Kids and Family Gardening 

"Maybe a person's time would be as well spent raising food as raising money to buy food."  ~Frank A. Clark


Today we harvested carrots from our very first vegetable garden!
For our ten-year old, it wasn't really a chore because he could see the rewards of his hard work and had fun digging up carrots in different shapes and sizes.  We each started at one end and then met in the middle.  It was a bit competitive, as we saw who could pull out the biggest or strangest carrot.  We got started in the morning, before it got too warm and wore long sleeves and pants because of the insects.


               


The younger boys weren't very interested until we showed them how many carrots there were.  They really enjoyed loading the wagon and carrying carrots from the garden to the porch.  The kids all liked finding strange-shaped and "twin" carrots.



                        


What a fun and educational experience for the little ones.  Our children now understand that food is not simply something we buy at the store.  It takes hard work, time, patience, and nature to grow food.  Even our very picky four-year old ate some of these carrots for dinner!  We harvested about 80 carrots from our three little rows and for a cost of about a dollar.  They are tasty and nutritious, of course.  I really like the fact that we grew them ourselves and know they are fresh, free of pesticides, and didn't ride across the country in a truck for a few days.


                   


Our broccoli plants are starting to bloom.  They are huge-about three feet tall!  
Our okra plants are bearing fruit, but it isn't ripe yet.


                   


Yeah! We finally have some bright red tomatoes!

            


We bought a vacuum sealer to freeze veggies for the winter:

Freezing Carrots

1. Trim the ends off and thoroughly scrub the carrots (I prefer to leave the peel on, because it is very nutritious)
2. Chop into small slices
3. Blanch the carrots - Place in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, no longer
4. Place into ice water to quickly chill
5. Blot dry with a clean towel
6. Vacuum seal according to directions and freeze

Resources:
Michael Pollan
Nutrition writer and advocate
Kids Gardening.org-Parents Primer
Excellent information for beginning gardeners, experienced gardeners, and families to learn together


    Also see Visit to the Shatto Milk Farm






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danielle@fullcirclechild.com