planning a garden for my 4-yr old daughter (and 2-yr old son, if he eventually develops an interest!). This book caught my eye immediately so I bought it, and was not disappointed! It’s a book that grabs you as soon as you see the cover. I just wanted to sit down immediately and read the whole thing! Beautifully illustrated by the author’s own watercolors, it contains a wealth of ideas and information. It’s obvious that the author is very enthusiastic about gardening and wants to ensure that you, and your children, have a successful and enjoyable experience.
I disagree with the reviewer who said you need a huge plot of land to use this book. While the designs (if you follow them exactly) require plots ranging from 10 foot square up to 18 foot square, the author herself states in the introduction that her garden designs “aren’t set in concrete; they’re grown in soil, so experiment, change, add to or subtract from them.” She has an entire chapter on container gardens, and most, if not all, of the plants in her top 20 can be grown successfully in containers. Use your imagination!
I also saw a comment that the plants in her top 20 can be hard to find. She offers a substantial listing of sources, but I’ll save you the trouble! If you can’t find the plants at your local nursery, look no further than Bluestone Perennials and Burpee seeds, both of which you can shop on-line. I was able to locate everything in her top 20 list between those two companies, except for the mimosa plant seeds which I found on eBay, of all places! Bluestone is a excellent family-run company whom I have had great luck with–the best mail order nursery around in my opinion. You need to plan ahead and order your spring plants from them during the winter, but your patience will be rewarded with large healthy plants that come guaranteed to grow.
Happy Gardening!
Rating: 5 / 5
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
Most of the projects in this book involve really big areas of ground. I returned the book because I was dissatisfied with this, but I think the Pizza Plant garden required a circle 18′ diameter. That’s about half our lawn! So, most of these projects were impractical for us, and I returned the book. I suppose that if you are a serious gardener with a lot of land you might like this book.
Rating: 3 / 5
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children