Creating Your Own Family Garden
Proper nutrition begins from the ground up. Starting a family garden is a great way to lay the foundation for healthy eating in your household. Here are some tips to get started building a garden that you and your family can enjoy together over the next several months!
Chart Your Course:
Create a list of fruits and vegetables you want to
comprise your garden. As a family, vote on the plants that will populate
your crop.
Look Before You Leap: Have all family members sketch the garden of their
dreams. Incorporate elements of each design into an outline that best
suits your space.
Do Your Research:
Take a family trip to the library and explore how to successfully care for and create a garden.
Be Climate Friendly:
Determine what fruits and vegetables will thrive in your local conditions.
Reach Out:
Chat with local gardening businesses to request useful information and ask about specials they might have.
Turn Responsibilities into a Break: Create a maintenance schedule that allows your family to tend the garden together.
Sunlight:
Be sure to plant the garden in an area with sufficient sunlight.
Plant the Rainbow:
Include fruits and vegetables that possess a wide
variety of colors to increase your garden’s nutritional value.
Appreciate the Fruits of Your Labor:
Don’t forget to explore the garden and enjoy a snack.
Share Your Success:
Donate excess food to soup kitchens and local charities to provide those in need with a nutritious meal.
We started our grow kits last Sunday in preparation of our Spring and
Summer garden. It was such a nice afternoon activity for the family and we are all looking forward to our times together in the garden this Spring & Summer.
Fill measuring cup with 2 1/2 cups water & add soil wafer to
container. Gradually add water to container with wafer and mix. Note the
mixture will be almost like soup if you add all 2 1/2 cups of water.
This will allow you to easily pour the mixture to your pot & the mixture
to be nice & moist to more effectively sprout your seeds. 
Place your pot in your kitchen sink. Pour
mixture into pot. (NOTE: Excess water will pass through coir pot - so
you must do this in sink or outside)
Place several paper towels or old kitchen
towel on counter. Take coir pot from sink and place on towel in
preparation to add your seeds!
Place tomato seeds on soil. Next, press in
about 1/4" - 1/2" into soil and 1/2" apart. Then, cover with soil from each side of where you
pressed the tomato seed. 
Place plant marker in pot. Place coir pot in germination bag and then fasten with rubber band. 
Place in sunny spot in doors. Once the plant reaches 2" tall, open
germination bag, fold down & keep soil moist. After approximately, 6
weeks, and plant is 5-10" tall, remove germination bag & plant
outside in a planter or ground. DO NOT REMOVE FROM BIODEGRADABLE coir
pot!
DAY 5
DAY 26: Our tomatoes have beautiful leaves and are ready to be transplanted to individual pots so they have room to grow before they can travel outside. To "prick out": lift seedlings from below, holding each
one gently by their baby cotyledon leaves and scooping
up entire soil ball from below. We find an old fork
works well for this. If roots have grown together into a clump, gently tease
seedlings apart, holding by baby cotyledon leaves.The tomatoes need to be in consistent 65-70 degrees and sun to remain healthy. Once the temperatures are consistently at 55 degrees or higher each night, you can transplant your tomatoes outdoors.
Tomatoes find their way to our table quite a bit. Whether as a condiment to our sandwiches, in a salsa or sauce - these guys are a nice addition to many a meal. Tomatoes are not only delicious but offer you a nice dose of lycopene, vitamin C as well as vitamins A, E and potassium. As we have a pretty serious tomato garden during the warmer months, we are always looking for other fun recipes to incorporate our bountiful harvest!