Gardening with kids: the impact I never imagined I'd make by starting an organic garden

It's become a ritual in our house to look at the tray of just-started seeds every time we come home. The kids go check on them every time they wake up, when they get home from school, when they are finished getting ready for school in the morning, before bed time.

When we were choosing our seeds, the kids helped pick out their favorite veggies and new ones they wanted to try. They helped work up the existing beds around the house and actually enjoyed doing a chore for the first time ever. They have been adamantly watching the weather forecasts just waiting for the day they can help move all the plants outside.

The kids have gotten very involved in making our organic gardening dreams come true. They are learning what it means to grow organically and why it is important to our health and the environment. More than that, they've been eating more healthfully with no complaints. The produce section at the supermarket is a place of wonder all of the sudden. They search the racks for the veggies they picked out as seeds and are happy to eat them knowing that, in a few short months, the seeds they are diligently watching for signs of growth will create that very same produce.

Those tiny plants have made the transition to eating whole, organic foods so much more exciting, and therefore less painful, for our family. The kids (and my husband) have been happily eating raw spinach, even!

It's astounding to me what a few seeds and dirt under our finger nails has done for our family's well being. A little common ground (pun intended) has worked wonders for our relationships. We cooperate better, truly listen to one another, and talk more all due to a few seedlings and a plan.

P.S., The pictures are our seedlings today (3/27), my son (age 4) checking on his snow peas, my daughter L (age 7) showing off her summer squash, and daughter K (age 3) displaying the carrots she picked out.

Organic gardening- how we got started

I decided it was time to get this post written because, this morning, I woke up to sprouts! The organic broccoli and organic cucumbers I started indoors last Friday are germinated and starting to peek out of the starting medium.

This is very exciting because, though I gardened a lot as a kid, this is my first experience as an adult without the assistance of the years of experience my parents have accumulated. I haven't even had to call them for advice yet, thanks to bajillions of fabulous articles on the web. I'm sure the day is coming soon, though.

How did we get started?

First, I assessed the possible planting spaces in our yard. We decided to forego the planting of non-edibles this year, so no flowers for us! We have four beds already installed, one of which is very small ( 2ftx4ft). I watched how much sun each bed got throughout the day. I needed to plan how much space I'd have to plant where my fruits and veggies would get the right amount of sun (or shade as the case may be).

Next I started thinking about the things I'd like to plant, and ways to optimize planting so that we could get fresh produce for as long as possible. In the end, I decided I wanted to plant corn, jalapeno peppers, yellow summer squash, zucchini cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes (big and small), eggplants, strawberries, some winter squash, garlic, onions, white potatoes, looseleaf and head lettuce, spinach, broccoli, snap peas, green beans,  and assorted herbs.

Seems like a lot, right? It will be! Finding new ways to plant is going to be the key to fitting all of these vegetables in our small yard. Putting in permanent beds isn't really a practical option because we rent. There are TONS of ideas out there to make the most of your space, though. We're gathering fallen tree branches from a recent winter storm to build a teepee for the beans to grow up. We're asking around for abandoned vegetable cages so we can plop our tomatoes and peppers in nice sunny spots throughout the yard. I've gone in search of a couple kiddie pools that no longer hold water to act as strawberry beds. Be creative! You can find containers all over the place, so even if you don't have a yard, you can grow your own produce.

Since the weather is quite variable here in Kansas, we started our seeds indoors. I took a shortcut and bought a Jiffy professional greenhouse, which has space for 72 plants with little sphagnum peat moss pods that you soak to expand them for planting. You just poke a little hole, drop in your seeds, and lightly cover them. It was ridiculously simple this way, but it's not so difficult to start your plants in small containers or recycled cell packs from the purchased plants of years past. Organic starting medium is easy to find and very affordable as well. Maybe next year I'll get brave enough to make my own starting mix.

I set the greenhouse in a south facing window and I've been rotating it to make sure the whole tray is getting a fair amount of sunlight. I also planted some looseleaf lettuce and spinach in pots (cute red ones that I purchased for under $2 each). They are outside on the front porch, though they will have to come inside later in the week because we are expecting SNOW!

So far, we've spent about 12 man hours working up the soil by hand in the 4 existing beds and getting seeds started. Gardening takes time. It may also require physical effort. Having a yard full of fresh, delicious produce that I am positive hasn't been soaked in chemicals will be well worth the time and effort expended.

Growing our own organic produce and preserving what we can't eat will make eating whole foods more cost effective. Eating what we have in the gardens as opposed to running out to buy what we need for a recipe will not only be cheaper, but ensure we are eating fruits and vegetables that are at their nutritious peak. Plus I can buy seeds that are GMO free. Seeds of Change is a great, affordable company for organic, GMO free seeds. I found them at my local Wal-Mart, but you can also order online.

Here are some great resources to help you research how to get your garden growing!

Offers great breakdown of how to plant various fruits and vegetables:

http://www.organicgardening.com/

Last frost date by zip code:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/#b

Are you planning a garden this spring? What do you plan to plant? I'd love to hear your plans or even just your gardening dreams!

P.S., below you'll see pictures of my sprouts, the biggest bed all worked up, and my go-to gardening tools.