Gardening as a first-time Mom with an active walking 11m-tips?

[bebemoohatessnot]

Any tips to allow me to garden with a lo? How do you contain her while you're looking to plant containers, work on raised beds and till vegetable patch?
Also any tips on keeping her relatively clean, or some sort of hefty overalls (that I've yet to find online) she can wear so she can crawl about the grass and patio without fear of her getting damp or overly muddy?

dungarees or if wet all in one waterproofs (muddy puddle setc)and letting go what are you growing bebes?

Let her get muddy - it washes off.

give her her own bits
a couple of plant pots, some pebbles, a trowel. she'll be busy for AGES

Dh said waterproofs are not durable?

Weeds mostly .

I'm going to try for tomatoes, green beans, spinach, lettuce and carrots in the veg patch. Maybe broccoli but not sure how hard that is to grow. I always try to grow pumpkin, but we haven't got a lot of room and as of yet it's never worked so not sure I'll try this year or not.

oh! Adair good idea really she loves copying us so I bet that would work too.

I'd just put her in an pair of sturdy trousers and wellies and change her when you're done!

In the summer, let her paint with water. Give her a bucket and a big brush and she can "paint" the patio, or the side of the house or whatever. Any kind of water play in the summer is a good actually, especially watering the plants.

Make it clear from the start what she can't touch. I always let DS use my trowel (under supervision) but he's not allowed to even touch the secateurs. I've really drummed it into him and he won't go near them now (he's 2.4). He edges past them saying "Mummy's secateurs. Sharp. I not touch"

I know this sounds defeatist but I stopped what I call 'serious' gardening for about 2 years when dd was between the ages of 18 mths to 3.5 yrs and resorted to buying young plants instead of raising them from seed, and took other similar short-cuts.

I probably gave up too easily but I always found that the limited time I had to garden was spent stopping dd eating poisonous plants, skewering herself on bamboo supports or falling down stone steps!!

I started again when she was nearly 4 and gave her a large raised bed/container for herself in which we plant sunflowers, radishes, courgettes, herbs etc every year and she really enjoys gardening now.

You are probably more dynamic than me though (am ancient mother) so if you go ahead would recommend investing in some sort of outdoor play pen if possible (sand pit padded with washable canvas-backed outdoor blanket instead of sand) or inflatable ring or similar???

When she is older and toddling about would recommend investing in little play house and miniature gardening set (gloves, spade, apron, boots, watering can, bucket and mini wheelbarrow if at all possible). I bought a second hand set off ebay and it kept dd occupied for hours.

In terms of clothing, see the Puddlepac lightweights

Good luck!

oh sorry, read your op too fast, see you want more durable overalls

How about these, under 'robust' clothing?

I'm finding waterproof overalls okay with DS (nearly 2). Keep him dry and not got wrecked yet. He's not a crawler any more, but in the veg patch he spends most of his time on his bum or knees anyway and they've been surviving!

I'm new to all this though, as we've only just moved to a house with veg patch, from a small patio garden so the overalls may get wrecked yet - but then I figured by the time they are wrecked the weather should be good enouigh / dry enough for him not to need them and then he'll have outgrown them by next autumn/winter anyway.

I found last year that DS (so then the same age as your DD) loved watering cans, and buckets of water. He would splash around for hours with a bucket of rain water, and loved watering plants. Also brilliant at deadheading flowers when needed now he's a bit bigger, trowel and bucket or a few plant pots are great, especially if promised worms as a prize if he digs!

Things do just take longer though so I think it is going to be slow going getting much growing, especially as I'm pretty much a novice too!

Stillcounting I think the latter are perfect! Thank you.

Buy a small sandpit, bucket and spade and she'll be happy in there for a while. Just make sure she doesn't throw all the sand out of the pit!

As long as shes warm enough then its all fine. dirt can wash and clothes are meant to be worn

get her to pick out all the stones so your carrots grow straight

These waterproofs are brilliant both my DC have them.

You have to keep an eye out all the time, thats the thing. I found it really difficult to get into, say weeding, when the DC were toddling. I did, however, haved bursts outside with them both, but didn't expect to get a lot done. As long as you are prepared for it all to take a very long time, and have lots and lots of interruptions, it's fine.

Mine love filling pots with compost, putting seeds in either pots or the ground, digging holes and playing with watering cans.

I would really recommend raspberries as they are so wonderful for little paws to pick and eat. Mine also love love love broad beans - opening the pods such fun and eating them raw.

Ha this year we're not doing broad beans as I hate them and every year there have been far more than any reasonable person can eat let alone unreasonable people like me.
I do know I'm unlikely to get much done as I hardly get anything done now with her.
I guess it's about distracting them while you do your thing.

How do you (the person in charge) keep a hand clean so you can fish the inevitable stone, snail, slug, or worm out of their mouth? Gloves suffice?

As for Moo sleeping...?!? I have no idea.
I've been trying to feed her something (besides the scavenged fuzz) every 2 hrs. Besides her 2 breast feeds a day, she's now eating 2x 200g jar of food as well as 50-75g of porridge, half a banana, inch of cinnamon toast, baby handful of cheerios, 200ml of liquid (smoothie or juice or water) as well as bits of my food and drink. (so I'd say she's back to eating as much as before she was sick last month) The only difference yesterday was she also had MILK, not mummy milk, Cow Milk! I mixed it with equal parts of coconut/pineapple smoothie and it went right down.
And I put her to bed after giving her some baby ibuprofen.
She also had only one nap yesterday, and it was early in the day (about noon) for 1.5 hours.
And we spent a lot more time out doors yesterday, went to the park. Walked to the shop. Went to the big grocery. walked around the neighborhood twice on 2 different occasions.

So it could have been any of those things. Or all of those things.

oops wrong window for that post

you can get your DD a swing - I got mine a swing at a similar age and she sits in it squealing with delight - then you can get some stuff done.

We have these for our two boys [http://www.waterproofworld.co.uk/regattapuddlesuit.htm here]

Cheap and good quality. We have an allotment and have always put them in waaterproofs when it is colder andjust let them potter about whilst we (sort of) crack on witht the work. They are v. durable and not ridicuously expensive like some of the brands.

They love to help though so i do get them to help with planting seeds and things. I also have some toys for them and their own spades, watering cans etc. Also snacks and drinks, they will sit down for a bit with these whilst you madly rush round doing jobs. In the summer i just let them wear old trackie bottoms/shorts and long sleeved cotton tops (keeps the sun off a bit)

Mine didnt walk until 18 months+ but they were happy to potter about crawling and bum shuffling. Only thing to think that is that until they walk they will get colder more quickly.

You jsut have to go with the mud though...warm bath when you come in is the best bet. Sometimes i literally have to strip mine off at the back door they are so dirty!!

Water pistols are a great distraction in the summer too.

Our back garden is quite small, a swing would take up the patio I think, and I'm not sure what I'd do with it when it wasn't needed. Though she would love to have her own swing too. She loves the ones at the park. Maybe I can find something that would work and could be out of the way in the little shed when it wasn't needed.
I shall go search the oracle of Google.

op - I hate broad beans too. Was force fed them as a child - actually it was rubbery old leathery butterbeans < gag >.

I don't think the DC really notice the taste, the thrill is popping the pods and getting the beans out " Look Mummy! A really tiny weeny baby one!" Chomp. All gone.

I went to Asda today and they have lots of really cheap kids gardening stuff - little gloves, water spritzers, trugs, watreing cans, kneelers etc. Don't get it from the garden centre - its a rip off there.

Thanks for the advice. I was out yesterday at the garden shop looking in passing at things and didn't know what to buy, partly because of the expense. But I'll look at Asda which is a walk away and will probably get a few items there if they're cheap.

We were out today doing a little gardening (pulling up the dead stuff) and she loved it. I had her in a rainsuit that we got for the winter when we took her backpacking and only just fits her now. It kept her dry while crawling about the grass. She kept pointing out the sole crocus (and color) that has come up. After some close examining she promptly rolled down the hill which is our garden onto the patio and conked herself on the head. We called it a 'morning' and went in for lunch after the tears wouldn't stop. I feel it was a good start though.