Our Little Garden Experiment...

(*If you read our family blog, you have already read this. :o)  ~Tracy)

Planting the seeds.

Watering.

Trying to save the kale.

Counting out the seeds to plant.

This spring we decided to plant a family garden.  The girls were very enthusiastic and helpful throughout the process.  We chose to use "the square foot garden" style of gardening, due to our small yard.  We had a mixed start, planting some seeds and some plants previously started at the store. (Hoping this would increase our chances at success!)

First strawberry!

DH assembled the garden box and moved most of the soil, since it was too heavy for the rest of us.  The girls spread the soil, with help from me. The girls also created the grid to separate the sections of the garden.

DD8 and DD4 especially liked having some say into the plants we were to grow. Strawberries came into the picture quickly!
It was exciting to see the plants emerge from the soil in around 2 weeks! Weeding was minimal, which kept them willing to help :o)  They also enjoyed the nightly watering routine. (Our summer has been terribly hot and dry.)
We were pleased that the deer seem to have found other sources of food this summer.  Perhaps the direct sun and the high temperatures kept them away.  Although, they did seem to like the taste of the bean bushes!  They also sampled our tomatoes, but mostly left them alone.  The neighborhood cat was a little more of a nuisance, along with the caterpillars who ate all of our kale...
All in all, we have enjoyed the experience and hope to have repeated success next year. ~Tracy