Stanley Jr. Gardening is Awesome! A book for young gardeners

A big thank you to The Quarto Group for sending me this great book to review!

Gardening is Awesome! A must-have book for young gardeners.

Today's post is about a new gardening book for young gardeners! It is time for your kids and teens to start gardening. That's right! 

Gardening has always been a part of my life. I grew up surrounded by plants at home and spent many Summers at my cousin's beautiful garden full of interesting plants and trees. Gardening is a skill everyone should have. In fact, it should be taught in school! 

Gardening is good:

1. Being in direct contact with nature promotes creativity and learning.
2. Planting seeds and watching plants grow gives a sense of achievement. 
3. Growing your own food is economical, delicious and healthy.

When I came across "Stanley Jr. Gardening is awesome" I knew I had to share it with you all. This is a must-read book for your young ones. This is their chance to learn gardening from the very basics and enjoy the whole process! You as a parent can even brush up your own garden skills! 

Gardening has always been a grown-up thing to do and until today it seems intimidating for many young ones. Did you realize that there is math and science in gardening? Chris Peterson the author, made measuring, calculating, gathering data, doing experiments so interesting and fun that young gardeners will enjoy learning. The graphics in this book are colourful, simple and easy to understand. 

"Stanley Jr. Gardening is awesome" has six chapters. Chapter One opens the door to a better understanding about what plants really need to grow and flourish. It introduces readers to the very basics. Young gardeners will learn about "feeding" plants, the weather and seasons. They will discover the importance of sunlight and how to choose the right plants for their gardens.

After reading Chapter Three, young gardeners will start to realize that gardening is really cool and easy as they try the how-to projects.

Chapter Five is all about container gardening for indoor and outdoor spaces. Young gardeners will have the opportunity to use what they learned throughout this book and venture into more challenging how-to projects. 

"Stanley Jr. Gardening is awesome" is the perfect book for young gardeners. I found it engaging from the very first chapter. It provides advice, insight as well as guidance in a simple and fun way. 

I invited Chris Peterson the author, to answer a few gardening questions for you:

1.      How did you come with the idea for this book?

The idea was spurred by living near my nephew and his son. My nephew planted a huge vegetable garden and his son got excited when the plants started to fruit. It became a wonderful bonding exercise for them.

2.      How long would it take to put together a Square Food Garden?

Square Foot Gardens can be a great option for new and young gardeners. They allow the gardener to control all the variables, are limited in size, but allow for a diversity of plants. They don't overwhelm the young gardener with maintenance, like weeding. Assembling the box, creating the soil and planting the SFG garden is a wonderful weekend project to do with an adult. Easy, fun, and reusable year to year.

3.      What is your favorite annual flower? Tell us why you have it in your garden.

Hard to pick [excuse the pun] just one flower as a favorite. For shade, young gardeners love petunias, which will grow in even dense shade and come in a range of bright, beautiful colors with floppy, fun blossoms. For sun, Marigolds are a wonderful choice because they are tough, bloom strong throughout the summer in bold colors, and they are ideal partners for other plants like roses, providing some protection against pests and diseases. Zinnias are another kid favorite, blooming in every color in the rainbow, on stalks that range from short to tall.

4.      The soil testing section in your book it’s fun! How did you come up with the project?

The soil testing projects--acidity, type, drainage--are all versions of tests I've done in one form or another since I was a kid gardener growing in California. They are not only easy, but they reveal soil basics to children in very accessible, understandable ways.

5.      Why do you think insects in the garden are so important for the environment?

Insects are essential for specific functions such as pollination and as a way to counteract common pests (with beneficial predators), but they are also vital to the large picture of a healthy environment in which to grow a garden. They provide food for birds, for example, and a wealth of insects is always a sign of a healthy, high-functioning garden.

I hope you enjoyed my review of  "Stanley Jr. Gardening is awesome" .

Happy reading!

P.S. Thank you so much to The Quarto Group for the book and Chris Peterson, the author for answering these gardening questions!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from The Quarto Group but have not been financially compensated in any way. I was not required to write a positive review. My opinions are my own.