My Family & Me: With a little help from my friends

Domestic Arts class again, and “the proof was in the pudding, ”or rather our gelatin molds.

With fingers crossed, Garnet and I upended the metal molds after first letting them sit in hot water to allow the gelatin to slide free. A shimmering emerald green, perfection!

Carrying small dessert plates, students browsed through the different selections, cutting slices to test various ones. We exchanged satisfied grins, applauding our success. I decided I liked Domestic Arts. What other class provided students with food?

At the end of class, Mrs. Fetterman announced our next cooking project: baking brownies. "If you have a favorite family recipe, bring it to the next class day," she said. "You can also pick one from the recipe books here. Then we'll shop for the ingredients."

Mom never made brownies. Her cookie specialties were molasses and raisin-filled, twolayered sugar cookies.

Since she cut them from the dough with a recycled one-pound Maxwell House coffee can, they were massive, each cookie the size of a dessert plate.

Garnet's family had no cherished brownie recipe either, so we culled the class recipe books and found one that sounded pretty basic.

"Fewer chances for slip-ups," Garnet said, to my nodding head. Despite our optimism...

Which one of us measured incorrectly? Garnet was the one who noticed it, that I remember clearly.

"Kathy, there's something wrong! The batter's way too thin. We must have doubled the liquid ingredients!"

Mouth agape, I could only stare at her. But Garnet, true to her nature, had sprung into action. She made no pretense of using a measuring cup, scooped more sugar, cocoa and flour into the bowl, stirring after each addition. A pinch of salt, a pinch of something else...

"That looks better," she finally said, and poured the brown mixture into its waiting pan. Into the oven it went. I stood frozen in place, my mouth still wide open.

A widely-held belief in those days was that sudden loud noises or bumps would cause a cake in the oven to fall, leaving its center sunken. Whether this applied to brownies or not, I have no idea. I do know Garnet

with holes drilled into the bottom, recycled nursery pots, or a colorful raised planter make great gardens.

Provide them with some kid-sized tools and equipment. The tools’ smaller scale will be easier for them to handle and having their own tools that match yours makes gardening even more special. Consider investing in a set of kids’ gardening tools including hand tools, long-handled tools and even a wheelbarrow like those at Corona Tools USA (coronatools.com).

Keep in mind the goal is for kids to have fun and develop an interest in gardening. You may need to bite your tongue when their combinations are rather unique, or plants are spaced improperly. Provide some guidance but be prepared to let them experiment and learn from their failures as well as successes.

Kids like to water even at an early age. The biggest challenge is getting the water to the plant, but that will come with time, practice and a few water-soaked outfits. Your efforts will be rewarded when your child takes over watering your container gardens.

You may notice kids often find bugs and worms more interesting than plants. Use this as a gateway into gardening. Get kids involved in worm composting or hunting for earthworms in the compost pile. They will have fun on the worm hunt while helping you turn your compost pile.

Use the “Pluck, Drop and Stomp” method to manage garden pests. Point out the bad guys and the damage they do. Be sure they know to watch for the good guys and leave them be to help the garden grow. Then have the children pluck the bad bugs off the plant, drop them to the ground, and stomp on them. This ecofriendly pest management strategy also burns some of that excess energy.

Include lots of color in the garden and containers. Michigan State University surveyed kids before creating their children’s garden. They found kids were much more excited and likely to participate when a garden is filled with color.

And as the flowers are maturing and your family is overrun with vegetables, consider sharing the harvest and a few bouquets of flowers. Giving helps children grow into caring, wellrounded adults. And food pantries in your community are always in need of fresh produce. Most of the food-insecure people in our communities are kids and seniors who greatly benefit from fresh nutritious vegetables.

Be sure to end the growing season with a harvest party. Use your homegrown produce to prepare a picnic or fancy dinner for family and friends. Then use some of those beautiful flowers you grew to decorate the table.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released “Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition” and “Small Space Gardening.” She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated “Melinda’s Garden Moment” TV and radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Corona Tools for her expertise in writing this article. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.