Essentials of a Garden By: Kristen MacAulay EDU 345 March 22, 2004

What makes up a garden?  A garden has plants, soil, rocks and minerals.  It is home to many bugs and animals that sometimes rely on its food.  A garden is usually recognized for its plants and food it grows.

What does a garden need?  Because the garden is home to many fruits and vegetables, there needs to be seeds and rain for those to prosper.  Soil is also dependent upon the rain so that it will not become too dry.  We know that plants and crops need water to grow and without the rain, these plants will die.  This is where the water cycle comes into play. The evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection in the ground are all needed for a garden to survive.  There also needs to be oxygen for photosynthesis to occur. There needs to be light from the sun in order for plants to make food and energy.

What animals use a garden?  Bees and butterfly’s rely on the garden.  Worms live in the soil, which is part of the garden.  Although many people do not like this, deer, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, dogs and other animals often take food from the gardens that the planters are trying to grow.

Do seasons affect a garden?  The four different seasons play a large role for a garden.  Spring is the time when most people start beginning to plant the garden as long as the soil is not too hard from the cold winter.  Gardening is not done in the winter.  Summer produces the most from a garden and in the fall, the garden continues until it is too cold when winter comes.

What would happen without a garden?  People grow a lot of their food from a garden. Without a garden, people would not be able to grow their own food or sell it for money.  Without planting seeds, we would have no fruits or vegetables. We couldn’t have any tomatoes or apple trees or any other foods that grow in a garden.

What would happen, cont.  Many plants and flowers are grown in a garden and without the combination of good soil, rain, nutrients and minerals, sunlight, seeds, the water cycle and the oxygen cycle, there would be no plants and flowers.  A lot of factors contribute to a successful garden. But, would animals and people survive if there were no gardens?  What do you think?

Could we survive?  Yes, we could survive without gardens.  However, they are very essential and people would no longer be able to grow food or crops. If the economy went bad and we couldn’t pay for food, we could grow it if we had gardens.

Wrapping it up  If you would like to start your own garden with your parents, you can check out this website to help get you started. connections.com/garden/index.ht m. connections.com/garden/index.ht m  Gardens are very important for many reasons that we have just discussed and you can help by creating your own garden.  This presentation contains information for the National Science Standards for grade K-4, content standard C.