Gardening with Emma: Review and Giveaway

Did you have a mentor who inspired your love of gardening? 

For me, it was my Mom. I might have eventually found my way to gardening, but it would likely have been at a point much later in my life. I certainly would not have brought to this new-found hobby the same wealth of knowledge I had under my mother's gentle influence. 

Funnily enough, I don't recall her teaching me a thing. What I do remember was the joy she took in growing flowers.

From the book Gardening with Emma, ©2019, by Emma & Steve Biggs, Photography by Donna Griffith. Published by Storey Publishing. 

Used with permission of the authors and their publisher.

For Emma Biggs, author of the new book Gardening with Emma, a love of growing edibles began with the encouragement of her father Steven. Thirteen-year-old Emma writes in the early pages of her book:

"My Dad used to give me a corner of his garden. After a couple of years, I planted so many tomato and herb plants that he gave me a bigger corner of his garden so I could fit in all my plants. Now I give him a corner of my garden!"

The key thing that has been handed down from parent to child is not so much knowledge, but passion. A love for gardening is inspiring in a way that dry information about how to grow edibles can never be. 

This brings me to what I liked best about Emma's new book. Her enthusiasm for gardening is evident on every single page. And that passion is infectious. Any kid immersed in its pages is bound to be inspired.

For this review, I requested a few page-spreads from the book to show you just how well it was conceived and organized. Practical information and useful tips are interspersed with an abundance of kid-friendly projects and interesting activities that will get children outdoors. Here's just a small sampling:

• Grow a rainbow garden

• Create a beanpole teepee

• Make a miniature garden

• Create a tickle garden

• Grow a flower stand (which is a terrific alternative to a lemonade stand)

Each idea is illustrated with great pictures and humorous cartoon characters kids are sure to love.

From the book Gardening with Emma, ©2019, by Emma & Steve Biggs, Photography by Donna Griffith. Published by Storey Publishing. 

Used with permission of the authors and their publisher.

I sometimes think that important things get lost on the way to adulthood. I marvel at this boy, on the page opposite "U-Pick Slug Control", and know that I am way too squeamish to ever let slugs and snails glide over my clothes and onto my skin. Where did my childhood sense of discovery and adventure go? When did I become such a wimp?

Emma's book is a pleasure to read. She reminds us all to put the fun back into gardening. Every school and public library should have at least one copy of Gardening with Emma.

Usually, when I do a giveaway, I rely on luck to select a winner. In this case, I have decided not to leave things to chance. Instead, a winner will be chosen based on merit. 

To enter the giveaway, please tell us who you hope to mentor with this book; a son or daughter, a niece or nephew, a grandchild or perhaps the kid that lives next door. Tell us why you think this particular child will love Gardening with Emma and/or why you think it is important to encourage a new generation of gardeners. Co-authors Emma and Steve Biggs will select a final winner from all the entries.

Because this book will go to a winner through the mail, we will have to limit entry to readers in Canada and the USA. Please leave a comment below, if you would like to be included in the book draw. The draw will remain open until Sunday, March 2nd. If you are not a blogger, you can enter by leaving a comment on the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page (there is an additional link to the Facebook page at the bottom of the blog). You are also welcome to enter by sending me an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

Bookmark this post with a PIN.

About the Author/s

Emma Biggs is a 13-year-old with a passion for gardening. She shares her kid-focused gardening ideas at events, on radio shows and on her blog. Her father, Steven Biggs is a garden writer and blogger who lectures frequently at gardening events across Canada. They can be found online at stevenbiggs.ca. Emma, Steven and the rest of their family live in Toronto.

A Young Garden Book Author & her Dad

This is Emma standing beside the mammoth-sized sunflowers she grew from seed last summer. Emma is an elementary school student, and most recently, a co-author and illustrator of a book about gardening with kids.

She is 9 years old.

A young Emma in the garden. ©2015 Grow Gardeners 

How you view age is relative to where you are in life. When I was 9, I used to think 30 was "old". But now that I have stepped over the great divide that puts me closer to 60 than 50, I see 30 as impossibly young.

Why bring up the issue of age?

Have you ever looked around you at a garden club meeting? There is a lot of "older" folks and not nearly as many people under the age of 35. Part of me wonders if a love of gardening comes with maturity along with an appreciation of mushrooms, spinach and Brussels sprouts. But the other part of me worries that gardening has failed to capture the imagination of younger generations.

How can we pass on a love of gardening to our children and grandchildren?

Working in partnership with her Dad, author and horticulturist Steve Biggs, Emma has helped to write a short book, Grow Gardeners, that suggests that there are four ingredients to making gardening fun for kids: Playing, Exploring, Collecting and Growing.

As well as being the author of two previous books on gardening, Steve Biggs is the proud father of three young children. Steve believes that it our responsibility as adults and gardeners to help kids realize how much fun the garden can be. Steve writes, "It's easy to make the garden a fun place for children because they have imagination, energy and curiosity. All we as adults have to do is channel that spirit towards the garden."

Steve, Emma and her brothers Quinn and Keaton

Steve advises we adopt a child-like approach: Peak their curiosity. Laugh. Be playful. "If you need to work, dovetail your work into play. My kids like train rides after I empty the wheelbarrow. "Hit the bumps, Dad," they howl. We are playing together while I work."

Foster play in the garden:"I think the best way to cultivate play is to be playful. Stimulate play by providing ideas, if needed." 

Steve's "tool kit for play" involves simple, everyday items like leaves, soil, garden tools and water. We adults forget the joy a puddle can bring or how much fun it is to play in the mud.

Emma's illustration from the book.  ©2015 Grow Gardeners

Emma: "Playing with the hose is I think one of my favourite things outside because you can get soaking wet. You can make many cool things when you're allowed to use the hose: we dig in the dirt, make mud pie, we make rivers, we make dams."

Cultivate collecting: Long buried memories of childhood came flooding back as I read through the chapter on exploring. It's been a while, but I warmly recall lifting up stones to see what's scurrying and crawling underneath. Here is a small sampling of the book's super simple, absolutely fun ideas for exploring:
• Crawl through the lawn looking for a four-leaf clover.
• Walk toward a chirping cricket and see how close you can get before it stops chirping.
• Touch, taste and smell leaves in a herb garden.
• Blow, flick and kick dandelion seed heads. Run through a field of them!

Cultivate exploring:  On Steve and Emma's list of things to encourage kids to explore nature are everyday items like a basket for gathering things or a jar for collecting insects. Here's just a few of the book's suggestions to get kids exploring:
• Start a collection of feathers. Frame them or put the collection in an album.
• Press leaves between the pages of a book for later use, to be traced or identified.
• Collect pine cones for crafts

Cultivate Growing: Steve advises that once children enjoy playing and exploring outdoors, gardening is the next step. Just don't expect kids to garden exactly the same way adults do! Instead Steve recommends that when gardening with kids, make adjustments like using larger seeds such as peas and sunflowers that can be "poked" right into a loose soil.

Steve:"Strawberries are a good choice for small children, as plants are low to the ground and strawberries are sweet. Digging potatoes- which are like buried treasure- is fun too."

The chapter on growing includes terrific a list of kid friendly garden themes such as an alphabet garden, butterfly garden and a salsa garden where your kids grow all the ingredients.

Steve and Emma's book, Grow Gardeners, is not long- I read it in about an hour. And that's perfect! If you're a busy parent, the last thing you want to do is read a lengthy book. The suggested ideas are laid out in simple point form that allows you to quickly find activity to make the garden a fun place for your kids or grandkids.

Emma's illustration from the book.  ©2015 Grow Gardeners

If you pop over to see Emma's blog, you'll find a list of veggies she hopes to grow this spring: red iceburg lettuce, banana legs tomato and dragon carrots to name but a few. She notes,"I grew dragon carrots last year and they were great. They are a bright red carrot and something you will not see in the store. I've grown giant sunflowers before and they were HUGE."

Emma's proud parents are delighted with her enthusiasm for gardening. Steve writes, "We're simply sowing the foundation of a life-long love of the outdoors."

I honestly can't think of a better ambition when it comes to gardening with kids.

I have a copy of Grow Gardeners to give away to one lucky reader. Just add "Count me in" to your comment if you would like to be included in the book draw.

More Information and Links:

About the Authors:

Emma Biggs is an elementary school student with a passion for gardening and drawing. She often helps her father, Steven, at gardening events. A tireless scribbler and doodler, this is Emma's first book.

Visit Emma's blog.

Steve Biggs is an award winning journalist and author specializing in gardening, farming and food production. A life-long gardener, he favours a practical and fun approach to things. His book No Guff Vegetable Gardening, co-authored with Donna Balzer is a Canadian best seller. Grow Your Own Figs Where You Think You Can't is the winner if the 2012 Silver Award of Achievement, Garden Writers Association.
Visit the Grow Gardeners website to purchase a copy of Steve and Emma's book.