Secrets to a Successful CHILD'S VEGETABLE GARDEN

 I reprint this post every year with new suggestions...time to plan

 3 secrets to a successful 

CHILD'S VEGETABLE GARDEN:

1. They should not be too demanding, 
2. They should offer fairly quick results
3.  The must not  require too much maintenance.

But how to achieve this in a garden in the short few months before school is over in June?

 Go to kidsgardening.org and also check out the wonderful post on Yardday (click on name) then, prepare, prepare, prepare.

1. First, your veggie garden site has to have full sun for over 6 hours a day. This is a must! And morning sun is preferable over 6 hours of late in the day sun.

2. It must be relatively level and have soil deep enough to sustain plant roots and facilitate adequate drainage (about 16 inches deep at least). No 6" to bedrock or placed atop asphalt.

The soil has to be prepared beforehand - not by the kids, but by adults. 

The quality of the soil decides the success of the garden. Little kids cannot be expected to amend and prepare the soil in the correct manner...

The soil preparation stage is where most kids' gardens go astray.

The grown-ups must work the soil to get the ground ready for the enthusiasm of children with trowels and a bunch of seeds.  This is no easy task -  the soil has to be friable ( I love that word) and fertile. 

Woodland soil is not suitable nor is sandy soil...organic amendments will be needed (worm composting, anybody?)

check out Haven Brand Soil Conditioner Teas

3. Third, the arrangements for watering and weeding have to be addressed beforehand. Kids will lose interest after a while (summer sports are calling) and someone has to do it consistently...

If those three considerations are fulfilled then the kids' garden will be a great success! If not, it may become a short lived exercise....

What to plant?
Veggies for a kids' garden should be hardy, fun to look at and mature quickly before school is out in June...so what can we plant?

One idea is to choose varieties in unusual colors, shapes and sizes:

Aurora Mixed Orach   Greens in a mix of radiant colors, well suited to edible landscapes. Who says greens have to be green? Has a spinach flavor. Go here: Baker Creek Heirloom Seed. A great company.

"Easter egg" radish 
Ovals in shades of purple, lavender, pink, rose, scarlet, white. 25 days. Fast and easy to grow, radishes are best in cool weather.

Carrot Thumbelina

Round, golfball  gourmet carrots can be harvested after 60 days!

Ideal for containers or gardens with poor soils. Sweet taste and small cores make thumbelina great for salads, stews, snacks or hors d'oeuvres.

 Red Saladbowl - Oakleaf Lettuce 

Radiant burgundy, deeply lobed, delicate oak-like leaves form a rosette. Red Saladbowl matures early, holds its mild, nonbitter salad quality for a long time, and is slow to bolt.  seed with organic pelleting for fast and easy germination.

Potato - All Blue

Skin is purple and the flesh is blue.  A wonderfully flavorful potato with meaty flesh.  It is not a quick grower but the fun is in harvesting it in late summer...

one great way to grow potatoes - fill a tire with soil and plant the seed potato within this tire...add another one atop it as potato seedlngs emerge and grow about 8  inches and cover them with soil ..do it again with a third tire as they grow toward the light...

Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' Mix

A must for a kid's garden!This chard seed mix has stems in yellow, gold, pink and crimson.  They're best harvested young for salads. Ready to harvest in 60 days. Go here: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

And what about flowers?

Plant spring pansies for color and this:

Nasturtium Alaska Mix

These colorful and edible flowers tolerate poor soils and heat or cold. They grow on compact plants with attractive variegated foliage. Flowers and tender young leaves add color and a peppery zip to salads.  Big seeds are ideal for kids' gardens.

I hope this gets everyone starting to think about planting out those veggies...I got most of these photos from Burpee's Seeds. This well known company is a great on-line seed source as is Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

click here: Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog 

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