Family Garden

Not only do gardens provide you with nutritious produce, but they can also improve your physical and mental health.

If you’re new to gardening, don’t worry! Starting a garden is simple, and you can start with whatever size and style you like.

Options for Starting a Garden When you choose to start a garden, you can utilize one or many methods.

Traditional In-Ground Family Garden

When you think of a garden, you probably think of some plants growing straight out of the ground. This traditional gardening method is a simple way to get started growing your own food.

This type of garden is a good choice for seeds that are sown directly into the ground. These include root vegetables like carrots and beets as well as greens like spinach and lettuce mix. You can also transplant crops like tomatoes and peppers into your garden.

If you’re working with a large backyard, in-ground gardens make the most sense, as they have low start-up costs. However, prepare to amend your soil with materials like compost and nutrients.

To help keep little feet from stepping on the plants, mark the outside edges of your garden beds with string.

Raised Beds

If your soil is in poor shape or you’re looking for a garden that’s more accessible, consider building some raised beds. These beds are built with materials such as wood or concrete blocks and then filled with rich soil.

One benefit of raised beds is that the garden area is clearly defined. This helps prevent little ones from wandering into the garden and stepping on seedlings.

Container Garden

No yard, no problem!

If you live in a small space without any access to a yard, you can still garden using containers. By selecting plants that do well in containers, such as dwarf varieties, you can still have a bountiful harvest.

You can also utilize containers to grow plants indoors. A great introduction to growing food is planting a few herbs, such as basil and cilantro, in containers.

Vertical Garden

As you might have guessed, vertical gardens utilize vertical spaces to grow food. This method is great for small spaces and for vining plants like cucumbers and peas.

Some ways you can incorporate vertical gardens are by trellising peas with string or by utilizing hanging grow bags.

Hydroponics and Aquaponics

If you’re an advanced gardener or looking to try something new, both of these systems offer a new way of growing.

Both hydroponics and aquaponics utilize a liquid nutrient solution, rather than soil, to grow plants. The difference between the two is that aquaponics incorporates fish into the liquid solution.

Factors to Consider When Planning a Family Garden

While the act of planting and working in a garden provides it’s own benefits, a bountiful harvest is the tangible result of your efforts. To get the most out of your family garden, consider the following factors

Size

If you’re working with a small area, it might make sense to grow crops that mature quickly. While crops like parsnips and winter squash take over three months to mature, crops like radishes and lettuce are ready in less than a month.

What Your Family Likes

Even though gardens can convince kids to try new vegetables, it’s a good idea to plant some of their favorites. You don’t want to be stuck with 10 pounds of purple radishes only to find out that nobody in your family likes them.

Climate

Where you live plays a large role in what crops will thrive. Cooler areas have a harder time growing crops such as tomatoes and okra, while hot and humid areas provide a challenging environment for crops like lettuce and bok choi.

Preservation

If you’re hoping to can or freeze some of your harvest for the winter, factor this into what and how much you grow. If you want to can enough salsa to last through the whole winter, plan to plant lots of tomatoes, onion, and peppers.

Benefits of a Family Garden

While the obvious benefit of a garden is the food you’ll harvest, there are other benefits as well.

Physical Activity

Gardening is a physically active activity. If you’ve ever weeded a bed of carrots or planted lettuce, you know what I’m talking about! Working in the garden makes you use muscles you forgot you had.

However, the great thing about spending time in the garden is that it doesn’t always seem like you’re exercising. Rather than telling your kids to go outside and run around, you can ask them if they want to help you plant tomatoes or harvest beans.

Greater Control Over Your Food

One of the most enjoyable aspects of planting a garden is that you can choose exactly what you want to grow.

Always wanted to try purple carrots? Then go ahead and plant some!

Tired of how grocery store lettuce is wilted? Then plant some lettuce and get ready to eat salads made from lettuce harvested just minutes beforehand.

One more great thing about getting your kids involved in gardening is that they’re more likely to try new foods (even vegetables). When they have a role in the care of plants, their sense of ownership will encourage them to try the fruits of their labor.

Teachable Moments

Have you ever watched a toddler pull a carrot from the ground? Or have you ever seen a preteen wonder why their plants are yellow?

Gardens provide ample opportunities for curiosity, questions, and learning. If you’re thinking you might not be able to answer all your kids’ questions, don’t worry. You can learn along with them!

While gardens provide obvious lessons about biology and ecology, they can also act as a classroom for math and social studies lessons. For example, you can use a seeding packet to calculate when a crop is going to be ready to harvest, and you can explore other cultures by researching where crops originated.

Improved Mental Health

You know how people say time spent in nature helps them feel at peace? Well, that’s because it’s true.

According to experts, spending time growing your own food can reduce stress and anxiety. Additionally, gardens help people of all ages better cope with traumatic life events.

Another mental health benefit of gardens is that they help with attention and focus. In a world filled with screens of all sizes, we often have to focus our attention on one thing for an extended period of time. This can lead to attention fatigue and an inability to focus on what we need.

Gardens provide a break from screens and allow our senses and minds to wander. Therefore, after some time in the garden, you and your family will be better able to focus on tasks like homework.

Garden Activities for Family Members of All Ages

No matter what ages your family members are, there are plenty of garden activities they can participate in. We’ve included some great activities for each age group.

Infants (0-1)

• Explore colors and textures with different plants
• Try new, age-appropriate flavor

Toddlers (1-2)

• Help plant large seeds such as beans and peas
• Water plants with the help of a toddler-sized watering can
• Fill containers with soil for container gardening

Preschoolers (3-4)

• Dig holes to plant transplants
• Help harvest root crops like carrots, beets, and turnips
• Learn how to identify weeds and help pull them out of the garden
• Take note of how much a plant grows in a day, week, and month
• Identify parts of plants such as stems, leaves, roots, and fruits

Children (5-12)

• Harvest crops including peas, beans, tomatoes, and peppers
• Plant crops including cucumbers, eggplant, and lettuce
• Help pick out crop varieties to grow
• Find and identify insect pests
• Learn about processes likes photosynthesis

Adolescents (13-17)

• Build a box for a raised bed
• Collect and save seeds
• Measure crop spacing for plants like lettuce and onions
• Learn about soil chemistry and figure out what fertilizers to use
• Trellis peas using string and t-posts
• Calculate when to plant crops based on days to maturity and desired harvest date
• Conduct research on gardening techniques such as permaculture and no-till

Adults (18+)

• Plan the garden layout and succession plantings
• Control insect pests and plant disease with substances like neem oil
• Send soil samples to a soil testing lab
• Compare how different crops respond to different growing environments

Start Your Family Garden

If you create a garden space the whole family can get involved with, you’ll reap the rewards. You’ll see your kids’ curiosity come to life and watch them try new vegetables. The whole family will see an increase in physical activity as well as a decrease in stress and anxiety.

Remember that each garden is different, so you can tailor yours to fit the needs and interests of your family. Time to get growing!