Plant a Vegetable Garden With Your Kids

plant-vegetable-garden

Our good friends Aaron and Rebecca have shared their vegetable garden project with us and they planted it with the help of their 2 1/2 year old son Leo.

Like many old neighborhoods in big cities, West Adams in Los Angeles has seen its ups and downs. Aaron and Rebecca Morse bought a 1906 Arts and Crafts Bungalow in 2003 that needed a lot of interior and exterior work.

At some point in its history, their home’s backyard was completely covered with concrete, and this was something of a mixed blessing. The concrete allowed them a rugged surface to stage their diy remodel. They set up tools, parked trucks and dumpsters, loaded rubble with a Bobcat, etc. But once their main repairs were complete they realized that the concrete can be brutal, unnatural, and hot.

prickly-cactus

They decided to soften the hard-scaped yard with a small vegetable garden. There was already a broken hole from a dead tree in which they had planted a cactus but they wanted to do more.

Here’s how they planted a vegetable garden in their backyard, using a Skilsaw with a concrete blade, about $60 worth of redwood lumber from the garden store, and shovel, pick, and sledgehammer.

remove-old-plants

digging-plants

Leo, (2 1/2 ) is one of those kids who loves to dig and he was the perfect helper for this project.

old-plants

layout-fence

After excavating stones and concrete rubble, Aaron framed in our garden space with removable gates and we amended the soil.

They planted tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, beans, cucumbers, basil, thyme, and sunflowers.

checking-garden

This has been a great source of activity and enjoyment for their whole family. From daily watering and weeding to a discussion of the plants and pests to picking, and eating has given them a great outlet in their own backyard.

celebrate-popcicles

Time to celebrate with some popsicles!

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  • Timothy
    16 Oct ’11 at 8:00 am

    Great project!