Planting for harvest

We typically map out our container garden during spring break week and start our seedlings inside. We are behind the 8-ball this year, and I’d like to officially blame the weather, because that is easier than blaming myself =)

My kids were little when we started this activity, I read somewhere that kids were more likely to eat things that they helped prepare. So 8 or 9 years ago we invested in these containers and let the kids pick what they wanted to plant. As they have grown, so has their taste, and we get some pretty imteresting requests.

In 2018 we got serious about composting, learning what could and could not help our family harvest, and we got some pretty interesting hybrid veggies. Someone threw a lemon seed in with the cucumbers and we ended up with what we called LemonBumbers. That was fun.

This activity breeds more than just vegetables. We have lots of conversations that end up serving more of a “life” purpose…reaping what you sow, patiently waiting, watering and caring for something to aid in its growth… We have already started talking about this year’s garden, and 15 said we should go back to the basics and only plant four or five veggies so we can really concentrate on getting the most out of our work. My kids are old enough now that they probably only need me to buy supplies and they could do the rest. But I plan to still insert myself, even if only sitting nearby, to help guide the conversations of life over egg cartons and dirt.