A little about vegetable gardening... Part I

When you want to start a garden the first thing you need to do is find a sunny spot in your yard. We had to cut down 14 trees to put my garden because we live in an oak forest. After that we rented a monster tiller and that tore through roots and everything else. Once you've found an area and cleared it then its time to think about what sort of garden you want to have.

.......a traditional row garden. You need to determine what kind of garden you are going to have a traditional garden. You till out rows and you plant your seeds in the rows. You then weed and water your rows. This is the method large farms and our parents used and it usually involves a lot of work maintaining it.

....a square foot garden or raised beds in which you build boxes and add a weed guard and create your own soil mix. This method eliminates the need to till the garden and provides very fertile soil immediately! I think this garden provides the least amount of work as far as weeding and maintenance so it works well for our family.

....a lasagna garden which is a no dig method of gardening.

There are many other types of gardens you can design. We use the square foot garden or the raised beds and we have a spot for the traditional garden beds in which we grow things like pumpkins and watermelons

I really love gardening because when you are in the garden with your family and friends its a wonderful time of talking and sharing. While we were weeding this week we discussed Achan and the effects of sin on the lives of everyone around the sinner. There are no uncomfortable silences because in the silence you are gardening and considering which weeds to pull and making sure you aren't uprooting my Swiss chard. When you garden with your children you don't just grow plants you also grow their little minds toward God and actively shape their character.

We have spent about 9 months pretending we did not have a garden and that we did not need the veggies but we are back to reality and with 5 little hungry mouths to feed its back into the garden we go! I'm going to try to keep you updated on our spring gardening adventures and I'll try to throw in some lessons on the way. Perhaps, you'll consider planting a garden yourself.