©
Janet Davis
That first gardening experience can be a make-or-break
experience for little ones. Make it 
too complicated
and they’ll lose interest, too chore-bound and it won’t seem like fun, too grown-up
and they’ll make a mad dash for the sandbox.
The ideal first project is one that’s simple to do and guaranteed to
produce successful results quickly.
Growing plants from seed is mysterious, exciting and
educational -- the perfect introduction to gardening for small children. But it can be a disappointing experience if
the seeds fail to germinate or are slow to sprout. Easy-to-grow flowers (that are also fun for little hands to pick
later to place in a vase on the kitchen table) include marigolds, zinnias,
cosmos and nasturtiums. Giant
sunflowers are a snap to raise from seed planted directly in the garden,
thrilling to watch as they soar skyward, and a good first lesson in wildlife
gardening as their seed-laden flower heads attract hungry birds.
Vegetable gardening, on the other hand, gives children an
understanding of just how, exactly, the earth goes about producing food -- a
fundamental piece of information now lost to generations of youngsters whose
only connection with food is a trip to the supermarket. Good candidates for a first adventure in
vegetable-growing include tomatoes (especially cherry types), miniature
carrots, pumpkins and peas.
But nothing is more fun for a small child than growing a
patch of vegetables that doubles as a hideout -- just like our little fellow
relaxing in the shade of his own pint-sized beanstalk while browsing through a
favorite book.
Here’s how you and your little one can grow an easy bean
teepee:
1.
Make sure the teepee site 
is in full sun with good drainage. A week or so before planting, help your
child to measure off a circular area roughly 4 feet (1.3 m) in diameter. Now assemble your bean poles, which should
be 6-9 feet (2-2.7 m) in length and can be fashioned from bamboo garden stakes,
tree branches, unpeeled saplings or lengths of milled ¾ inch wood-lathe.
2.
Insert the poles about 1 foot (30 cm) deep into the soil
around the perimeter of the circle, slanting them towards the centre. You can use as few as 3 poles or as many as
ten, but remember to leave an opening for the “entrance” to the teepee. Fasten the poles at the top with strong
twine, or with a plastic pot whose bottom has been cut out.
3.
Several days before planting, cultivate the soil around the
poles to a width and depth of about 1 foot (30 cm). Beans like soil with good organic content and lots of earthworms,
so if yours needs enriching, work in several shovel loads of compost. (Leaf mould or dampened peat moss also add
organic content, but are not as nutrient-rich as compost.) Beans are legumes, therefore nodules on
their roots “fix” nitrogen in the soil, but this can’t happen until the plants
have started to grow. So if your soil
is poor -- particularly if you are unable to add compost -- it’s also
beneficial to work in several inches of composted cattle or sheep manure, which
contains nitrogen.
4.
Select the seed. The best bean for a teepee is a fast-growing
runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) such as ‘Scarlet Runner’, with showy
red flowers that often attract hummingbirds.
Other good runner beans include ‘Painted Ladies’ with orange and white
flowers, ‘Emperor Scarlet’ and ‘Red Knight’.
5.
Beans are very frost-tender, so wait to sow seed until 2-3
weeks after the last frost date, when the soil is well-warmed. If the weather is dry, water the soil a few
days before planting. Around each
pole, sow 4 bean seeds at a depth of 1 inch (2.5 cm). Seeds will take 6-10 days to germinate. When seedlings emerge and start to grow, thin them to 1-2 plants
per pole and gently twine them around the poles to get them started climbing.
6.
Keep the soil at the base of the beans regularly watered,
but avoid sprinkling overhead. In very
hot, sticky summer weather, runner beans are often slow to produce pods, but
will resume as the weather cools.
Little ones using the bean teepee as a hideout should be gently
cautioned about bumping against the vines and damaging them.
7.
Runner beans are ready to harvest in 60-70 days, depending
on the variety. Pods can be up to 8
inches long (20 cm) long when mature.
They should be picked for eating when they are young and tender, since
they toughen and become stringy when left on the vine. They can be steamed or eaten raw (which the
young gardener will likely appreciate more than cooked). Provided the beans are picked continuously,
the plants will continue to produce new pods until frost.
Adapted
from a story that appeared originally in Canadian Living magazine
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