Tilth's Children's Garden

Touching, smelling, plucking and tasting some plants, fruits, vegetables and flowers is not allowed, and may not be safe, in most display gardens, but it's part of the curriculum in Seattle Tilth's Children's Garden, behind the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.

In the Tilth garden, kids learn about planting, weeding, composting, worm beds and the interdependence of plants, animals and people. It's part of Tilth's commitment to organic gardening in an urban setting.

Families can tour the garden from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and other hours if gardeners are there. The adjacent Demonstration Gardens are open dawn to dusk daily. Both are free.

Spring and fall, school groups come to Tilth for 90-minute "working" tours ($3 per child, with a minimum $45 per tour).

Weeklong garden camps this summer for kids 7 to 12 include Ecology of the Garden, July 13-17; Garden Art, July 20-24, and Global Gardening, Aug 3-7. Camps run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sessions are $150.

Information: 206-633-0451.

COMING UP

-- Seattle Tilth's annual Organic Edible Plant Sale, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle. Visit the gardens and buy starts for vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs. Free family activities.

-- Children's Day at Washington Park Arboretum's Japanese Garden: 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow; garden open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Learn about plants and flowers, hear Japanese drums and storytellers, feed koi in the ponds, make origami. Kids under 12 free, adults $2.50. 1502 Lake Washington Blvd., Seattle, 206-684-4725

-- Seattle Youth Garden Works hosts Greenfest, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. next Saturday, a celebration of gardens developed by local youths at Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 N.E. 41st St., Seattle. Games and gardening for all ages, tours of Union Bay Natural Area. FREE. 206-525-1213.