Gardening with kids can be a little bit intimidating (and messy!) but it is so worth it to grow food with them. It is still too cold in Pennsylvania to plant our seeds in the ground, so this week we starting our garden by plating some seeds indoors.
We planted tomatoes (beefsteak and roma), cucumbers, and sweet peppers in cardboard egg cartons and disposable muffin tins. We poked holes in the bottom of the muffin tins for drainage.
It’s important to label them so you don’t forget which is which!
It’s important to use a potting soil instead of regular ol’ dirt. My gardening books said to plant 3 or 4 seeds in each hole, just to give yourself better odds of something sprouting.
A spray bottle also helps make sure that you aren’t over-watering.
The girls had fun (we planted them while Nick was in school) and it will be very cool to watch our plants start to grow.
It was hard for me not to plant ALL of the seeds in each packet, but that really would have been too much. If each of our little plots sprouts, we will have 52 plants in a few weeks!
That’s just the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. I also bought a whole bunch more that can be sown directly into the ground in a few more months. And my mom bought us a special seed mat (also full of seeds and ready to grow) that is sitting in our shed just waiting for warmer weather.
I *might* have gone a little overboard on the seed ordering this year while we were cooped up in the snowstorms…
I foresee a lot of canning, freezing, and salads in our future.
Have you started your spring garden yet?
You might want to check out these posts:
Recycled milk jug watering can
Using crushed soda cans for drainage
Gardening notebooks and shadow maps
linking to the Homestead Barn Hop
Yes I have! I have a lot already and still have more to plant. I kinda went crazy with the tomatoes and have about 65 planted. They are just starting to grow. My 3 year old LOVES to help me too.
I’m jealous. I want to work up to growing a bazillion tomatoes and canning sauces and ketchup to have throughout the year. You are going to have SO many if all of your 65 plants grow!
i planted my first batch about 2-3 wks ago but they have not sprouted at all…..i think i used the wrong dirt and didn’t keep them wet enough. i bought some more seeds and different dirt, going to try round 2!
That’s a shame. Did you use a potting mix? My gardening books say that the “potting” part on the label is really important. Good luck!
I love, love, love that you are so smart about this stuff and take the time to do it with your kids. Such beautiful pictures…such beautiful girls!