Spring is here and it’s time to think about growing something — anything! — with your kids. Whether you decide to go all out and tackle a backyard garden, join a community garden, plant veggies in pots on a balcony, grow herbs in a small window box, or even sow seeds in plastic mini-cups (kindergarten style), gardening is a great family activity. Gardening teaches responsibility, patience and gives kids a reference point as to where their food actually comes from.
The extra-warm weather in late January – early February here in Florida allowed us to get started early on our gardening plans. Somehow I talked my husband into building me a backyard garden, complete with a fence and raised beds. More to come about our adventures (and misadventures) in gardening – but the first step for me was to gather inspiration pictures and information. Here are some ideas for various levels of gardening ambition.
Those lucky enough to have enough land might dream of large, fenced gardens like these.
Image from County Living
Raised beds are a wonderful option for gardens with less than ideal soil quality.
Image from Sunset, which also has instructions for making a raised bed.
Image from here
Container gardening is the perfect solution for those with limited space and time.
The Terrazza self-watering raised bed from Gardener’s Supply is ideal for the busy family
Gardening in pots (and more great small space gardening ideas) from Martha Stewart
If you have a window, you can have a garden!
Windowsill gardening
A great option for urban mommies, or anyone with limited space or sunlight, would be to join a community garden. Search the American Community Gardening Association for a garden near you. NYC Mommies can locate one on Green Thumb.
Taqwa Community Garden, the Bronx
McLeod’s Community Garden, Brooklyn. Image from here.
You can also gather plenty of ideas from these amazing gardening blogs: Miss Rumphius’ Rules, You Grow Girl, Brooklyn Farm, The Manic Gardener, and my organic gardening blog. Check out a list of the 50 top gardening blogs here.
Once you decide to put a plan in action, a wonderful resource for purchasing environmentally responsible gardening products is Garden’s Alive.
Get planning and stay tuned to see how our garden turned out!
Hip Mommies 