Spring is here and its time to get dirty in the garden! A garden can be a fun and fruitful time for the entire family and a way to save money. When you see the little strawberries start to form or a broccoli head peering through the leaves, it’s exciting. You realize that you have helped create something that you can now enjoy.

Once the sprouts are ready to go outside, you need to plant them somewhere where they can get sun and water. Children usually love this part too. You get to dig a hole in the dirt (approximately three times the size of the roots), place the plant in, fill in the surrounding hole with dirt, and then water heavily until the dirt is transformed into mud. It is important to note that newly established plants require lots of water. If you live in an apartment or condo, you can just plant your sprouts in a bigger pot and put them on the patio or balcony. If you don’t have a balcony, place the plants close to a window so that they can get sun. Make sure to get a pot big enough to let the roots grow and spread out. You may want to consult your local plant nursery on the size.

In no time you will start to see fruits and vegetables of your labor becoming ripe enough to eat. As you sit down to dinner to eat your salad, you can tell everyone that the tomatoes are from your own garden.

Because your children will like to see the vegetable forming, you will want to grow something like broccoli, tomatoes, or beans. Be aware that potatoes, carrots, or radishes grow under ground, so you and your children will not see the vegetables as they develop. Try to make this time a fun-filled learning adventure. You can incorporate science into the experience. You can teach them about the importance of insects and their roll in the natural world. You can talk of photosynthesis and how plants take in carbon dioxide (the air we exhale) and convert it into oxygen (the air we inhale).