Our Raised Bed Garden

A couple of weeks ago, hubby and I started our vegetables garden in the backyard. He made two raised bed garden and here is the first one. We planted tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, jalapeno, red and green peppers, okra, eggplant, and yellow squash. Oh, I couldn't wait to see some harvest soon.

Below is the garden after two weeks. Can you see the difference? They are all grew a little bit. Husband sprinkled some iron granules on it since the plants need it because the leaves are tuning into yellow. Anyway, the other bed will be planted with Asian veggies such as bitter gourd, jute, papaya, long/string beans, and calamansi. By the way, my son helps with the watering the plants and planting some seedlings.

Gardening with Kids

In three months time, it will be time to do some gardening in to our backyard and front yard. And our kid/kids would like to help for sure. Here are some tips on how to garden with kids. I just wished we live in a house where there is enough space to plant veggies, fruits, flowers and herbs just like the one we have back in Texas.

Teach your kids how to garden by giving them their own small plot (figure A) that they can nurture and observe.
Make a sign for the garden with your child’s name (figure B).
To hold her interest until the seeds sprout, plant a few existing plants in containers (figure C).
Mark each plant with the tag or seed packet (figure D).

Let her pick what she wants to grow. Steer her towards quick growing plants like lettuce and cucumbers. Include bright flowers at child height like zinnias and cosmos. Kids are amazed by towering sunflowers. Plant them in a semi-circle for the feeling of a flower playhouse. Be sure to teach your child to avoid poison ivy. When you’re finished, wash with a poison ivy removal scrub in case one of you came in contact with the plant’s toxin. By letting kids have control of their own garden, you’ll be surprised at how much they’ll grow!