Several years ago we moved into our house, and we wound up having the previous residents’ vegetable garden filled in. My husband had never held a spade or planted anything in his life, and I was too busy with a toddler to even think about taking care of a garden by myself.
Then, a year later, we both read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”, and it motivated us to change how we ate. We are eating more fresh foods (and cutting out foods from a box), and we think about where our food is coming from.
Growing our own vegetables in our backyard cuts the time it takes for the food to be harvested and get to our table, which means that the vegetables will retain more of their nutrients when eaten.
So, we found ourselves creating a new vegetable garden (yes, close to the one we had filled in a couple of years prior. Eek.). Our goal was simple: to grow our own vegetables, and here we were doing it in our nation’s “Garden State”…
To start, we bought some little indoor planters with tall clear plastic lids to start our seeds ahead of time. I gave my daughter a say in what we planted. Her choice was orange peppers.
My husband loves kale, so we made sure we had that on our list, and I added eggplant, carrots, chard, beets, cucumbers and sunflowers. The sunflowers were to make our garden look pretty.
The actual planting of the seeds became a group effort with Sarah and her cousins one weekend. The kids had fun planting and watering the seeds. Then, we placed them in front of a sunny window, and Sarah and I maintained the watering until they were ready to be planted in the ground.
To watch the seeds grow into little plants was fun for my daughter. But, when the day came to plant, we donned full gear – floppy hats to keep out the sun, rubber boots and gardening gloves (hers had Dora the Explorer on them).
Sarah helped me dig the holes, and I was responsible for adding the plant fertilizer and water. Then, we would put the plants in the holes, and Sarah enjoyed packing down the earth around the plants. Her confidence increased with each plant she planted.
The garden became a fun place for Sarah to play in the dirt. She pretended to dig for dinosaur bones or filled up her little watering can to help water the plants. She observed bees on the flowers. She watched the vegetables grow on the plants, and she became a great spotter of cucumbers amongst the leaves.
We also added some plants that we didn’t grow from seed: yellow squash, parsley, basil, tomatoes and marigolds. I won’t count the cabbage and brussels sprouts because they never made it.
Yellow squash became my daughter’s favorite summer vegetable because she got to pick it and then eat it soon afterwards. She also started eating the kale that we grew thanks to a recipe for Crispy Kale that a friend, Mara, gave us that was a hit!
And although not her favorite, she ate cucumbers and eggplant that summer – and I know that wouldn’t have happened had she not picked them herself!
My husband, who is a very picky eater, began eating grilled eggplant when we found ourselves with an eggplant bumper crop. And, during the summer while I became preoccupied going through IVF and was newly pregnant, he took over the weeding and the daily watering to keep our garden going.
It became a family project. We all cared about it, we all learned something and we felt more in tune with the Earth and nature.
Yes, the beets weren’t as sweet at the ones at the store, I impatiently tried to start my carrots in containers indoors instead of put them directly into the ground and they looked like anything but carrots, the chard was a bit too bitter and the cucumbers had WAY too many seeds in them. Mistakes were made.
We have a lot to learn! But, we’re motivated to try again this year because not only has gardening become a fun project and expanded my family’s taste in vegetables, it has been one that has brought us closer together.
Do you garden? What do you grow? Is everyone in your family involved?
This is an original World Moms Blog post by Veronica Samuels. Veronica can be found on her Facebook Page, on Twitter @VeronicaSamuels and contributing to Jersey Moms Blog.
Photo credit to Veronica Samuels.
For more on gardening on World Moms Blog see also Courtney Cappallo’s, MASSACHUSETTS, USA: How The Garden Grows.
I had a great vege garden when I only had one child. Then highly-sensitive and highly-emotionally-needy number two came along and it all went back to weeds. Now that we are through the baby-stage for the third time *and* the kids are all emotionally resilient…now, now, now I am hankering to get into the soil again. You’ve just motivated me even more Veronica!
Great, Karyn! Good luck, and let me know how it goes, and how the children like it!
I hope we get to keep it up this year with one in the baby stage. It definitely makes things more challenging!
Veronica 🙂
I like your story. Not being someone with ‘green fingers’ I have never attempted to grow anything (except for the occasional carrot tops stuck in water. But your story has inspired me, and gardening does sound easy. We are building our house now and it has got a nice big backyard. Maybe I will try starting a vegetable garden there.
Fire Crystals,
I forgot about carrot tops in water! I loved doing that as a kid. I must do that with my daughter!
Starting small with a few plants at first may get you into gardening, and good luck with your new house!
Veronica 🙂
Hi Veronica! I would love to start a garden, but with only woods…oh well. If you ever find any vegetables missing, you know who took them! 😉 Have you ever heard of Clean Eating magazine or Tosca Reno’s clean eating cookbooks? I, too am trying to eliminate processed foods from our diets and these resources have been great for recipes!
Elizabeth’s Boys,
I’ve heard of Clean Eating magazine, but haven’t read it, and I haven’t heard of Tosca Rena’s cookbooks. I’m now intrigued. Thanks for telling me about them!
And, how about planting some tomatoes in planters? Have woods, will garden! But, then there’s the animals that may come out of the woods to eat your harvest. It’s a Catch-22, I guess!
We have a fence around our garden to keep out deer and rabbits. I’m just nervous about the day when the groundhog digs under it!!
Veronica 🙂
Love, love, love!!!!! We garden too and we all get into it. A few summers ago, we did great with strawberries and had fresh ones every morning. The kids loved it and so did we!! This year, we have some tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, onions, beans, cilantro, basil and rosemary. I would grow more, but I don’t have enough sunny places. Enjoy your garden Veronica and family!!!
Maggie,
I would love to plant fruit, too! However, we have so many birds in our backyard, I don’t think the fruit would ever make it to our table! But, I should test it out anyway.
Your garden sounds yummy!
Veronica 🙂
My family always had a vegetable garden growing up and when my husband and I move into our house we kept the garden ‘growing’. My father-in-law was a farmer in Italy before he move to the US at 25 so my husband always had a HUGE veggie garden growing up. There were a lot of things I gave up outside when I had my first child, but the veggie garden I made time for. Now that my two are old enough they love getting their hands dirty and planting the seeds that will grow through the summer.
We usually plant from seedlings already grown but this year because of a much smaller budget we decided to plant our own seeds and see how it went. The kids got to pick the seeds they wanted to plant much like you and your family did, and helped stick them in the seed starter. I was so afraid that nothing would grow but to my surprise the seedlings started to pop up through the dirt and the kids where thrilled.
It was something I always wanted to pass on the my children, and now more than ever I want to spend this time with them doing something not only fun, but healthy for all of us! Enjoy this time with your family and good luck with your garden this summer! I may be asking for tips soon!
Thank you, Merrie! Witnessing my daughter watching little plants pop up from seeds has been a lot of fun. Sometimes things are more profound through a child’s eyes.
Good luck with your garden, too. Keep me posted on how it goes!
Veronica 🙂
I loved reading this!! Gardening with my daughter is one of my favorite things! Every year we learn something new from one of out mistakes. Last year was that if strawberries are not in a container they can run underground and take over the landscape in the front yard. My daughter esp loves growing a pumpkin and a watermelon off to the side. Last year in our tiny back yard we grew corn! We got about 3 meals from it but what fun she had picking and eating OUR corn 🙂 Happy gardening ladies !
Jen,
The watermelon is a good idea! I remember begging my dad to grow one when I was a kid. If there’s enough space, we may have to give that a go!
Thanks!
Veronica 🙂
Sounds so nice to be able to grow your own vegetables, and great that Sarah will eat what she has picked herself! 🙂
Asta,
If you’re ever on this side of the world, bring your little boy over to harvest with us!
Veronica 🙂
Sounds so nice to be able to grow your own vegetables, and great that Sarah will eat what she has picked herself! 🙂
What a great story! It all sounds too time-intensive for me, but I’d love to be able to do this. It would probably cure my kids’ of their picky eating!
Kirsten,
We’re hoping to put in a watering system this year to save us from having to water. And, last year, we didn’t put any hay down to help keep the weeds popping up. We hope these things will save us time, and we can concentrate on the fun stuff…like planting, picking and eating!
Try one tomato plant in a flower pot outside, if you ever want to give it a go! Wish you lived closer!
Veronica 🙂
It is nice to hear that your daughter and husband tried some new vegetables thanks to your garden. I,too, read Michael Pollan’s book (he is local so I got to meet him and have it signed) and began to change my ways. I think it is time to re-read it. Living in a city, gardening is a challenge. We finally have enough space to have a small container garden. We planted blueberries, mint, peas, beets, lettuce, arugula, basil, watercress. Today I had a fresh picked salad along with saute mushrooms from my mushroom kit – nothing tasted or felt better!!!
A. Roselyn,
So, I guess he’s not the author that you told not to bother signing the book? (from your post Books! Books! Books!)
Very jealous that he’s a local! I agree with you. I could do with a reread, or checking out one of his books that I haven’t read.
Watercress is a great idea. We love it, but can never find it to buy…
Veronica 🙂
We started a small garden last year and it’s been fun! This year we have tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapenos, strawberries, basil, rosemary and catnip (for our furry family members). I’m hoping to add some zucchini squash and cucumber to the mix but we’ve been too busy to go to the store. I love cooking with our fresh veggies 🙂 We found last year we grew so many jalapenos that we had to harvest them all at once due to an upcoming freeze. So we picked them and froze them… and are just now running out. They had a lot of kick to them.
I love that your gardening is a family project. It is so nice to read that other families are passing on the knowledge to their children! Keep up the good work Veronica!
Sadly, no gardening happening over here – but it’s definitely something I aspire to do one day. Love what you (and others here) are doing! Thanks for the inspiration.
Sadly, no gardening happening over here – but it’s definitely something I aspire to do one day. Love what you (and others here) are doing! Thanks for the inspiration.
We will hopefully be buying a house in the near future…and I’m definitely looking for places with enough yard space for a garden! Chickens are actually pretty popular out here too (I know, weird right? In a city?!), so that is something else we would consider. Can’t wait 🙂 Thanks for sharing about your family gardening experience. It gave me some hope and inspiration!