SEEDS Part Two

CORN

We've planted corn once before, but never from seed. I'm curious to see how it'll work. IF it'll work. I didn't know this when I orgininally bought the corn plants, but the lady at the garden center told me that to get any corn at all you need at least six plants, to pollinate each other. We had six-eight plants in a fairly small space a few years ago and did pretty well.

So off we go!

To plant our corn, I thought we'd try these manure pots.

They're supposed to be amazing, and they don't smell - Greenie checked:-)

This is Greenie's project, so she starts with laying the pots out and filling them with dirt..

Corn seeds go in..

Then she labeled them. I kinda liked how she spelled it in the first place. I think CARN has a nice homey ring to it, don't you?

Little Manster had to get in there to water..

(He did not spray his sister this time)

Then Greenie covered the pots with baggies. This was a thought of mine - we'll see how well it works for keeping moisture it.

This is how we're storing them. The weather's been pretty warm here, but today it's supposed to rain and I'm thinking of bringing them indoors for a nice warm nap.

Egg cartons up next..

SEEDS Part One

Things have been a little busy around here, but there's always a few moments for seeds, right? This project takes all of 10 minutes, and is very simple and satisfying to the young gardener.

***If you live in a warm climate, you can leave these outside. If not, find a warmish spot in your house and let them hang out for a week or two until they sprout.

We're going to start with the first of three methods Greenie, Little Manster and I are using for planting seeds. We found this nifty soil pod thing at the garden store, and it rocks - it even has its own cover to keep the moisture in.

To start, put the pod tray down in front of someone with a hose. Then give 'em some water and they quickly puff up nice and pretty.

Little Manster chose to use this method. He planted his zucchini on one side.

Then his watermelon on the other...

Water it again, but don't go crazy - we don't want the seeds to drown. Then put the top on and label it. Easy peasy...

You'll see shoots in 5-10 days. but while you wait, let the gardener muck around in the mud for awhile. He'll love you forever!

New Blooms

It's been extraordinarily warm here in Los Angeles and the trees, veg and flowers are going crazy with blooms. It's so beautiful I thought I'd share a few pictures of what's going on in my garden...

The tomatoes already have flowers.

Strawberries too..

Pretty pretty peaches..

And if you can believe it - Lilac! In Los Angeles!

Weekend Project; PLANTING POTATOES

My kids don't like potatoes in any other form but french fried. This makes me a little sad. I wonder, is it because I don't buy/cook them very often so they're not exposed to them? I mean, they eat everything else (except asparagus, which I'm working on too) so what's the deal with no mashed potatoes or baked potatoes? It kind of sucks..

Which leads me back to the reason for this blog - If you grow it they will come... or is it, If they grow it, they will eat it?

Here are the spuds Little Manster and I and chose at the garden store.

Organic red. He doesn't know a potato from an onion at this point, so it was the little shoots (or 'swords' as he called them) driving up through the potato that really captured his interest. (REMEMBER - You must buy SEED POTATOES to grow more potatoes, don't use a regular old baking potato from Trader Joes)

A year ago I bought some old wine barrels on Craig's List.

They're cheap, can go on concrete, and are great for growing anything from veg to flowers. But you can use anything for your potatoes - a pot

or a planter

a garbage bag..

(here's a cool link to planting potatoes in a garbage bag - http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-a-trash-bag/index.html)

Some say you should cut up the potatoes, let them sit out for a day or two before planting, but I don't have that kind of time, or patience, frankly. I'm willing to see what happens doing it the easy way. I'm a risk taker like that. Most important thing is to have 2 eyes/shoots per potato, and these do, so let's get 'em in the ground, I say!

I had the kids space them about 3-4 inches apart. I didn't get a ruler or anything. 'They' say that the deeper you plant them the more potatoes you can yield. We went middle of the road.

Popping them in the soil and covering them took all of one minute. In this barrel we planted 7 or 8. Water when the soil gets dry and see what happens! That's kind of part of the fun -

BTW, THIS WOULD BE A GREAT PROJECT FOR THOSE IN THE COOL WEATHER CLIMATES RIGHT NOW!

Friday Night Salad

Salad greens are the easiest things to grow - and they grow fast. I once heard of someone who, when she was done with her bag salad, filled it with dirt, some salad/lettuce seeds and put it in a sunny spot. She had lettuce in 8 weeks! I think I need to try that..

But first, Greenie and Little Manster make a salad from whatever they can find in the raised bed. They collected a variety of salad greens and some carrots. I offered them some cucumbers and tomatoes from the fridge, but they only wanted to work with what they'd collected.

After washing the greens, Greenie gently ripped up the leaves. (or not so gently actually. i think I had to say, 'easy there, your going to bruise the poor things' about 50 times.)

Then Little Manster worked the carrots sans knife. (he did a pretty good job, and he could be as rough as he wanted. he liked that.)

Then they made their favorite salad dressing, (not pictured) but here is the recipe:

- a little water, a little garlic, soy sauce and olive oil. Whisk to taste.

A toss or two.

And a taste. YUM!

Add a grilled cheese sandwich to the mix and we have a fabulous dinner!

Planting Tomatoes In Under A Minute

This project is super satisfying to the novice or impatient gardener, young or...well, not so young?

It's quick, its easy, and you can put it anywhere that happens to get sun.

Start with one bag of Organic Compost.

Open it up, dig a hole or well with your hands or a trowel.

Place tomato plant, strawberry plant, pepper plant, lettuce - anything you love - in the hole and cover the roots.

Take a quick proud-gardener picture.

Then let the other kid water it in.

Just don't turn your back on him.

EVER!

Day At The Nursery

I'm not going to lie, a trip to the nursery - or garden store - can be a pain in the butt for some kids. Especially if it's their first time. Normally, it's mom or dad who want to go and pick out flowers, weed killer, a few vegetable plants and maybe a new sprinkler head for the garden hose. The kids are sort of taken along, not unlike the grocery store, because they can't be left at home to be baby-sat by the dog.

I know of what I speak because this morning I asked Little Manster to come with me to the garden store to pick up a few things I've been needing. He was riding his bike in tornado-like circles around the house and did not want to accompany me. Most ardently, in fact. Like most moms, I didn't want to fight, cajole etc, so I took a different approach. I asked him what he would like to grow, then after he told me I asked him what he thought those seeds might look like. Would they be big? Little? Round? Furry? (Hey, this got his attention) I told him he could pick out 3 packets of seeds - ANY seeds he wanted: watermelon, potato - anything at all - and then we'd plant them.

He was interested.

So, we changed out of PJ's and hit the road.

When we arrived at Armstrong, we went over to the vegetable area first to look around, see if anything new caught our eye. (I do have a few empty spots in the raised bed to fill...) Little Manster saw these beautiful dark green leaves and wanted to see them up close, so we did.

Note: Another great way to get your child excited and interested at the garden store is to let them taste test. Try some lettuce, something mild at first so you don't turn them off - and after they do, ask their opinion and really be interested. If they spit it out and say, "gross!" that's okay! Great actually. Laugh it off and let 'em know that Arugula ain't for everybody, and move on to the strawberries.

Here's Little Manster's taste test.

"That's spinach, Buddy. Does it taste good? Sweet, sour? Do you think we should plant this in our garden?" (He did)

"What about the Swiss Chard. Yeah, it is a funny name. How does it one taste? Do you think it needs lots of sun?" (He liked that one too)

After tasting time we moved on to the seed section. Little Manster had fun here - pictures rule!

Here's what he picked. (Greenie had asked me to get her wax beans and roma tomatoes, but the zucchini, watermelon and pickle cucs are all LM's)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood friends - maybe head over to the nursery afterschool today for a little snack and some quality bonding time with your pal:-)

Scavengers

This is what's called a quality problem, but a problem none-the-less. The broccoli in our garden has never grown... Well, not to maturity anyway. The kids keep eating it. (I know this is a good thing, just wish they'd wait until there were a few large heads to harvest) Every time a new little sprout appears, one of my scavengers pinches it off and eats it. Shown above; Little Man, my boy, thieving a tiny piece of broccoli in broad daylight. The kid has no shame.

Here's Greenie, my daughter. She likes to "check" the carrots - see how big they're growing, how orange they're becoming. Then she eats the thumb-sized specimen in two seconds flat. She does this at least once a day. It'll be a total crap carrot harvest, but that's okay I suppose. It's our first successful year growing carrots, so we're all a little overly excited.

**Does broccoli continue to grow or will it go to seed at this point? I'm thinking of taking it out and planting something else..