Gardening 101

So, I'm going to start this post off with a conversation between my (now) father-in-law and myself when I first started dating my husband over five years ago!  Keep in mind this one of the first dinners I had with my future in-laws and they knew I was a "city girl" (and certainly confirmed that label after this conversation).

Father-in-law:  "What kind of vegetables do you like, Ashlynn?"

Me:  "Uhhh, canned ones!?"

Father-in-law:  (Laughing hysterically)  "No, I mean fresh vegetables."

Me:  "Ohhhhh, I don't know.  I don't eat fresh vegetables.  We rarely eat at home, because we don't have time to cook.  We definitely don't have time to grow and cook vegetables, plus my mom would probably butcher them."

God bless my mother's heart, but she can burn rolls without even trying.  So the thought at trying to locate fresh vegetables and then cook them would just be a little too much for her to conquer.  Since she, my sister and I stayed so busy while we were growing up, most of our meals consisted of a drive-thru or something that was cooked in the microwave.  Fortunately, I have seen the light, and my life is completely opposite these days.  I am not a huge fan of the drive-thru (and neither are my thunder thighs), and microwave meals make me nauseous!  I don't judge others who eat that way, I have just learned to cook (all thanks to my husband), and would much prefer fresh ingredients than processed ones. 

So, for this post I decided to let y'all in on mine and Trey's first ever garden together.  We have talked about doing this for a couple years, but living in an apartment has prohibited that.  We have had little herb gardens on our window sill, but never a garden producing vegetables.  So, without further ado, here is a look at our garden:

This is a look at our garden that is in our backyard.  We planted several different types of herbs, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes.  Unfortunately, our squash, cucumbers and bell peppers never produced vegetables.  They actually never sprouted after being planted. 

This is picture of one of our zucchini that came from our garden.  It is great for making zucchini bread and it's also yummy in stir fry.

Here is a picture of some more zucchini, as well as some of our tomatoes.

There are definitely things we have learned from our garden this year, such as planting earlier, where we should and shouldn't buy the "baby plants" as I call them, and purchasing a water barrel (to help out the environment and our water bill).  We love learning more and more about our garden, and I even had my mother inform me that she wants me to give her tips for starting a small garden next year!  I consider that a HUGE win!

I think a class (or school) garden would be a great idea to start with your kiddos.  On one of the videos we were assigned to watch in my science class it talked about how if children are in charge of their project (in that case it was maintaining and measuring plants) then they will take ownership and take care of the project.  That also could apply to to a class (or school) garden.  This idea is also a great way to integrate multiple content areas, such as science, math, geography, art, etc.

Also, if there are not the funds or resources for a class (or school) garden, you could take your kiddos on a field trip to a local farmers market.  They could each purchase items, and maybe even talk to the farmers about the items they purchased, and then a project/report could stem from that field trip.  I love going to farmers markets and watching the changes of my own garden, and I can't wait to learn, interact and engage with my future (biological and class) children!