We had a break in the rain this week, so Tomato and I were able to head out into the garden this morning to put the finishing touches on the potato boxes and check on how everything else was going. I needed to put the first row of boards on the boxes and fill them in with some more Organic Mechanic soil.
Once I had the soil in, all we had to do was drop in the dried Peruvian Purple seed potatoes from Happy Cat Organics into 4-6 inch holes. I put them in the 4 corners and one in the middle.
Cover them over with soil and water well to get everything started. Luckily, we are expecting more rain tonight, but if we end up dry, I will hit everything with the hose in the morning.
Potatoes are a great veggie to plant with toddlers. They enjoy digging in the dirt, tossing the potato in and covering it with soil. If you don’t mind taking your time with this task, you can have a great time introducing them to these tubers. Stay close to them as you are working with seed potatoes though, so that nobody ends up popping one in his/her mouth. We had a lot of giggles and exclamations of “Potato!!” as we planted them this morning.
While we were playing in the garden, we popped over to check out the irises along the back gate.
As you explore your garden with your kids, it is a great opportunity to expand their vocabularies and use the names of the plants as they sniff, look and explore them. We had a nice time exploring the irises and talking about their scent, being gentle with the stems and petals, the colors that are in the blooms and what a bud is. Since we have a few varieties of these in the bed, it will be great to revisit these topics when the new batch begins to bloom. I love these discussions and I can’t wait to see Tomato’s face when the potatoes start to grow!
What do you talk about or plant with your kids in your garden?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tutorial about starting potatoes by seed…i have yet to try growing anything ‘edible’ in my gardens…you are very inspiring! thank you for sharing with us over here at Fishtail Cottage’s garden party! xoxo, tracie
Thanks Tracie! I enjoyed doing it with our little one and she has a blast going out to them each day to check on their progress.
Happy planting! I’m your newest follower. I’d be honored if you’d follow me back at http://chatonsworld.blogspot.com.
Thanks for stopping by! I am heading over to check out your blog now!
Your irises are just beautiful! I love that color.
Hi Becky, Your potato boxes are great! I have never grown potatoes, but I do grow tomatoes, various greens, snow peas, zucchini, etc. I have heard you can grow potatoes in a bag of compost and I wanted to try that this year, but time got away from me! Your iris are pretty.
Beth
p.s. I looked at several of your posts and they are really meaningful. God bless you for sharing. 🙂
Love your potato boxes – I have seen some very clever ways people grow potatoes – gardening is a wonderful learning experience for children – I loved sharing with mine when we home schooled – we did a lot of reading too! My iris have yet to bloom – anticipating their arrival is part of the fun too! I appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy