Fall Garden Parties: Outdoor Entertaining Ideas

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

A fall garden party can be a great way to welcome and celebrate the fall season. The fall garden party activities below are a great way to keep your guests talking and leave them something to remember long after the party has ended.

Seed Swapping

What's a fall garden party without planting seeds? Ask your guests to bring fall seeds to exchange with others. They can either buy seeds from the store, bring seeds they have but won't use, or cultivate some seeds from their own gardens to share. If there are loose fall seeds, place those in zippered sandwich bags to make it easier to distribute them.

Once everyone has contributed their share, sort them in a way that makes it easy for everyone to choose which ones they'd like. Have a designated area to organize all the seedlings and also figure out how many packages each person will be able to have.You may wish to supply something fun for each person to collect their seeds with, such as a watering can or small pot or planter.

DIY Container Planting

Another fun garden party activity is DIY container planting. Your fellow gardening pals will enjoy this activity. It can be fun to garden together with friends. Tips can be shared and since guests at a fall garden party will likely be gardeners, most should be enjoying themselves. Supply gloves, a container, fall seedlings, soil, and a garden spade.

You may also want to have guests use some of the seeds acquired during the seed swap. Allow guests to bring home whatever they have planted in their planters. This not only gives the guests something fun to do at the outdoor party, but it also gives them something they can use. Plus, each time they look at their fall plants, they can remember the great time spent with their friends.

Buckets for the Homeless

If you'd rather gear your fall party toward being charitable to others, instead of the DIY container planting, guests can create buckets for the homeless. Buckets for the homeless are actual container gardens using buckets. For these, you'll need a large bucket for each one to be made, soil, and vegetable seeds or sprouts. Buckets make great container gardens for the hungry or homeless because they can be easily carried around.

They provide a continuous source of nutrition that they can bring anywhere without worrying about refrigeration. Be sure to plant a variety of vegetables. Usually for these, the tomato is planted in the middle, with other vegetables surrounding it. Place a cracked egg underneath the tomato plant for extra fertilizer. Also, be sure that holes are poked in the bottom and sides of the buckets for irrigation.