With fall weather remaining relatively warm in South Florida and with hectic schedules ensuring that every day is a mad rush, my kids and I decided that we wanted to start a home project that would force us to slow down and demonstrate patience and pride.
We decided to start a home garden.
Now, as seemingly benign as this may be, I must confess that I have never successfully been able to keep a plant alive.
A nurse by trade, my ability to heal and preserve life is obviously restricted to people and animals as evidenced by the very shriveled cactus on my office shelf.
What can possibly kill a cactus? Apparently, I can.
So we started where all great adventures in modern day begin – on the internet.
We looked up viable options that would tolerate the Florida heat, we ordered seeds online, and we set to work creating the perfect small garden in our yard.
To contain our chaos, we decided that a pallet garden would be best. This provided a structured boundary and minimized the work involved in getting started by eliminating the need to clear land or till soil.
Pallets can be purchased online – but many local grocery stores will happily give some away. Many businesses throw away damaged pallets as they can no longer bear the weight of inventory and cargo. These pallets will work perfectly for your garden.
Once we had acquired the perfect pallet structures, I removed any loose or rusted nails and any loose pieces of woodboard. The kids and I then lined the bottom and sides with inexpensive garden mesh and decided on the perfect spot.
We filled the pallets with garden soil and used the wooden slats as natural borders for the different vegetables we planted. Some seeds we planted directly into the soil and others we started indoors before transplanting them outside. (We are, after all, experimenting and learning to see what works best.)
Because we had worked on the project from beginning to end as a family, everyone took ownership. Every morning the kids would rush outside to check on the veggies, to water them, and to make sure they were growing as planned.
The project was so successful (probably due to their diligence) that we added a second pallet with vegetable seeds and surrounded the area with bee and butterfly-attracting flowering plants.
Months later, the kids continued to show a great interest, even creating a “Harvest Chart” so they could track the plants’ growth, seed germination, and possible harvest date.
It’s still too early to tell if our hard work will yield edible treats this year – but we feel as though we have won regardless of the outcome.
The kids have developed a new skill and hobby, and experience a sense of pride whenever they show off their gardens to friends and visitors.
And although we may not ever be able to grow enough in our city home to carry us through the zombie apocalypse, we certainly found patience, pleasure, and learning moments while working together on a long-term project as a family.
Have you started a family garden in your home? If so, what did you plant and did the kids enjoy the process?
I would love to hear how your gardens turned out or if your family has other projects that they created together. Share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments section.
Happy Gardening!
Click below if you are interested in more information about starting your very own family garden with the kids, including ways to get them involved and learning.