Natural garden fun

Share these awesome activities with your family and be a garden superhero! Ladybug Hummingbird

Ground beetle Frog

Learn to grow a garden safe for people, pets and wildlife. superhero scavenger hunt A tale of two droplets Drip and drop both fell from the same cloud. See what happens Can you find my friends in the garden? Look under leaves and rocks and in the compost. These when they land in different yards. soil superheroes help make compost so plants can grow strong! Put a next to the ones you find. Yikes! Cool!

I eat fungi and jump when scared. I eat slugs and bugs.

Springtail Drip gets doused with pesticide. Drop lands in a natural garden. Actual size I eat dead plants.

Whoa! Ground beetle Weee! Roly-poly

Sow bug I eat slugs and bugs. Drip slips into the storm drain. Drop gets splashed by a bird.

I’m sorry Yum! little fish. Organic strawberries!

White worm Actual size

Red worm Tortoise

Catch soil Drip pollutes the river. Drop helps a strawberry grow. superheroes I’m too small at night with a to hurt you. Make your natural garden a happy place for jar, buried like this. bugs and water droplets. Build a bug bath Always be gentle Actual size by putting pebbles and sand in a dish with bugs, and let and adding water. them go afterward. Pseudoscorpion 2 3 4 Ladybug lane Find aseed,pebble,twigor stay there.(Answersareon question square,answerit. Help yourladybugmakeit the rightsideofgame space. Ifyouarewrong, The firstpersontohelp If youareright,goone Use twocoinsfordice. leaf foragamepiece. When youlandona their ladybugtothe safely downthe ground wins! beanstalk. board.) , go , go , go

1 2 3 Your ladybug lays eggsand flies forward one. anew beginningwith ladybug.Startatthe Bug spraykilledyour Oh,my! theslug. beetleeats whileaground path. Loseaturn blocksyour Aslug 1 space. gives yourladybug Eating aphids another turn. FINISH. Go 1spaceto use bugspray. someonenotto You convince energy. Take driveways ornatural keep riversclean? Detourback. weeds. lostinthe ladybuggets Your Which helps Oily cement gardens? Q2 Your ladybug can restnow. FINISH! The suncomes out andhelps the beanstalk Go 2spaces. grow. Goback3spaces larvaecan’t find Your ladybug’s water thegarden Your plantsare Go1space. justenough. aphids toeat. to findsome. thirsty, soyou do ladybugsand How manylegs other have? Q1 goes backup Your ladybug in search of food. START beanstalk grow. Go 3spaces. from anative Your ladybug daisy flower. Go 3spaces. helps the Compost eats pollen ladybug wanted Bug spraykilled the aphidsyour to eat.Goback 2 spaces. Groundbeetleor superherois millipede? aninsect? Whichsoil refreshed ina ladybug gets Go 1space. bug bath. Q3 Your True orFalse? Worms help compost. make Q4

Answers:

5 Q1: Six Q2: Natural gardens Q3: Ground beetle Q4: True Cool critters are our friends My garden adventure Circle the names of these cool garden superheroes in the word puzzle below. Draw your favorite memory of the garden adventure you had. Not sure what they are? Search the booklet for their names. Was it digging, climbing or searching for bugs? Was it seeing birds and butterflies or smelling flowers?

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page 7 Robin

page 6 page 2

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Make a home for f my friends and me by adding a log, some rocks and native plants such What words describe your garden adventure? as sword fern. 1.______2.______3.______6 7 More family fun I help flowers make fruit. Plant an organic Build a pizza garden mason Grow tomatoes, bee house onions, oregano,  Drill 5/16-inch basil and garlic. holes 4 inches deep into untreated  and put on a south- facing wall.

Build a worm bin Make your own Use a box with a lid and quarter-inch bean tepee holes in the bottom and sides. Use long poles and Use moist shredded newspaper string, then plant for bedding, and feed the worms scarlet runner beans fruit and vegetable scraps. or other pole-bean plants in a circle.

Dear Grownups, Grow smart. Grow safe. Did you know children tend to have a higher You want to protect your plants. But be sure exposure to garden chemicals than adults? It’s to protect your family and your pets, too. If true. They spend more time discovering their you’re considering using a pesticide, choose world through smell, touch and taste. As a result, the lowest-hazard option. Check the list at children can ingest, inhale and absorb more growsmartgrowsafe.org. chemicals. Protect your children from the risk of long-term health impacts by gardening naturally, Other helpful websites for a safer home without pesticides. It’s easy, smart and even fun. pesticide.org Learn more with the resources below. watoxics.org aboutkidshealth.ca

Questions? Call Metro Recycling Information at 503-234-3000, or visit Metro’s website. oregonmetro.gov/garden

Printed on recycled-content paper. 15242