Garden Fun

My husband and I enjoy growing a garden each year! We started about 6 years ago, and do our best to learn as we go.  When deciding what to grow, we think about several factors: 

1. Can the vegetable be preserved?  (canned, frozen, etc)

2. What return will we get for the space planted?  

3. How expensive is the vegetable to buy at the store?  

4. Is the vegetable hardy/fairly easy to grow?

In our region (we live in Northwest Arkansas), it is currently the right time of year to be planting most Summer crops. Cold weather crops (lettuce, peas, etc) are being harvested.  The only cold weather crops we planted this year were leaf lettuce and kale. We have planted corn, zucchini, okra, tomatoes, jalapenos, cucumbers, green beans, and wax beans for our summer crop!

The leaf lettuce is ready to pick!

Gardening is such a great activity to involve the whole family in!  Even my youngest, Silas, is a great helper!  He is only 2.5 years old, but with some basic instructions is very good at planting, watering, and harvesting!

 My oldest, Caleb, is 6.5 years old. He wrote out some labels to help remind us where we planted which seeds!

Our lettuce has really taken off!  We are enjoying lots of fresh salad with dinner, and will probably be giving lettuce away soon too! :)

Do you grow a garden? I would love to hear where you live, and the types of things you grow!