How My Garden Grows: Fun Seed Time

While I am not sure if Walker quite understands gardening yet, he does love the results. The ones where he gets to pick goodies fresh from the garden! And I know Alistaire will be right behind him this summer….trying to wedge in for a few berries if he can. But I can at least try to show them how it is done, so Walker joins me while I dig and plant. He got a say in what we would grow in “his” garden. Which it seems has become a set of containers in a sunny area of the yard, against one of the fences.

What got this set in motion was reading a copy of How Does My Garden Grow?, which I had seen at the library. Maybe my garden/yard could be classier but then would it be as much fun? Let kids be kids……and this book will give you so many ideas of fun projects. Like growing potatoes in burlap bags. Or using whatever you have on hand as containers….

So we planted organic heirloom corn in a well recycled cat sand bucket (it has been a rock and weed hauler for a few years – holes drilled in bottom, small rocks on top, then potting soil). The white bucket is behind my well used planters. The pavers came with the house, I found them a few years back buried halfway in the ground, along the fence. Why the previous owner had left them there? Who knows, she had some odd things going on in her yard. If the corn takes, once it is growing, I will stake it gently to bamboo stakes.

For our second project, we got frugal! I remembered seeing a Pin a few months back of raised gardens made with a kid’s swimming pool. I can say that yes, it works, and it is easy and cheap!

We picked up a 4′ foot wide kiddie pool, that is about 7″ high. Using a cordless drill with a wider bit I gently did a number of drainage holes in the bottom. Then I figured out a spot to park the pool in, and leveled it as quickly as I could (it already had yard fabric and bark mulch on top, from 2011, in a bid to quash weeds). Then we added in a number of small rocks on the bottom, for better drainage. I used about 4½ cubic feet of potting soil and “garden soil”, mixed together. I would avoid heavier “topsoil”. Containers do better with lighter soil.

Cost wise? The pool was about $11. Try building a wood one for that price! The soil we can use over and over, and add in homemade compost every spring to keep it rich.

We planted ghost (white) pumpkins, globe zucchini, finger carrots (they grow 3″ to 4″ long) and more – along with some marigolds Walker picked out today. To mark where we planted seeds, I used wooden stir sticks that I wrote on with a permanent marker.

As summer comes closer, I am hoping the boys will get excited to watch their plants grow. Hopefully the animals don’t eat them all!

The only downside was Walker thought we were getting a swimming pool to…swim in 😉 I told him that he needed a bigger one 😉

~Sarah