Kids love to grow things.  And did you know that if you have your children help plant and tend vegetables in the garden that they will be much more likely to eat them? 

Yes, it is true.  They become invested in the vegetables and want to eat them.  That isn’t to say that they will suddenly eschew cookies, candy and carbs, but I can almost guarantee that they will at least try the vegetables.

Planting your first garden can be intimidating.  Where do you start?

First, pick the best place in your yard.  It should be sunny and close enough to your water source that grabbing the hose and watering your garden will be easy. If you have a programmable sprinkler, set it to water your garden early in the morning. 

I have found that the easiest way to start a garden, especially if you have a  yard with subpar soil, is to build raised beds.

If you are not able to do that or don’t want to do that, you can plant your garden right in the yard.  First you need to kill the grass.  Wet down the grass.  Put down a layer of newspapers.  Wet it down again.  Put at least one inch of good quality soil on top of the newspaper.  Plant right in this, digging straight through the newspaper into the ground.  The newspaper will prevent too many weeds from growing the first year. 

If you don’t want to commit  to a full garden, you can also plant your garden in a container.  Tomatoes, strawberries, pole beans are all examples of things that can grow quite well in a container.  Perfect if you live in an apartment or area with not a lot of available yard space.  I will admit that I secretly love those upside down hanging tomato planters.  I think they would be nice to hang off of a back patio in place of hanging flower baskets.