"I OFTEN SEE FLOWERS FROM A PASSING CAR . . ."
Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets, an opinion that is shared by many. In "A Passing Glimpse," his first stanza is "I often see flowers from a passing car / That are gone before I can tell what they are." Now, Frost was writing about glimpses of things and how quickly they pass. This poem, however, takes on a whole new meaning for people like me who have no gardening skills. It's not that I don't like flowers, it's just that flowers don't like me. Walk with me someday through any nursery and you will hear the plants sigh in relief as I pass, happy that they have dodged a sure-fire death at the hands of an unexperienced tiller of the earth.

I do not come by this lack of talent honestly by way of genetics. My grandfather spent hours grafting pear and apple trees to form hybrid trees that still grow and produce fruit in what was once his backyard. My father is what we Southerners call a "gentleman farmer," and you haven't eaten corn until you've had creamed corn taken from the cobs of homegrown corn. He also grows potatoes and tomatoes and cucumbers and field peas. If the economy gets any worse I at least know my family won't starve.

Most kids today think produce comes from the grocery store. Have they ever seen a tomato on the vine, or the silk of an ear of corn popping through the husk? As our society gets further away from the simple things of life, it is important to keep our children grounded. Yes, that pun was intended. How do you introduce children to gardening even if you are known in plant circles as a serial killer? You could do as I did and marry someone who can make plants sprout just by smiling on a plot of dirt. If you're having trouble finding that perfect someone, however, or if your mate has other qualities that don't include gardening, don't despair. It is not grounds for divorce (another pun - sorry!).

Apicture book that introduces children to the concept of the life cycle of plants is "A Seed is Sleepy" by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long. The front and back end pages are filled with drawings of different seeds, some I never knew existed. Did you know there was such a thing as a hamburger bean? And all this time I thought hamburgers came from cows! The illustrations are works of art and the information is easy enough for young children to understand but interesting enough to keep older children mesmerized.

In "A Seed is Sleepy," my favorite kid gardening activity is discussed: growing a bean plant. While the book does not go into detail, it shows the stages, how the plant embryo is fed from the parts of the seed and the timeline for sprouting. It contrasts this timeline with that of rice, pumpkins, slash pines and teak. Growing a bean is a great activity for indoor gardening that is hard for even a novice like me to mess up.

For this experiment you will need a clear plastic or glass cup, paper towels, any kind of dry beans (pinto, black, kidney), some plastic wrap and a rubber band. Soak the beans for 24 hours to reawaken the germination process. You may want to do this ahead of time if you have an impatient toddler. After soaking the beans, put a wet paper towel in the bottom of the cup, put the beans inside up against the glass (you want to be able to see them) and insert more paper towels to hold them in place. Add water to thoroughly soak everything, pour off the excess and then cover the cup with the plastic wrap. Secure it with the rubber band. Put the cup in a sunny spot. Add water every day as needed to keep the paper towels well hydrated but not swimming in water.

Now comes the real experiment. Will your toddler let the beans germinate before insisting on taking them out of the cup and getting a closer look? Because of this you may want to make 2 or 3 cups with germinating beans so you have a back-up in case curiosity gets the better of your little angel.

The bean plants should germinate in a couple of days. You can then take the plastic wrap off and find some soil to serve as your toddler's bean plant's new home.

Once your toddler is bitten with the gardening bug you may want to encourage his new hobby. DK's "First Garden Activity Book" is a good place to start. Clear instructions and colorful pictures will make any toddler excited about a trip to the nursery for seeds. For older children, "Sow and Grow: A Gardening Book for Children" by Tina Davis covers growing seeds on a sponge to pressing flowers from your garden and is laid out in a year-long timeline, month by month.

Gardening is a hobby that you can enjoy with your children for many years, whether you grow flowers or vegetables. Or if you're lucky enough to have a husband who loves to garden, it's a hobby he can enjoy with your

children while you sneak away to read a good book! I