Keeping kids safe in the garden

Listen to this radio story (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Tom Koske, horticulturist, Louisiana State University Ag Center

My kids were always by my side in the garden as they were growing up. Some of their antics grossed me out! They would pull out radishes and baby carrots and eat them without washing them off, and some of the strawberries weren't perfectly clean either. I'm sure they ate a lot of dirt!

Spending time in the landscape with young children requires careful attention. Just as you would childproof rooms in your house, it's important to take safety precautions in the garden.

Tom Koske is a horticulturist with Louisiana State University's Ag Center and says there are many pickles kids can get into outside, but in the garden, the main concern is germs and fresh pesticides.

"There are a lot of bad things in soils," Koske says. "Even organic soils could be heavily infested with e-coli or other problem diseases. The kids will get this under their fingernails, on their hands, and they often go in their mouth. Or they might be having toys dropped in the soil, and the soil gets on the toy and it goes in the mouth."

They could have a cut on their hand and get soil in it, which is another direct route for germs. Clean and bandage the wound as soon as possible.