Product Review – The Budding Gardener
Happy Monday! After a weekend packed with sunshine and outside time, it seems only appropriate that we kick off the week with some very cool gardening gear that gets kids excited about watching spring blossom.
Unless you are an avid gardener with lots of motivation, doing some seed starting this time of year can be a bit of a chore. I’m always frustrated because – even though I have the best of intentions every year and head out to the store very motivated – something always goes wrong and about half way through our sprouting I’m staring at pots and pots of tiny, drooping shoots that will eventually get heaved into the compost, or looked at in dismay as it dies the second it’s transplanted into the garden. Then there I am holding the receipt for a bunch of seeds and more, that maybe should have been better spent learning how to garden first.
Mine is the great example of how not to start a garden. Somehow, I can’t seem to comprehend the theory of starting fun and small – or apparently within my skill set.
Then, The Budding Gardener showed up on our doorstep.
Canadian-made, this great all-in-one kids gardening package is just right in terms of what our daughter and her mom are actually capable of growing – sunflowers.
The manufacturer sent us one to try out. So, we gave it a whirl.
Digging into the box, you find a packet of seeds, dirt, a biodegradable pot and saucer and crayons and coloring sleeves with which to decorate the pot. Happily, planting sunflowers is painfully easy – and they are almost impossible to kill. Plus, there’s no transplanting (you just plant the pot right into the ground when the sunflower is ready). So, I knew this was the gardening starter kit for us.
I also really dig that the packaging doubles as a “garden” that kids can use for imaginary play, put their sunflower in as it grows and really get creative. We also got a secret code to go into The Budding Gardener website where kids can create and print off their own custom coloring sleeves and check out some cool plants from around the world.
The web stuff, honestly, was a bit lame, which I’m thankful for as I’d prefer we spend more time planting and digging in the dirt than in front of the computer.
Besides that, though, these cute gardening kits are, in a word or two - simple and fun. I appreciate having all of the parts in one place, getting some rather specific how-to directions and feeling that I can nod my head with fairly decent confidence when the kiddo says, “Mommy, do you think this one will actually grow into a plant?”
It’s a great way to start younger kids out, and a fun gift for any kiddo who loves to dig in the dirt. Currently, it is available online at The Budding Gardener and Pam at Planet Kids has them ordered and they should be in shortly. But, why wait? We have one to give away to a random commenter today.
Hope you enjoy the week!
Photos courtesy of The Budding Gardener
Category: CREATE & LEARN, Product Reviews
About the Author (Author Profile)
Robin is Our Big Earth’s Executive Editor. A journalist with more than 20 years under her belt, she’s worked for newspapers and magazines across North America. Vancouver Island became her home in 2006 when she and her husband ditched big-city life to raise their daughters close to familySubscribe
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What a wonderful idea! My kids and I love gardening and this makes it so much easier!
My 18mo old son LIVES for garden tools and digging in the earth. My 4 1/2 yr old daughter lives for digging for worms. This has wreaked havoc in some areas of my garden, but worth the joy on their faces! I try to keep in mind that their joy and love of the earth can overshadow my wishes for a great garden for now… maybe next year I will have the garden of my dreams…but like not! tee hee hee!
maybe this is the one that I won’t kill! I really do NOT have a green thumb.
The girls and I have been busy in the garden with the weather being so beautiful. They prefer the bugs right now, until they can see what the little seeds they planted turn into. My eldest daughter keeps bugging me to plant sunflower seeds. We were given a pack of seeds last year, but they never got planted and I can’t remember where that “safe” spot I put them is.
My youngest son just LOVES gardening…so much so, that he had his eye on a spade, rake & hoe at the Toy Store, and then when he finally saved up enough spending money months and months later, he immediately beelined it back to those things to purchase them!! I was amazed (and silently smiling!) that he didn’t even get distracted by all the other cool toys…he just knew what he wanted and went for it.
Unfortunately, I’m not so sure my husband is as fond of these items as our son has been “digging” up our front yard indiscriminately since then!! This sounds like a great idea! I definately am not a succesful gardener, but something like this sounds almost foolproof…even for me!
Robin your gardening story sounds just like mine… We have started to buy plants already started at plant sales, and we have a much higher success rate! M loves helping out in the garden and especially loves watching it grow. This looks like a really neat and easy kit, love the find!
This is such a fantastic way to get those little hands (and big ones too) in the dirt! Hopefully we are all raising some earth savy kids! (that are learning from our mistakes, LOL!)
Being in a small space with (sadly) no yard, we love to try and grow a few things on our tiny balcony! How perfect! Perfect for us and a perfect birthday gift idea! Thanks for the great review on this, I’m looking forward to it being available in store
Just a quick update for those of you that have already read and posted this morning.
Pam at Planet Kids Facebooked that she has them on order and they should be in shortly if you are interested in picking one up locally!
Thanks for all of the comments today. I feel less alone in the brown thumb universe:)
What a wonderfully easy sounding creative adventure to try out with our son. At only 3 (in 4 weeks) he loves to dig and help pick flowers. Can’t wait to try this out with him and watch them grow!! Thanks Robin!
I’ve had similar problems with starting my own plants from seeds. This year I got a bunch of new varieties of heirloom tomatoes at Seedy Saturday, I was really looking forward to trying them but most of my seeds aren’t sprouting or doing well at all!