There’s nothing fancy about it, and that’s okay. Growing up green, by Charles E. Majuri, is down to earth, in the best way. It’s for people who wish to share gardening with their children, no matter what experience level everyone has. It’s an especially wonderful and comprehensive book for beginners.

Majuri writes about the necessity of patience in the garden and the book is handled in a correspondingly patient manner. Gentle explanations let readers know which gardening activities might be best for children and what they may glean from the experience.

All the basics are covered, from planning and preparing, to planting, watering, mulching, growing in containers, encouraging worms, and saving seeds. Most of the book is divided by Northern Hemisphere months, with a generous number of suggested projects for each month.

Especially emphasized are projects that are easy for small children and help create family bonding. Majuri, after all, is a longtime clinical psychologist who has noted a continually widening gap in meaningful interaction between children and adults and has used and studied gardening as a way to provide healthy and joyful activity. He also includes bits of gardening history and lore that he hopes will serve as further springboards for interaction and fun.

Growing up green packs a lot of useful and inspiring inspiration in its slim volume. I recommend it to parents and others who seek simple information about getting their gardens growing.

“Growing Up Green is a wonderful gardening book that utilizes nature based activities to “foster trusting, meaningful relationships between children and adults.” As a clinically based social worker by degree and an avid gardener who has been gardening with my own young children since they were a year old, I fully support this wonderful concept and agree with the ideology. My children have helped my husband and I every spring and fall as we plant our organic vegetable garden and tend to our fruit trees and roses. As they have gotten older, the time spent together and tasks completed have truly been a blessing for our family. The innocent excitement and joy on their faces when they realize that their seeds have sprouted and then the time it takes to help weed, water, fertilize and harvest our bounty together is priceless (plus as an added bonus they are much more likely to eat the vegetables that they have grown themselves).

Growing Up Green is a wonderful guide for adults who have been considering starting their own garden and want a way to interact with the children. I really like the fun ideas for interactive gardening activities such as “finding a planting zone map at your garden center”, “feed the birds” or “learn about poisonous plants.” It is particularly helpful because it includes a month by month gardening guide with the related learning activity suggestions included. There is a lot of useful information provided for new gardeners and the advice is simple yet sound. It is also an inspiring book because as a home educating mom, it has given me tons of ideas that I came up with by simply reading this book. I plan to keep this book handy for when my children are old enough to complete the journal section as part of their curriculum too.

Some of the best (and relaxing/stress free) memories that my husband and I can recall with our children has been spent with our children gardening or planting fruit trees and flowers in our yard. What a wonderful concept for a book and the author has done an excellent job bringing it to fruition.

You can purchase Growing Up Green or visit the author’s website to learn more or get additional ideas.

*I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this novel.*“

“As an experienced farmer myself, I think the book is a wonderful approach to the complex and wondrous world of gardening and growing one‘s own food... I believe it will serve as a useful guide for anyone approaching this new world and inciting the passion to be a lifelong gardener.”