Last year he said “I think I want to start a garden.” I laughed… on the inside. All I could think of was zillions of meals, diaper changes, and loads of laundry that would undoubtedly stand in my way of helping with a garden. Then I imagined eating garden fresh tomatoes everyday. So I said, “okay… but it has to be small… and it can only go right here… and you have to grow tomatoes and basil… and I don’t want to have anything to do with it….at all.”
Fast forward to a year later and I’ve initiated turning a large corner of our yard into veritable smorgasbord of fruits and vegetables. It’s amazing the difference a year can make! My kids are now 3.5 and almost 6 years old and are interested and excited (at times) about being involved with our garden!
Since starting our garden this year, I have learned that many of our JMB contributors also have their own gardens. Check out some of our stories, each with their own gardening tips and tricks!
Rachel N.
What’s Growing: We have two garden boxes right now where we are growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. We also have a butterfly garden! At times we will grow broccoli and green beans which my girls will eat right out of the garden.
Fave Tip: Worm towers! They contain compost and have holes under the dirt level for worms to go in and out of to eat the compost. Worm poop is good poop!
Biggest Struggle: Even after 4 years I’m not a fantastic gardener. I do it to show my girls nature and about the earth. My struggles include finding a larger variety things that grow well for us. Our failures have been melons, squash, and lettuce!
Megan K.
What’s Growing: Although we don’t have anything in the ground just yet, we have been most successful with tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, and kale.
Fave Tip: My husband is the gardener in our family and he says the key to garden success is lots of water and love. My daughter is an extremely picky eater and refuses to try new things. I love the fact that she will eat anything she has grown in the garden with daddy.
Biggest Struggle: Countering the hottest days of the summer with enough water is a big challenge. Twice a day watering can be tough to keep up with and as a result, we see shriveled plants more often than we’d like.
Megan J.
What’s Growing: We started with strawberry seedlings and have since planted seeds for marigolds, 2 varieties of tomatoes, carrots, 2 types of peppers, onions (per my daughter’s demand), swiss chard, broccoli, beans, basi,l and chives. We also put in a baby lemon tree!
Fave Tip: Zoo Poop! Okay, technically it’s “fully composted herbivore manure.” It’s a great (and free!) compost for a small garden. We rake it directly into the soil before planting to give our fruits and veggies some great organic nutrition! If you’re interested in getting some of your own zoo poo, here’s the info from the Jacksonville Zoo…
“Fully composted herbivore manure is available for free if you are loading it yourself. The free compost self-loading area can be found by following these directions. Drive to the back of the zoo parking lot, towards the picnic area. Pull up to the gate (marked “authorized personnel only”) next to the picnic area. The gate will open automatically. Proceed down the road past the “Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission” area. On the right, the free compost pile is marked with an orange “free compost” sign. Help yourself to what is there. Self-loading is available 7:00AM to 5:00PM, seven days a week, and an appointment is not necessary. We can also load composted manure onto a pick up truck or trailer for $20 per cubic yard. This $20 fee is used to support plant and habitat conservation initiatives. Loading is available Monday through Friday, between 7:00AM and 4:00PM by appointment only.
Biggest Struggle: Weeds! Rather than starting our seeds in a small tray (like we should have) we sowed them directly into the garden. Now all sorts of things are sprouting up and since we are novice gardeners, we have no idea what’s what!
Jessica Parker
What’s growing: We do really well with beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, and strawberries. Carrots are the kids’ favorite because they love digging them up and seeing how big they are and how funny they’ve grown. We also have a year-round herb spiral. This year we are attempting onions and spinach for the first time.
Fave Tip: Every year we order praying mantis eggs to help reduce pests. While we still have some pest problems, this definitely seems to make a difference. I too have a daughter who wouldn’t eat a green bean bought from a store to save her life, but she will eat them right off the vine out in the yard.
Biggest Struggle: Watering… I forget to do this! This year I’m trying something new. I took gallon milk jugs and poked holes in the sides and buried them. When we water, we fill the jugs too so that water can be dispensed down by the roots.
Tell us Jax Moms… will you plant a garden this year? What will you grow?
