Life, Gluten Free

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 3

Gardening is in our blood! We didn't even realize just how much we'd love it. This is our second year, and we're ready to expand for next year.

Loading our back hatch with tons of veggies? Priceless.

We've also learned a quick cure for flea beetles, which are small beetles that like to dine on just about everything in your garden.. especially when your plants are at their most vulnerable seedling stage. They are called flea beetles because they jump. We thought we'd might lose most of our green bean seedlings, but fortunately we found a "cure."

I mixed up essential oils of neem, peppermint and oregano into a spray bottle with water. I only had to re-apply a few times before the flea beetles were gone. Our green bean plants are now hardy and producing a bounty for us.

I planted two varieties of green beans, one called Blue Lake. It's one of our favorites. The beans inside are grayish purple, and the taste - from the pod to the bean - is buttery and rich. (Once steamed, we eat them with sea salt and coconut oil).

Our tomato plants are lacking a bit this year. They are taking longer to ripen, which I've heard could be contributed to the hotter temperatures this summer.

But when they ripen, they are very tasty. Especially these sun gold cherry tomatoes.

We love that our meals are consisting of mostly vegetables we're growing in our garden!

Do you garden, what have you grown this year?

Other Posts in our Garden series:

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 1

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 2

What Our Garden Grows (2011)

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 2

After working in our garden, I have dirt in my finger nails, dirt in my pockets, and a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. My husband and I feel like we're creating a strong foundation for our daughter.

We watch her picking weeds, searching for bugs, sampling the cherry tomatoes we're growing and we know that she's learning what life really means.

She's learning invaluable lessons; how to grow food, how to be nourished by hard work and that there's nothing wrong with getting your hands dirty!

Since our last post, our seeds have sprouted and grown! So far we have harvested zucchini, chives, swiss chard, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

On those really hot days, we work in our garden later in the day - around 5 pm - accompanied by a nice cool breeze. As a result, we have seen some lovely sunsets.

Sophie has turned out to be an excellent helper in the garden.

Here are a few tips on gardening with kids:

1) Provide kid-size garden tools (shovel, hoe, rake)

2) Bring lots of snacks and water to drink

3) Pack a backpack with activities (books, drawing supplies, doodle pro)

We also bought Sophie a little bug examiner container. It has a magnifying glass, so she can gently put the bug inside and have a look. Then we let it back into the garden where it belongs.

So far we've examined earth worms, various beetles, a cricket, a grass hopper and an earwig.

One of Sophie's favorite parts of gardening is to help plant the seeds... and then of course, to harvest the fruits of our labor.

Do you garden with your kids? Share if you have any tips on gardening - with kids or not. :)

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 1

Last year we got lucky and found a garden plot to rent. We renewed our plot for year 2 and we couldn't be more excited. It's such a fun family activity. Our harvest from last year included plenty of pumpkins, greens and squash.

Sophie loves to help in the garden, and we've made it a little homeschool project. She finds so many different bugs, critters and the pure childhood amazement of the great outdoors. She also gets to see our hard efforts pay off, with the first sweet bloom that eventually ends up being a vegetable to harvest.

So to get our garden ready for year 2, we removed the weeds that had sprung over winters break. 

After removing most of the weeds, it was time to begin tilling. We poured on organic compost and tilled it in thoroughly. That was the hard work of one weekend!

This past weekend, it was time to create rows and lay our soaker hoses. We also planted some of our seedlings.

And then we went back Sunday to plant some seeds and continue laying the hoses and creating rows to plant in.

That's the beauty of gardening, you just have to take it one step at at time. It tames you in the practice of patience and slowing down. This first part of setting up the garden is the most intense work, the next steps will be continuous weeding and tending to our crops. 

"As a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth; to see the land as an animal does; to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us; to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unself- consciously to the soughing of the trees." - Valerie Andrews, A Passion for This Earth