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Advice For Beginner Gardeners

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There are few better hobbies than gardening. Gardening allows you to improve your living space, be outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air without leaving your home, and it is an active and rewarding hobby. These are just a few of the main benefits of gardening as a hobby, but it is also something that can be challenging to get started with. Therefore, it is helpful to be aware of a few tips that will help you to get started with gardening and hopefully allow you to enjoy these many benefits. Keep reading to find out a few handy tips for beginner gardeners.

Create A Plan

Before you get started, it is important to get to know your garden and then plan how you want to use it. You need to know important factors like areas that get the most (and least) sun, what direction it faces, and the type of soil that you have, just as a few important factors. With this information, you can then create a floor plan for your garden and figure out what to plant and where and how to really make the most out of the space.

Learn How To Plant & Nurture Plantlife

Gardening is all about knowledge, so you need to make sure that you know how to plant and look after different types of plant life to make sure that they grow properly. Fortunately, the internet is a brilliant resource for gardeners as you can find out how to grow just about anything online with various different websites, blogs, and podcasts. Additionally, you might find it helpful to join online communities where you can get advice, ask questions and engage with other gardeners.

Protect Yourself

When you start spending a lot more time outside and in the sun, it is important that you protect yourself. Being outside is good for you in many ways, but there are dangers, so you should always wear sunscreen, try to avoid spending too long in the sun, and wear UV contact lenses. UV contact lenses will protect your eyes from harmful UV rays and prevent you from needing to wear glasses, which will often fall off when gardening.

Start Off Small

As with any home improvement project, people often get over excited and bite off more than they can chew when it comes to gardening. Instead, you need to start off small by simply working on one area at a time. This will make it much easier to manage, help you to stay organized, and gradually improve your garden. You also need to avoid overdoing it as gardening can be physically demanding and tiring, so taking regular breaks is important.

These tips should come in handy for anyone that is looking to start gardening as a hobby. Gardening can improve your home and your life in many ways, but it is also a hobby that can be tricky to get started with, and you will want to know these basic tips before you begin.

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Learn about Chile for Kids

I don’t really know why, but Chile was my favorite country when I was younger. Something about the shape, or the name, or the remoteness of it was really interesting to me. Let’s learn all about Chile.

Chile Basics

  • Chile is officially the Republic of Chile, and it is a long, skinny country on the west coast of South America, bordered by Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It’s the southern-most country in the world and the closest to Antarctica.
  • The country controls several islands, including Easter Island, and including the islands the country is about 291,933 square miles, or 765,102 square kilometers. It also claims 480,000 square miles/1.25 million square kilometers of Antarctica.
  • It is 2,670 miles.more than 4,300 kilometers long north to south, but at is widest point east to west is only 217 miles/350 km across. Because of its size it has many geographic regions and includes desert, volcanoes, a central valley good for agriculture, forests and more. It is considered part of the Pacific ring of fire because of the presence of volcanoes and the tectonic plates that created the mountains of South America.
  • The capital and largest city is Santiago, and the national language is Spanish. Parts of the country were colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century, and they declared independence in 1818.
  • The population is around 17.5 million.
  • Chile had a lot of unrest from the 1960s through the 1980s, with a coup followed by a military dictatorship. The country is now a presidential republic and is considered one of the most economically and socially stable countries in South America.
  • It’s not really known where the name Chile comes from. It could be the sound of a bird from from a word from one of various native people that could mean something like the ends of the earth, cold, snow or the deepest part of the earth.
  • The Mapuche were early settlers in the area now known as Chile, and the Inca briefly ruled part of northern Chile but faced great resistance from the Mapuche.

Chile National Symbols

The flag of Chile features a red band across the lower half, with the top half being about two thirds white and one third blue, with a five-pointed white star in the center of the blue square. The star is said to represent Venus, considered a guide by the indigenous Mapuches. Others say it represents the independent nation. Blue represents the Pacific Ocean, white is for the snow-capped Andes and the red recognizes the blood spilled to gain independence. The flag was adopted in 1817.

The national anthem is sometimes called the National Song, and other times referred to by its first line, “Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado,” or “How pure, Chile, is your blue sky.” It was adopted in 1828.

The Andean condor is a national symbol of Chile. It is one of the largest flying birds in the world and has the longest wingspan of any bird. Along with the condor, the south Andean deer is featured on the country’s coat of arms. This critically endangered species of deer lives in Chile and Argentina and tends to stick to difficult habitats like periglacial grasslands and bluffs.

The lapageria or Chilean bellflower is the national flower. It’s a climbing plant that grows in the rainforest.

Huaso, the Chilean cowboy, are considered a national symbol because of their importance in folklore.

Chile Learning Activities for Kids

Learn about Chilean rodeo, an important national sport. Here’s an animated overview of the sport, and a video showing how its done.

While they aren’t national symbols, there are llama and the related guanaco in Chile if you want to learn about them and what the difference is.

Find resources for teaching kids about Chile at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learn about Pablo Neruda, a famous poet and politician from Chile. The children’s book Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People is a great place to start. Isabel Allende is another famous writer from Chile.

Explore Easter Island and make an Easter Island craft with this tutorial from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary.

Try some Chilean food like ensalada Chilena (this one is from Kid World Citizen) or cazuela de pollo (Chilean Food and Garden).