Many children, from preschool through to teens have an interest in growing and caring for plants.  For those of us who live in northern climates this leaves several months out of the year where any planting and growing has to take place indoors.  Luckily there are many fun and beautiful plants that can be grown indoors.

Little Leafy Green has been interested in growing plants from seeds for a couple of years, and we have attempted many different plants with varying levels of success. Here are some of my favorite indoor plants to grow with children.  My criteria for recommendation includes a few different factors:
 -kids like to grow plants straight from the beginning.  Being able to look at the  seeds and bulbs, plant them in the container themselves and watch them sprout  is much more interesting than simply buying a plant.
 -the plants should provide some kind of a pay-off fairly quickly.  No 5 year old is  going to want to wait for 6-8 weeks to see a result.
 

1.  Amaryllis Bulbs.  One of our favorite flowers to plant in the winter is the amaryllis bulb.    Kits containing the bulb, pot and dirt are readily available everywhere from gardening centers to grocery stores.  These plants sprout quickly and grow anywhere between 12-24 inches.  A very impressive cluster of large, long lasting, colorful flowers blooms from the top.  Easy to grow, and very pretty to look at when in bloom.  Once it has bloomed, the bulb can also produce offshoot bulbs that can be divided and planted on their own.

2.  Avocado Plant.  Another easy plant to sprout is an avocado plant.  Simply scoop carefully out of a ripe avocado, gently poke in 3 toothpicks and set in a cup of water so that it covers about half the seed.  Children can then watch the roots form in the water and a shoot come out the top.  Once the seed has taken root, the small plant can be transferred into a pot.

3. Spider Plants.  If you happen to have a mature spider plant, or know someone who does this is the one exception to starting plants straight from a seed or bulb.  Mature spider plants send out offshoots of baby spider plants that can be cut off and planted if roots have already formed, or rooted in water and then planted.  Kids can have a lot of fun choosing their baby plant and learning how to plant and care for it.

4. The Carnivorous Garden.  This one requires more work and a longer waiting period, however the coolness factor of growing bug eating plants makes up for the extra work.  The Carnivorous Creations kit contains seeds for seven different types of carnivorous plants.  It also includes a plastic terrarium, dirt, “swamp rocks” and decorative stickers and plastic swamp animals to decorate the garden.  Two words of warning about this product.  First, it is very, very important to follow their instructions and only use distilled water to water the garden as the minerals in regular water are harmful to carnivorous plants.  I would have preferred that they include that tidbit of information on the box instead of only on the inside instructions as most people do not keep distilled water on hand.  Instead of making a special trip to the store, I tried bottled water and effectively ruined our first kit!  Second, one of the seed packs included in the kit must be mixed with a small amount of soil and left to germinate in the fridge for 6 weeks before planting.  Depending on the age of your child it might be advisable to carefully open the kit early and get these seeds started as six weeks can be an incredibly long time for a younger child to wait.  This kit is a fair bit of work, but if you have the patience it is one of the coolest gardening activities around.

Children have such a keen interest in learning about nature.  It is definitely worthwhile to take advantage of the opportunities to bring a little bit of nature indoors to brighten up those winter months.

» Dunecraft

When Baby Bean was born a few months ago, we vowed the Bean household would not become a blur of brightly colored plastic toys, strewn from one end of the house to the other. Even now when she’s just a few months old, the appearance of commercials advertising the latest and greatest in Barbie and Polly Pocket evolution are a cringe-worthy glimpse of our future.

Fortunately there are still several years until the evils of advertising and huge toy stores infiltrate the mind of our wee one. Our hope is that by exercising creativity and restraint now during the early months, we’ll avoid excess in the future and teach our child how to make even simple things fun. As we travel the path of minimalism, we’ve discovered a few great toys that intrigue our young one, while allowing us to utilize things we already own. And let’s be honest – babies find their own feet fascinating, so the task really is not that difficult at this young, impressionable stage. Find some of our ideas below, and feel free to send us your own suggestions.

March to the beat of your own drum
Sure you could head to Toys ‘R Us and pick up a pint-sized drum kit, or allow your little one to take the hot seat in Rock Band. Or you could pull a few of your pots from the cupboard, grab a wooden spoon and let your little one bang away to their own beat. As they get a bit older, introduce them to some of your favorite music and teach them to drum along with the rhythm. Not only are you using everyday household items to entertain your child, you also have the opportunity to show them the value of U2 over, say, Hannah Montana. ‘Nuff said. Bonus points if said pots are eco-friendly, like the ones offered by Starfrit!

Talk to the hand
Show of hands: who has at least one hole-ly sock in the sock drawer? Find a pair that probably shouldn’t ever see the light of day (at least not on your feet) again and get to work creating your child’s new best friend. Floppy ears, big eyes and a gravelly voice to match, and you’ve just set the stage for hours of fun. Use the sock to make your baby giggle and squeal in delight, and when they’re older, have their little sock friend teach them invaluable lessons about manners and safety. Just make sure to avoid attach ing buttons or anything else that could break of and pose a choking hazard. Use kid-friendly paint for the puppets facial features instead.

Washed up
Teething rings are a great concept – but then again, so is a cold, wet washcloth. Both can equally sooth an uncomfortable, teething baby, but one doesn’t require a special trip to the store to pick up. Frozen teething items are no longer acceptable (they can burn your baby’s mouth), so the difference between a store-bought teething ring and wetting a washcloth from the hall closet is about $5. Just make sure to wash it before use and dump a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle to get rid of any lingering chemical residue.

Boxed in
You know that big-screen TV your husband finally convinced you to let him buy? Well Daddy’s new toy also yields fascinating prospects for your youngster. When your child is a few years old, their imagination is already finely tuned and suddenly you’re no longer staring at a cardboard box headed for the recycling pile – instead you’re looking at a bona fide fort. Cut out a few windows, provide a flashlight, and suddenly that plain old box is Buckingham Palace to your little one. If said child tends to be nap-resistant, set up a sleeping bag and let them “camp out” for a few hours while you praise the good Lord for your significant other’s unquenchable desire to watch sports in high definition. Once the fort is done with, be sure to recycle that box!

Your biggest fan
Baby mobiles teach little ones to follow movement with their eyes, but we quickly discovered this type of entertainment doesn’t come cheap. The low-end versions start at around $30 and the quality looks might questionable. If you don’t want to shell out the money for one that hangs in the crib and you have a ceiling fan in your home, turn it into a homemade mobile by attaching balloons or ribbons and turning it onto the lowest setting. Most store-bought mobiles play music, but that’s really just a bonus feature (and another reason they can charge so much for them!), so turn on the radio or put on a CD if you feel the fan really needs to be accompanied by a tune.

» Eco Artworks

“I’m still afraid of the population monster.”

Recently those words by the late, great Norman Borlaug were repeated by Kenneth Quinn a current member of the World Food Prize Foundation, the organization Borlaug established during his remarkable career.

Quinn was one of several speakers at a conference in India last week that saw some of the brightest minds in science and agriculture, gather to discuss climate change and its impact on food production.

The topic is hardly new: just over a year ago, a report was released predicting that by the year 2100, climate change would cause mass starvation that makes our current troubles look like a picnic. The U.N. has also said six million tonnes of wheat will be kaput for every degree the temperature rises. And as that quote by Borlaug indicates, there are going to be a heck of a lot more people to feed in the future. If you consider that the temperature could rise as much as six degrees during the growing season, that’s 24 million tonnes of wheat we’ll lose that we really can’t afford to spare. Scared yet?

At last week’s conference, Lars Pedder Brekk , the Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food said we need to figure out a solution to climate change while also securing the long-term food supply. Oh sure Lars, when you put it that way, it sounds so easy. There are just a few minor problems to consider. Let’s look at them shall we?

First, let’s touch on the subject of climate change. Just ask Al Gore how easy it is to get people to care about global warming. Sure some concerned citizens make it a priority to reduce their impact on the earth. However with a few billion people on this planet, it’s safe to say only a small handful are mindful enough to make significant changes to their lifestyles – changes significant enough to actually solve the climate change problem. We can bike to work, use water-efficient toilets and shop local, but enough people have to commit to earth-saving measures to actually make a difference. Given the economic strife so many are facing these days, eco-concerns probably aren’t as high on the priority list of most families as say, figuring out how to make next month’s mortgage or rent payment.

Now let’s once again open the can of worms we like to call The Global Food Supply.

Food experts can at least agree that we’ll need to grow enough food for a rapidly growing global population, but nobody can agree on the most effective method of accomplishing this. Proponents of organic farming say it’s feasible that natural farming techniques could yield enough crops to keep pace with the growing population. By developing nutrient-rich soil and restricting the use of pesticides, the director of the Soil Association in the U.K. says countries like Britain could become sustainable organic systems. The U.K. banned genetically modified ingredients over a decade ago.

On the flip side, you have the opinion of scientists like Borlaug, who saw the effects of starvation up close. He prevented millions of people from starving to death in India and Pakistan over 30 years ago, and was a pioneer in the development of crops resistant to things such as drought and disease. Proponents of genetically altered crops say that when we’re talking about issues such as the severe effects of climate change, relying on organic farming won’t be enough. While areas like the U.K. the U.S. and Canada may have the capacity to grow organic and natural foods, other parts of the world don’t have that ability. Soil erosion, harsh weather conditions and lack of space make growing food a significant challenge. Unfortunately these are the nations that will suffer most if the predicted climate change and population boom do occur.

Organic farming advocates say it’s possible to improve soil conditions enough to produce food naturally. Britain’s Royal Society, a science academy, says preserving wild, natural crop varieties is important, but so is the development of genetically modified crops because the results of such crops are more predictable.

Penn Jillette once said it’s easy enough for those in developed countries to clamor for organic solutions and ban genetically modified ingredients, but such critics also aren’t the ones starving to death – at least not yet. If you handed a basket of fresh produce and bread to someone in say Haiti, it’s probably safe to assume the intended recipient wouldn’t wrinkle their nose in distaste and ask if the food was organic and free from pesticides and GM ingredients. If that’s all we had to eat, would we be so quick to turn it down?

We’re afraid of the long-term effects of climate change and terrified of the unknowns associated with GM crops. Now more and more scientists are starting to say one the former will make the latter a necessity. It poses a challenging question of which is the greater future evil: having a belly full of genetically modified foods or starving to death?

» The Hindu

For Vikings, pork was preferred over beef or any other type of meat.  And today you can buy bacon-flavored vegan soy products and even bacon flavor shakers to make everything taste like bacon.  The point is: Vikings like it, Vegans like it, and the rest of us like it so much we’d make everything taste like it if we could – I’m talking about pigs.

In the wild pigs would forage for stuff to eat on the forest floor and – much like us humans – they eat just about anything.  Domesticated pigs are fed nutritious feed so they grow nice and big.  They’re fed things like corn, barley, soybeans and other stuff.  Problem is that, much like us humans, usually what comes out the other end of pigs doesn’t exactly smell like roses.

Pig poop and swine farts are no laughing matter.  The flatulent feces of a conventional Yorkshire pig doesn’t just smell bad.  This poop is packed with high concentrations of phosphorus, which can cause problems for soil and waterways.

Given that there are about a billion live pigs in the world right now - half a billion in China alone – as you can imagine this is a big problem.  Yes – for some people becoming vegan or vegetarian is an option.  But for some folks pork may be one of the few sources of high-quality protein available to them.  And you can’t ignore the fact that a lot of people have a strong personal preference to eat meat products.

Luckily, about a decade ago some smart scientists at the University of Guelph in Canada developed a new genetically enhanced pig called (dun-dun-dun-duuuun) the Enviropig!  No, this pig doesn’t have super powers and can’t climb walls.  What it does do is produce a special enzyme in its saliva (the drool in its mouth) that makes it much easier for the pig to fully digest food such as cereals which are a core staple in a pig’s diet.  Since the pig can better digest its food significantly less phosphorous ends up in its manure, which is not only much better for the environment in general but it makes the manure much more useful as a fertilizer for growing crops.

You can kind of think of it in terms of how some people don’t tolerate dairy products or beans that well.  In some cases you can take an enzyme tablet that helps your body break down the food.  In the case of Enviropigs they have been genetically engineered to be able to better digest their food on their own without the need for dietary supplements.

Upon reading this you likely fall into one of two camps:
1) This is disgusting! I’m never gonna eat any frankenstein pork!  I’m calling the governor!
2) Woohoo!  Pass the pork chops please.  After all, they're eco-friendly.

Right now Enviropigs are still in the testing and approval stages.  For years now these pigs have been the subject of numerous tests to determine if they are safe for human consumption as well as other issues such as animal welfare, nutrition and if there are any differences between the make-up of a transgenic pig versus a ‘regular’ pig.  So meat from Enviropigs is not is our food supply yet, but there has been nothing so far to indicate that these little piggies won’t be approved to go to market at some point in the near future.

Human beings have been raising domestic pigs for centuries.  We’ve bred them in all sorts of shapes and sizes to suit our specifications and they’ve come a long way genetically from their wild ancestors.  Now modern science is stepping in with a genetic change that could significantly lessen the environmental impact of the Earth’s billion pigs.  It’ll be interesting to see what other types of environmentally beneficial innovations will be coming our way in the coming years.  Better pig poop may not be as sexy as a new electric car engine, but it’s still an important part of becoming a more environmentally friendly society.

» Vancouver Sun

One of the first signs of spring is the sudden urge to start planning out your holidays for the spring and summer months. After a long, dreary winter, the thought of an escape is refreshing. 

It's simple enough to make at least some of your vacation green, thanks to several online resources dedicated to helping travelers make eco-friendly arrangements. Follow these seven steps that will help you plan with peace of mind.

- Explore the alternatives to flying on shorter trips such as driving or hopping aboard a train or ferry. Sites like carbonresponsible.com will help you figure out the impact of your planned trip.

- Several countries have green accreditation schemes making the process of finding eco-friendly accommodations much simpler. Check out the Green Tourism Business Scheme for the UK, Italy's Legambiente, the Certificate in Sustainable Tourism in central America and the Ecotourism Certification programme in Australia. Alternatively check broader sites such as RezHub.com or GreenLodge.org.

- Rind a tour operator that offers environmentally-conscious tours. The Association of Independent Tour Operators has a rating system for members, and those wanting to book a feel-good tour will find 300 community-run trips on their charity Tourism Concern website.

- Take your hotel's green claims with a grain of salt. Be sure to ask hotel management about the facility's green practices in areas such as carbon emissions, energy, water use and waste disposal. Find out if they use local food and employ people who live in the area. The only way to positively bring about change is to bring the topic front-and-center - so discuss any areas for improvement with management, because the more they hear it, the more it's likely to stick and inspire positive developments.

- Nobody likes a tattletale, but if you spot hotel staff violating environmental policies you have every right to talk to management. Do the same for any other vendors you use, such as tour operators. You can also share your experience at irresponsibletourism.info.

- Don't leave your good green habits at home. Recycle, take public transportation, turn off lights, heat and air-conditioning when not in use and take showers as opposed to baths to save water.

- Go on a working vacation and volunteer to help those in need. Many of the destinations are warm and will offer you the opportunity work and play in the sun. Visit ethicalvolunteering.org for ideas on how to find a volunteer agency and information about which kind of trip is right for you.

» Guardian

From the time I moved into my first apartment, I have always enjoyed having a variety of houseplants.  They are a great way to decorate and add life to indoor spaces and fit into almost any decor.  Like most of us, I always knew that trees were important in improving air quality, however I never thought much about my indoor plants doing the same for my home.  It turns out that houseplants can indeed improve the indoor air quality in a home.  In fact, NASA did a study on common houseplants and came up with a list of the top common houseplants to improve indoor air quality.

How do houseplants improve air quality?  In the same way that trees are important in improving air quality outdoors.  These houseplants originate from tropical climates, where they grew under the shelter of tree canopies.  Because of this, these plants are able to survive on fairly low levels of natural light.  This makes them very efficient at photosynthesis, which allows them to absorb more gasses out of the air.  It is also why they grow so well in an indoor environment.

Here are some of my favorite houseplants from NASA’s list:

1.  Peace Lilly - The peace lilly tops the list of my favorite houseplants for a few reasons.  First, it is very easy to grow.  It handles most reasonable indoor light situations, and recovers relatively easily if it misses a regular watering.  The other reason it is one of my favorites is because it produces attractive white flowers very regularly when taken care of properly.

2. Snake Plant - The snake plant is a fantastic plant choice for someone who is not particularly good with plants because it requires only low levels of light and minimal watering.  In fact, my snake plant needs watering less than half as often as my other houseplants.  The snake plants long, spiky leaves also provide an interesting decorative look.

3. Spider Plant - The spider plant is another plant that is easy to grow and requires fairly low levels of light.  My favorite thing about mature spider plants are the shoots of “baby” spider plants that extend off of the main plant.  They are very neat to look at, and work well in hanging baskets.

4.  English Ivy - English Ivy is a very fast growing plant that trails beautifully.  It is very easy to grow, but does require more watering. 

5.  Ficus - Ficus trees are one of the neatest plants on the list.  They can grow very large and make a very pretty indoor tree.  They are not as easy going as the other plants mentioned.  They like more specific light conditions and watering, but do very well if put in the right area and watered regularly.

6.  Gerbera Daisy and Potted Mums - Two different species of plants altogether, however they have many of the same features.  They both provide beautiful flowers and are more of a “temporary” or seasonal plant, as they never seem to flourish past their flowering period.  If you want color, or don’t want a permanant houseplant, these are fantastic choices.  Both of these plants are also popular gift choices and very easy to find in a variety of stores.

NASA recommends having at least 15 houseplants in a 2000 square foot space in order to help improve air quality.  Also, it is important not to overwater houseplants, which can lead to fungal growth in the soil.

» Clean Air Gardening