Last year my husband and I decided to start our very first vegetable and fruit garden. We had no idea how much our kids would end up learning from this experience, and how excited they would be to do it again this year!
This year we started our planning about a month ahead of time, due to being in the North East, we are just now able to start our garden (realistically we could have prob started a few weeks ago, but with the weather around here we wanted to be sure the warm weather was here to stay before starting).
How we planned:
First we wrote a list of everything we wanted to plant this year, here’s our list:
- Green Bell Peppers
- Green Beans
- Watermelon
- Raspberries
- Cucumbers
- Kale
- Various kinds of lettuce
- Pumpkins
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Strawberries
- Onions
- Purple Carrots (still need to find these!!)
Second we decided which weekend we would buy the plants and seeds, and which weekend we would plant the actual garden. For us we decided it would be best to spread it out over two weekends, and we would buy our plants from our local public farmers market. We also picked up a couple of packages of seeds from Wegmans. Writing out an actual plan helped the kids to see the important steps that are needed to start a garden, and also gave them the opportunity to give us input, and feel apart of it.
How we planted our garden:
We use a raised bed garden. My husband built a 6×12 foot cedar raised bed, and then we bought organic soil and mixed it with peat moss and fertilizer because where we live the soil isn’t the best for planting.** If you build a raise bed just be sure to stay away from pressure treated wood because of the toxins in the wood.
We then planted each plant about 4-6 inches apart from each other in rows. It is better to have your plants growing close to each other, they will flourish more this way. Having your plants together crowds out weeds and it also encourages the plants to grow upwards instead of spreading out and taking up all of your garden space. *Keep in mind you have limited space when using raised beds so use your space wisely.
We planted the plants that have vines (ex.pumpkins, watermelons,cucumbers) near the edge of the box so that the vines can grow out of the box and on the ground around it instead of taking up space in our garden.
We also decided to start some plants from seeds like our green beans and pumpkins. (You can see where it looks like blank space in the picture, but it’s actually where seeds are planted), because some plants don’t transplant well ie. green beans.
Lastly the most important thing to do is WATER, WATER, WATER!! It is important to water twice a day (morning and night) for the first week after transplanting the plants. After that 1 time a day is fine. Trust me, your kids wont have any problem doing the watering for you… What kid doesn’t love watering things??!
The most exciting part is seeing all the fruits and vegetables grow and having your kids go out and pick them all! They love it! Each day its like a new surprise, looking at all the plants and seeing whats ready to eat! Not to mention, the convenience of having fruits and veggies in your own back yard is all sorts of amazing!
So go start a garden of your own today! I promise its not nearly as hard as you think!
I hope you love gardening with your kids as much as we do!
Enjoy!
X♥O Nicole
Awesome! I’m really wanting to start a garden with my toddler, but because we are feeling the effects of the drought here in California, I’ve been concerned. Your garden looks amazing!
My kids were always excited to eat the things they grew. That in itself is enough to make gardening worth it- all that healthy food!
Enjoy your garden! Sounds like you’ll have some good food!
I am so jealous because I live in an apartment in Brooklyn. You have inspired me to find a way to garden with my daughter anyway. Maybe I will find a way to create an indoor garden! Great post!
Jackie
DIYDESIGNMOM.com
Yum! Enjoy all your new yummy foods, and congrats on the garden!
My daugher loves to be in the garden where as my son hates it lol! Thanks for sharing your tips!
My daugher loves to be in the garden where as my son hates it lol! Thanks for sharing your tips!
This is great! My middle son loves gardening. We had some unlucky timing with the snow this year, but most of it seems to have come through and it hasn’t put him off! He was so proud too when we made kale chips he had grown 🙂
This is great! My middle son loves gardening. We had some unlucky timing with the snow this year, but most of it seems to have come through and it hasn’t put him off! He was so proud too when we made kale chips he had grown 🙂
What great advice on gardening and having your kids involved in the process is super cool. I’m sure they love helping out and connecting to nature.
What great advice on gardening and having your kids involved in the process is super cool. I’m sure they love helping out and connecting to nature.
We choose between pumpkins and watermelon because of cross-pollination concerns, and the kids always choose pumpkins!
Love this sweet post. Gardening is our favorite activity.
Thank you So much Randi! I talked to my husband about the cross-pollination concerns because honestly we didnt even think about that! We are gonna keep an eye out for any signs of that! Thanks for the heads up!
We choose between pumpkins and watermelon because of cross-pollination concerns, and the kids always choose pumpkins!
Love this sweet post. Gardening is our favorite activity.
This is awesome! I’m super impressed.
Thank you so much Karyl!
This is awesome! I’m super impressed.
Thank you so much Karyl!
We started our project this year. We love seeing plans for gardens, and we agree with you about the educational opportunities a garden presents. That was, in fact, one of our goals for The Kinky Hose Garden Project. We will be following your blog, looking forward to see what develops!
Awesome!! Thank you so much for the share! I found you on Twitter too!! Great to have a new follower, glad you enjoyed the post! Happy Gardening!
We started our project this year. We love seeing plans for gardens, and we agree with you about the educational opportunities a garden presents. That was, in fact, one of our goals for The Kinky Hose Garden Project. We will be following your blog, looking forward to see what develops!
Reblogged this on The Kinky Hose Garden Project and commented:
We like to share and introduce other bloggers who share our passions and our goals. Mommy Talk has this to say about teaching children to garden.
Reblogged this on The Kinky Hose Garden Project and commented:
We like to share and introduce other bloggers who share our passions and our goals. Mommy Talk has this to say about teaching children to garden.