Romaine Lettuce

Okay, so for the first time this year I am growing Romaine Lettuce in my garden, only problem is, I'm not really sure how to harvest it.

Do you pull off a few leaves each time you want a salad? Do you take the whole plant? Will it continue to produce all summer?

I'm thinking that I should start picking tonight. I'm a little worried about my one plant - it looks like it has a new bunch growing out the top and has a "flower" emerging from the middle as you can sort of see in this picture (just realized with the onions in front and tomatoes behind, this picture looks a little overgrown and wild). Is that normal?

Growing Your Own Food

When it comes to freshness, there is nothing better than eating a tomato fresh from the garden. Something about the warmth of freshly picked tomato, just really makes the flavor burst in your mouth. I think that this is probably my key driver in planting a garden. There is no other way to experience this taste explosion (although, I had fried green tomatoes for the first time last night and aside from the added fat and calories of breading and frying, they did deliver on that warm tomato, burst of flavor that I love about fresh picked tomatoes.)

Every spring, the kids and I head out and pick up vegetable plants. We never start from seeds, although I suppose that we could. We plant many of the same vegetables each year, but sometimes we throw in a few new things. The kids really enjoy helping me prep and plant the garden, and they love to eat the vegetables that we plant. The same kids that complain about tomatoes in dishes, will eat them fresh from the vine - go figure! Gardens can expand the food experience for children. There is something about growing your own vegetables in a garden that leads kids to want to eat those vegetables.

This year, we have a few new vegetables and a few that we haven't planted in a while. We have 3 cherry/grape tomato plants, 3 regular tomato plants, 40 - 50 onions, 3 bell pepper plants (red and yellow), 2 hot peppers, 1 eggplant, 1 cucumber (I like to plant them in pairs, but there was only one left) and Romaine lettuce. Lettuce is a new adventure for me. We will see how that one turns out.
(anyone know what's going on with this onion? I've never seen this before - should I cut this off?)

It is a small garden, but with the options I had for putting in a garden, it is really the best we could do. Someday, I would like to have a larger one. I want to have a row of strawberries, maybe some potato plants, and maybe even some puhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifmpkins. For now, we enjoy what we grow and pick up the other stuff at local farmer's markets.

Watching a garden grow is a great lesson in life cycle for children. They get to see the seeds sprout and start to grow (well, if you use seeds, that is). They get to see the fruits/vegetables develop and watch them grow and ripen. They get to pick the fruits/vegetables when they are ripe and experience fresh, homegrown vegetables. They get to see the plants die off as the frost hits and watch us turn them under to fertilize the ground. They learn about how it takes water and sunshine for a garden to grow.

A garden is a great learning opportunity for children and a frugal way to enjoy fresh produce in the summer, and beyond if you can/freeze the vegetables. This works for my family.

This post shared at Works For Me Wednesday.

Growing Your Own Vegetables

I just love having a garden. I can remember my parents having a garden when I was a child. They planted potatoes, tomatoes, onions and more. I can remember one year that we planted some melons and the neighbor boys picked some and buried them in the sandbox while we were out of town on vacation. I can remember eating lots of tomatoes. When we moved and had a larger garden, I remember having strawberries in the garden as well and even some corn. I remember my grandparents' gardens - and eating and bringing home fresh vegetables and fruit. I remember my Grandma humming while she worked in her garden. I remember lots of delicious food from those gardens - fresh green beans and ham, rhubarb cake, zucchini bread, fried zucchini, tomato slices, strawberry pies, cucumber slices, cucumber salad and more.

As a mom, a garden can serve so many purposes.

There is just something so delicious about eating produce right from your own garden. I'm not sure what it is, but they are always sweeter and more flavorful. Perhaps it is knowing that you grew that fruit/vegetable, or perhaps it is just because it is so much more fresh than what you can pick up at the store. In my opinion, tomatoes are best served, slightly warmed from the sun with a quick rinse to knock off any dirt. Not only that, but it is a very economical way to enjoy lots of fresh vegetables. When you consider the costs of seeds/plants and the amount of fruits/vegetables that they will produce, there is no doubt that it is cheaper than buying that amount of fruit at the store. It is a great way to save money.

The kids simply love the garden. All spring they have been asking about when we can plant the garden. This of course has led to an opportunity for them to learn as discussions about frost and why we have to wait to plant a garden ensued.
It helps kids learn about plants and growing. My son even brought home a bean plant that they had started as a seed (unfortunately, we didn't replant it quick enough and it doesn't appear that it will survive - so I guess that was a lesson too!). They learn about how it takes water and sunshine for a garden to grow.

It also inspires the kids to eat the vegetables and expand their food experiences. There is something about growing your own vegetables in a garden that leads kids to want to eat those vegetables. Even my son who will sometimes pick through a dish at dinner leaving behind any tomato chunks, can barely take the time to clean a tomato fresh from the garden before eating it. Onions, peppers and cucumbers are the other vegetables that we are growing in our garden this year. Not as much of a culinary adventure as last year when we had eggplant and zucchini, but I got it in late and selection was limited when I picked up my plants. It's not large (I would love a bigger garden), but it provides us with fresh produce that we can pick for dinner.

Growing my own garden works for me. A garden is a great learning opportunity for children and a frugal way to enjoy fresh produce in the summer, and beyond if you can/freeze the vegetables.

This post shared at Works For Me Wednesday and Frugal Friday.

Planting a Garden

When I was growing up, we had a garden every year. We planted a variety of things, the consistent items were tomatoes, onions and potatoes. I can remember planting melon (watermelon and/or cantaloupe), pumpkins, zucchini, strawberries, and corn from time to time as well. In addition, both sets of Grandparents lived on a farm, so we had even more selection from them as well. I can remember getting lettuce, rhubarb, blackberries, and more to take home when we would visit.

There is just something so delicious about eating produce right from your own garden. I'm not sure what it is, but they are always sweeter and more flavorful. Perhaps it is knowing that you grew that fruit/vegetable, or perhaps it is just because it is so much more fresh than what you can pick up at the store. In my opinion, tomatoes are best served, slightly warmed from the sun with a quick rinse to knock off any dirt. Not only that, but it is a very economical way to enjoy lots of fresh vegetables. When you consider the costs of seeds/plants and the amount of fruits/vegetables that they will produce, there is no doubt that it is cheaper than buying that amount of fruit at the store.

When I grew up and finally had my own house, I was determined to have my own garden. Where we lived in Pittsburgh, it was easy. Our house backed up to a wooded ravine, so I simply planted a garden at it's edge. When we moved to Ohio, it was a little bit harder - we have neighbors and no place to handily tuck it out of the way. In fact, the first few years after we moved here, we didn't even have a garden - we moved in in July, not ideal timing for planting a garden and the next year I was pregnant. But then finally, we settled on a small plot next to the garage wall.

The garden has grown over the years. We have tried different vegetables, some with good luck and others not. This year, we planted tomatoes - big and small, zucchini, peppers - bell and hot, eggplant, and lettuce (came in the Kraft Food and Family this month). It's a modest size, but it works.




The kids simply love the garden. All spring they have been asking about when we can plant the garden. This of course has led to an opportunity for them to learn as discussions about frost and why we have to wait to plant a garden ensued.

When we planted the garden last weekend, they were both anxious to assist. Each of them donned a pair of gardening gloves and carried over their little shovel. They tried to help me turn over the dirt to make it loose and easier to plant, but with their little shovels, they mostly wound up throwing dirt around. Then, when we finally were ready to dig some holes, my daughter wandered off to blow bubbles and play, but my son was eager to dig a hole and help to plant the garden. With my assistance, I allowed him to dig the holes, place the plant and cover them with soil. Then, after we were done planting, came watering. They both wanted to use the watering can, so they took turns (not always in the most calm fashion, my daughter is not fully fluent in share yet) watering the garden. Then, I pulled out the hose to ensure we actually got everything watered deeply, so they would root well.

Watching a garden grow is a great lesson in life cycle for children. They get to see the seeds sprout and start to grow. They get to see the fruits/vegetables develop and watch them grow and ripen. They get to pick the fruits/vegetables when they are ripe and experience fresh, homegrown vegetables. They get to see the plants die off as the frost hits and watch us turn them under to fertilize the ground. They learn about how it takes water and sunshine for a garden to grow.

Gardens expand the food experience for children. There is something about growing your own vegetables in a garden that leads kids to want to eat those vegetables. My son will pick through a dish at dinner leaving behind any tomato chunks, but can barely take the time to clean a tomato fresh from the garden before eating it.

A garden is a great learning opportunity for children and a frugal way to enjoy fresh produce in the summer, and beyond if you can/freeze the vegetables. This works for my family.

For more tips and tricks that work for others, check out Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.