DIY Cardboard Seedling Starter {Earth Day Celebration}

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In celebration of Earth Day this year I wanted to share a way that you could get the kids involved more in starting your garden. I've already posted about releasing butterflies and getting kids involved in gardening so this activity just goes hand-in-hand!

Our family has become quite addicted to gardening over the past year. We were successful in our first attempt this season in our raised bed and are now expanding to the back yard. But since the back yard isn't quite ready for plants yet we decided to start our seedlings in containers first before putting them in the back yard.

Since we're a bit frugal we decided to use household items to start our seeds this time around. I grabbed some cardboard, a craft bin we weren't using, and some left over compost to get started. This method not only proved to be easy but it was a great way to get the kids involved. I can't wait for them to start seeing the little seedlings sprout!

DIY Cardboard Seedling Starter

What You'll Need:

• cardboard tubes
• shallow container
• compost or planting mix
• seeds
• scissors

What You Do:

1. Cut your cardboard tubes to size. If using paper towel roll cut in 4ths and if using a toilet roll cut in half.

2. Start to fill your container with dirt.

3. Spread the dirt out evenly over the whole container.

4. Using a finger, make a hole 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep in each tube. This will be where the seeds go so read the packaging on the seeds to see how deep you should be planting them.

5. Fill hole with recommended amount of seeds and cover back up.

6. Water well. 

7. Continue to water as directed on the package and allow for adequate sunlight. Depending on the variety of plant your growing, transfer to a larger garden bed when the sprouted plant is large enough (usually 2-3 leaves need to have formed and the plant should be 4-5 inches tall).

Starting from seeds is a great way to reap the benefits of home gardening without the costs of purchasing starter plants from your nursery. Plus, with seeds you get way more than a small plant will yield and you usually end up with multiple plants for a fraction of the cost!

Gardening with City Farmers Nursery

When I started thinking of planting our garden the first place I went to for information and advice was City Farmers Nursery. We're lucky enough to live right around the corner from this awesome place so heading over a few times to get ideas, come up with a plan, and then eventually to purchase soil and plants was easy and fun.

The first time we heard about City Farmers Nursery was at our annual neighborhood block party. Farmer Bill came over and talked to the neighborhood about the native plants we could put in our yards to help create a landscape that was both drought resistant and beautiful. The next year he talked about a tree program from the city that was offering trees to residents to put in their yards. Most of those trees are now well established in the streets around our home.

Once we finally had a plan about what we wanted to do with our yard and where we wanted to place our raised bed we set it up and headed over to the nursery to pick out what plants we wanted to grow. We dropped off a soil sample and were told that Farmer Bill would call us once he'd analyzed the soil. 

We got a call back the next day and had a plan! Bill set us up with the soil, additives, and food we needed and even helped us with choosing which plants (and how many) to purchase for our garden. It was time to get to work!

We set up our raised bed a few months before we actually were ready to start our garden and the kids quickly took advantage of the new dirt patch. So my son was quite sad to see his trucks and digging area go away. But as soon as I told him we were going to the nursery to purchase the plants he was all over helping us. He loves City Farmers Nursery as much as we do. But for different reasons.

At the nursery they not only have just about every plant imaginable. They also have animals too. A horse, chickens, a turkey, rabbits, koi, turtles and much more. The kids love going and just exploring the animals, plants, and trails on the nursery property. How can you not love going to a place like that?

We picked up different varieties of lettuce, mixed greens, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, celery, cilantro, and strawberries. Once we got the soil and additives mixed into the dirt we already had in our raised bed we got to planting. I let my son dig while I placed the plants into the bed.

Once everything was planted we watered, weeded, and fed the veggies and fruit until after a few weeks we started to notice that our garden was going crazy with growth! A few things didn't make it or didn't quite turn out as we thought they would but for the most part we now have a healthy, thriving garden! And the kids love going out to pick out their lettuce, broccoli, and celery when we eat it for lunch.

I can't wait until we get to choose out a new veggie or two to plant in a few weeks when we harvest our lettuce and swiss chard. Hopefully we'll have enough room for a zucchini plant! I can just taste the freshly baked zucchini bread coming out of the oven already.

I know exactly where we'll be going to buy our seeds, dirt, and plants when we're ready for our next project. And I have some pretty big plans for our back yard.

Do you have a garden? What are you planting?

 

Keeping Pests Away {Our Ladybug Adventure}

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One thing I decided from the beginning when we started our garden was that I didn't want to use any chemical pesticides. I've been very diligent about not using chemicals in the home so why would I use them in the garden? Especially on plants we grow to eat.

So when I started to see little aphids I quickly went in search of a solution. And happily found out that ladybugs were the answer! How awesome is that?

My lettuce, celery, broccoli, and various other veggies and fruit (gotta remember those strawberries!) needed some protection so we headed out to find us some ladybugs. My mother-in-law let me know that Ace Hardware sold ladybugs so we quickly headed over and picked some up after a tasty lunch at Slater's 50/50.

Ladybugs are great at keeping pests out of your garden. A few pests they take care of are:

• Whitefly
• Scales
• Mites
• Mealybugs
• Broccoli Worm
• Tomato Hornworm
• Bollworm
• Cabbage Moth

If you have signs of any of these pests you might want to consider picking up some ladybugs at your local gardening store (or Ace Hardware) to release in your garden. To find out more about using ladybugs to keep pests at bay check out this awesome website all about ladybugs, Everything Ladybug!

The helpful staff at Ace gave me a few tips on releasing the ladybugs into the garden:

1. Wet the garden bed. Ladybugs love moisture. If you want them to stay in your garden and not move onto the next you really don't want to skip this step.

2. Open up the container and let the ladybugs start to crawl up and out.

3. Let your three year old shake the container over all parts of the garden. You don't want all of the ladybugs in one area. (The three year old isn't necessary but makes a fun adventure!)

4. Watch as the ladybugs wake up and start moving. The ladybugs might take a few minutes to perk up but soon they'll start crawling all over and exploring your garden. A good amount of the ladybugs will leave to other gardens but a surprising amount stay.

Watch the little guys for a bit at your child's level. You'll be amazed at the sheer joy your little ones find in this activity!

5. Continue to mist the garden with the lady bugs twice a day. Just enough to make sure that the dirt and plants are moist and the ladybugs have water to drink.

You can also mist the garden with a 1:1 ratio of sugar based soda to water. This will make the ladybug's wings sticky and will allow them to explore your garden instead of flying away. This solution works for about a week and then wears off.

Gardening with Kids

Since we started our garden in November we've been trying to find more and more ways to get the kids involved in tending to it. I've found that by including them in the process they're not only more willing to actually eat what we harvest, they also are less tempted to start playing in the garden with trucks, balls, dinos and airplanes. Those get left in the sand box where they belong! Below are a few ways to get your kids involved in the yard whether it be tending to an edible garden or picking the weeds in the flower bed.


Sticking to a Routine
Every morning we have a routine. I get up, start the coffee, check my email and wait for the kids to wake. My son usually sleeps in a little longer than my daughter so she and I spend a little time together before he starts to stir. Once my son has woken up we head outside to pick up the newspaper and water the garden. We name off each of the plants as we water them to make sure none of them get missed. I've found that this is a great way to remind the kids of what we are growing and also gives us the opportunity to check on each plants development and growth.

Since he LOVES watering our plants I also let him water the lemon tree when needed and the plants in the front yard. Once everything is watered we grab breakfast and then head back outside to enjoy a morning of play. By creating this routine we make sure to always carve out a bit of time during the day to tend to the garden.

Friendly Competition
We usually add a healthy dose of competition when we work in our garden. I try and challenge my son to a game of who can pick the most weeds. This not only gets him excited about picking weeds but also lets us practice our counting and sorting. By looking at the plants to determine if it's a weed or a fruit/vegetable plant, he starts to tell the difference between the two. And each weed he pulls is a point for him so being able to count only makes winning easier. Since he can only count to 9 for now we usually end when he reaches 9 and I reach 7-8 ("letting" him win usually leads to more eagerness to help the next time). 

Creating Responsibility
By letting my child know that he's responsible for helping keep the garden free of pests and weeds he seems to be more proud of the garden itself. When guests come over and mention it he's very quick to let them know how he helps me and what's planted. He knows that he is a part of the process as much as we are.

I've found that when a child has a responsibility (even at the age of three) they see things differently. They're more apt to listen and they're proud of their accomplishments with the responsibility they have. I hope that these little things I allow him to do will lead to greater accomplishments and responsibility as he gets older.

Making Choices
When it comes to choosing what we plant in our garden we always allow our son to choose one plant (or more) of his own. Most recently he chose to plant strawberries in our edible garden. And boy does he watch those plants like a hawk! He's so excited about actually being able to pick strawberries of his own.

As he waits for his strawberries to grow he's surprised us by eating the lettuce that's growing rampant right now. Seeing him choose to eat veggies from the garden and watching his excitement as we pick and clean off the food is amazing. I love that he hasn't grown tired of digging in the dirt, watering the plants and picking weeds. He's quite the big helper. I can't wait to expand his palate with more things we plant as the year goes on. I hope that my children continue to help in the garden and hopefully one day start gardens of their own!

If you're considering planting a small garden of your own I highly suggest letting the kids get involved! You'd be surprised with how much interest these little ones show in learning about where our food comes from. And you might just find that this activity helps grow more than just plants and veggies. 

Do you have a garden? Do your kids help out? If so, what are their favorite things about the garden?

groOrganic Garden Planner {Review & Giveaway}

I've been wanting to plant a garden in the front yard for quite a while. Since the last attempt I've done a lot of research and have learned a bit more about how to plan out my garden before starting. We recently purchased a raised garden box kit that's about 4x6 feet and made room for it in our front yard right by the swing set.

We needed something off the ground and big enough to allow for the veggies and herbs to have enough room to grow to a decent size. It also needed to be off the ground to protect the plants from bunnies, neighborhood dogs and cats and the two toddlers who live here with us. Seeing as though the last garden turned into our son's sand box, we were going to make sure that this time around the plants were safe. I'm also planning on creating a wire cover to put over it at night to really prevent any visitors from visiting.

Our garden bed is filled with a small layer of sand, left over dirt from our recent front patio installation and organic soil from City Farmer's Nursery. We will also be buying our veggie plants and seeds from them as well. They have an awesome nursery filled with just about anything you might want to plant. And they have goats, chickens and more animals for the kids to love on while we wander around.

So once we had the garden bed and the soil it was time to start planning and planting. We are planning an organic garden to help feed our family fresh veggies and herbs but we also want to educate our kids about gardening when they're old enough. My 2.5 year old son is very curious about what's going on around him so I figured that it's the perfect time to start showing him what we're doing and why we're doing it. So while I was planning out the garden and figuring out where to put what I had him with me and I told him everything I was doing. And even let him help out a bit!

We chose to plant some winter vegetables including broccoli, lettuce, onions and yummy asparagus. The kids absolutely love broccoli so that was a no brainer. And the other veggies are hardy veggies that won't be hurt by lower temperatures. And since we live in Southern California we don't have to worry too much about frost. The garden, luckily, is in direct sunlight and will receive a lot of warmth and sunlight during the day.

In an effort to make sure I was picking the right plants and planting them with enough space to grow well I used a great software program called groOrganic. The groOrganic planner helped me select the types of vegetables to plant, how to prep the garden bed and now will help me to remember to sow, plant and harvest the garden. Hopefully this program will help reduce the chance of another black thumb this year. And come spring I might be able to plant some more yummy veggies for our family to enjoy! I'll be taking pictures of our garden's progress every few weeks and will keep the blog updated with the latest. And thankfully if I need help I know I can turn to groOrganic for answers and ideas.

A little more about groOrganic:
groOrganic, an innovative company, will provide 'full service' vegetable gardening for people with little time or experience. groOrganic can supply complete raised bed vegetable gardens installed and maintained by professionals or will consult with a client who just needs a little advice. groOrganic offers the most up to date gardening design and maintenance software technology. Our Garden Planner:

• Makes it easy to draw out your vegetable beds, add plants and move them around to get the perfect layout. Either feet and inches or metric units are supported and any shape of garden can be created.
• Adapts to suit your gardening style whether you use traditional row planting, raised beds or Square Foot Gardening.
• Adapts to your own area using our database of over 5000 weather stations.
• Prints your own personalized planting chart showing how many of each plant you require and when to sow, plant and harvest them.
• Sends email reminders twice a month of what needs planting from your garden plans.

For more information email info@groOrganic.com or call 888-9-groOrganic (888-947-6674). There's even a local groOrganic location (and they have their own Facebook page)!

For direct info on the groOrganic garden planner program visit the direct links here:

http://gardenplanner.groorganic.com/

http://store.groorganic.com/AssociationMemberships.aspx

To stay in the know about groOrganic become a fan of on facebook,  follow them on Twitter, or subscribe to their blog! And check out some great photos on Flickr.

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