Cultivating Green Thumbs

Start with good dirt.

That’s the down-to-earth advice (and pretty much the entire first chapter) of a new book for a young generation of gardeners: Better Homes and Gardens’ “New Junior Garden Book” ($15.95).

The binder-style notebook with splatter-proof pages and flower-powered graphics gives children of all ages everything they need to grow a sunflower house, build bird feeders from raisins and seeds, create tepees from bean vines and make worm towers (yuck!) out of old soda bottles and kitchen scraps.

Each hands-on gardening lesson comes with its own recipe and list of ingredients as well as a “skill scale” for difficulty. The book also has a special vocabulary section to help children speak as seasoned gardeners. (Author and gardening dad Felder Rushing explains that the proper way to pronounce the word “herb,” for example, is without the “h”.)

Although most of the projects are designed to acquaint youngsters with the joy of gardening, it has a subtle subtext that can help even the most finicky eaters learn to love their vegetables. Kids who grow their own are more likely to eat their crops than kids whose veggies come from the freezer.

Peas now! Can you dig it?