I have been wanting to plant a veggie garden for a LONG time. My 10 yo son is interested in farming/gardening. He has been working out in the backyard hoeing up the ground and has even planted a few pea seeds that a friend of mine gave him. He waters it every other day and is really excited. So I'm going to jump on this while he is still interested. How do I get started?? Is there a good website for beginning veg. gardeners?? I don't want to use pestasides so any tips on what I can use? Anything that you think will help us get a good harvest? Type of seeds to look for? BTW we are only planting a few things this year only to see how it works out. I don't want to spend a small fortune only to have it not grow. So we are doing tomatoes,onions,radishes and maybe watermelon along with the few pea seeds that he has already planted. thanks for your help. Angela
I remember growing cucumbers when I was little. You mingt want to stack a few used ties and fill with dirt and plant potatoes, as you harvest i believe you take one tire off--- research that. tomatoes and bell peppers, you can plant herbs too like basil and oregano and eventually make your own pizza with the herbs and tomatoes (and maybe peppers and onions??) you should go to a nursury in your area they can tell you what is good for your area and they should have the seeds there.
We operate a CSA and it is always such fun to watch the little ones garden Start with something fast growing like was mentioned - peas, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplants and peppers are quick visual result plants for children. We grow our potatoes in the tire stacks like Aball mentioned. As the potaotes grow, continue to add dirt and another tire until they are about 4 stacked high. To harvest, simply remove the tires...no digging! Potatoes are a great way to get kids excited about growing stuff! Build a 2 foot by 2 foot wood box to set on top of the ground in your garden area. Put 1/2 inch plexiglass in what will be the north side of the box instead of the wood so that as the potatoes grow, your child can actually see the potatoes under the dirt. You can do the same thing with carrots and beets. Watermelons can be tricky as most people end up with not long enough of warm weather for good ripening. Our seeds have already been started indoors under lights for this season. Pumpkins are easier to get good results from at least for me... I think I may be watermelon challenged though lol. Herbs are wonderful for kids to grow, instance satisfaction to their noses You can actually see the "aha!" moment the first time they crush a leaf in their fingers and smell. Mints can be made into iced tea as well as flavoring ice cream.
We are going to have a garden this year, too. Thanks for all the websites and ideas. Our first, although I have gardened with my parents for years. Elijah is excited and I know Gianna will be, too. My dh is not. He says it's too much work and he won't eat anything out of the garden. I know, he is so picky.
Thanks guys. I can't wait to get this going. My son was watching me cut up bell peppers tonight and asked if we could use the seeds inside them to grow more. Do any of you know how you could do this?? I'm going to let them dry out and see what happens when we plant them. Hope he don't get disappointed. I'm curious too. Angela
Yes, those seeds will grow into plants, just let the seeds dry but something to keep in mind.... the produce you buy at the grocers has been grown from hybrid seed so it won't grow and give you the same veggies reliably. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn't.
For a plant that germinates easily and produces a large crop, try one hill of zuchinni and/or yellow summer squash. Carol
My advise would be to make sure your soil is ready to support plant life throughout the growing season. Different veggies/plants have different nutritional and soil needs. What is good for one, will not always be good for another.
I was looking at the kidsgardening .com site that Sam posted the link for and it gives a lot of wonderful information for the new gardener. Check out the "Parents Primer" link for tons of fabulous info! They might even have info on figuring out soils for you. Without getting into the really specific details of ph balance etc, a good rule of thumb for the home gardener is to do a "pot test". Put some of the soil from where you are planning to have your garden and place it in a pot. A decent soil should have the consistency of homemade biscuit dough before you add the liquid - crumbly and a little loose yet heavy enough to hold itself almost in a ball if you squished it together. Pour water onto the soil in the pot and watch....does it sit on top and never sink in? You're dealing with "heavy" soil. Does the water sink in but takes a few minutes? You are blessed and have mid-grade soil which may only take a little bit of amendment. If the water sinks right through immediately and covers your counter because I forgot to tell you to put it in a dish first... :wink: , you have (sifter/sandy) soil that will need some "grab" added to it. Heavy soil types are usually made of high portions of clay and/or shale type rock. You can mix 1/3/2/1 blend of soil/sand/compost/plain top soil and have a decent soil to work with. Mid-grade soils usually just need a bit of compost, possibly sand to help drainage if you think the water is not sinking in quickly enough. If you have the "sifter soil" that everything just runs through immediately, you can amend it for a decent mix by blending 1/1/1 of soil/top soil/compost. Adding humus (organic matter) will improve all soil types but the sifter soil especially needs this improvement in order to hold the nutrients and water your plants will need. You can use any type of organice matter such as your lawn clippings, leaves, old straw/hay etc.
Deena, you can purchase a tiny Ph tester at any home and garden store; Home Depot, Lowes, etc... They are well worth it and do not cost much. I would also suggest looking into the nutritional needs of the veggie/plant because they may have different needs. These needs will range from nutrients, water consumption, drainage, and location for a proper amount of sun. The one thing I have learned in Ag. is the nutritional needs and soil consistancy needed by plant life differ greatly. What is considered the perfect soil for one plant, may be the death of another. So each plant should have soil that suits its needs. Proper Ph is an important part of this need. It can make the difference between healthy and sick veggies, or whatever a person is planting for that matter. A healthy plant will also fight off disease and pests a lot better than a weak and nutrient deficiant plant. I remember when we first started planting the orchard in the back third of the yard. The cherry kept developing leaf burn and curl. After looking it up in my book, I realized it was planted in the wrong area. As a yearling, it needed to be planted in shelter of other trees, with filtered sunlight. This really helped. The apples are planted along the fence line because this is the only area in the back that receives the sun for the majority of the day. It is interesting what we learn through trail and error.:lol:
I am so sad. All this talk of gardens and I am not allowed to have one. I have ALWAYS had a garden. (Remember we live inside Yellowstone, Park does not allow gardens, discourages bears from visiting employee housing area). I agree that peppers, tomatoes, squash and potatoes are easiest to grow. Be sure you don't plant too many potato mounds. We had 4 mounds the first time and ended up with 200 pounds of red potatoes.
WOW 200 lbs of potatoes!!! We didn't plant potatoes. I really wasn't ready to plant everything yet but hubby went ahead and threw all the seeds in. I hope it comes up ok. I'm not complaining. I'm glad that he has finally come around to my way of thinking. I've wanted a garden for a very long time. We'll see what happens.
You never know, your husband might like gardening so and make it a yearly deal. There is something exciting about seeing your veggies/plants grow from seed.
We just planted our vegetable garden yesterday! We've wanted one for years and now we finally have a house. My kids are so excited! Amy
Whoo Hoo!!! I am glad your children are excited. These days it seems as if children, or people in general, have forgotten the wonder of gardening. To think that something is alive and growing from the ground is an awesome thing.
This will be our second year gardening. Last year kiddo loved gardening. I got him to eat beets, radishes, cucumbers, and spinach-- since he helped grow them. I let him plant the seeds and cover them with dirt. He loved getting dirty. Every day we would check the garden together... lots of little science lesson all spring and summer long. We looked for bugs and identified them as well.
I think we might do some pumpkins this year. We hve a lot of sand, so we'll probably plant them in a low planter we have. Hopefully it works!!
