Planting a Kids' Garden

I realize that most of my posts these days are garden-centric. I suppose you can tell how I've been spending my days! I can honestly think of nothing cleaner than growing my own organic food. Fingers crossed for a big bounty this summer - we've already sliced up a banana pepper for sandwiches and have been using fresh lettuce and basil for a couple of weeks. Many of my friends are enjoying daily meals from their gardens already. I am so proud of so many people for doing what is best for their bodies and their minds. It's been said that gardening is an excellent way to alleviate stress and it also is an excellent way to encourage children to learn.

I had never before considered having a garden that is just for the children. I have encouraged them to help with planting and to learn as much as possible, but giving them a space to themselves hadn't even crossed my mind until I saw the idea on Pinterest. I had a bunch of leftover seeds and loads of big containers from a recent yard sale-ing adventure, so I thought I would ask the 6-year-old if he would be interested. He was indeed.

The Children's Container Garden, stage 1

I told him he could pick the containers, the amount of compost, what kind of food to give his vegetables, and of course, which seeds to plant. I even ran over to the store and grabbed a handful of clearance seeds so he would have plenty to choose from. He picked, clockwise, starting at the bottom center, green beans, pumpkins, carrots, onions, more pumpkins, chives, cilantro, and cucumbers. 

Some of the containers are too small for his choices, but I'm hopeful he'll see life anyway. He is already excited about it and is planning a fall garden as well. I may end up having to tear up another plot of land so that he can plant directly in the ground.

Juliet Tomatoes in Container

Today's project is all about learning more about container gardening. I am personally really struggling with my containers. Are they too small? Am I giving them too much water? Not enough water? I don't know, but they are definitely not growing at the same rate as my in-ground plants and many have just died.

Various Tomatoes

The juliet tomato, at right, is a perfect example of my struggles with container gardening. This plant was purchased at the same time as most of my other tomato plants. It was a quarter, no big deal, and the leaves were already yellow and gross when I bought it. The container it is in is one of my largest and it gets adequate water and drainage. Still, it looks terrible! The leaves all look dead, as they have for over a month. And yet - look at those tomatoes. You can't tell really from this picture, but there are at least half a dozen growing on this plant. But, here's the crazy thing, there have never been any flowers. No flowers at all - just bunches of tomatoes. Is that normal for juliet? I guess I will find out.

The next picture is another example of my overzealous nature. I know now that I probably should have just planted two tomatoes in this crate, but I planted six. They are actually growing and many baby tomatoes are forming from them, though I think if I'd have planted less, I would have had a bigger bounty. Next year.

What you're not seeing is my dismal failure at container peppers and herbs. They're so nearly dead that I couldn't even bring myself to take pictures.

Now I'm off to learn as much as I can about container planting. This is mostly about my son and his new garden - if he can succeed, he just may develop a lifelong love of growing his own fresh veggies. What could possibly be healthier than that?