What better way to have a backyard adventure than to grow a garden?
Backyard Adventure series
Our Backyard Adventures are fun and easy mini-expeditions that you can do — you guessed it! — right in your own backyard. These activities are designed to help students and parents explore the world with eyes of wonder. Along the way, you might discover a new interest, a new dream, or even a future career.
Assignment: Your adventure, should you choose to accept it, is to grow a simple garden. Growing basil in a pot is an easy way to get started. This post is more about inspiration than it is about how to garden. You can find lots of instructions on how to garden online or at the library. Better yet, find a neighbor who gardens and ask for help. Below you will see Scott’s latest improvements. It took him years to work up to this level, but it was NOT work — it was fun!
Example: Here is my new “Grow Food NOT Grass” sign that I made using a wood burner, a nice piece of walnut and some scraps. This goes with the terraced garden that I built in the spring. Actually, this is the front lawn, so my sign also serves to inspire everyone who walks past to plant their own garden.
I like to be a good neighbor and encourage people to cooperate, so I actually encourage people to take vegetables from my garden. But you’ll notice that I do put all the hot peppers upfront. I don’t want them to take everything. Haha. The best part is that sometimes my neighbors surprise me with some eggs from their chickens or a jar of jam.
A garden not only saves money, but it’s also healthier and better for the environment. Some interesting factoids:
- Over 90% of the vegetables in the grocery store come from a different state.
- Almost all grocery store vegetables, even food labeled as organic, use pesticides and fertilizers.
- If everyone grew their own garden, we could save billions of dollars and billions of gallons of gas used to transport the food.
Below is a picture of what my garden looks like today. As you can see, I learned a lot about gardening since the first try above. Finally, the grass, which was still sprouting up like a weed, is gone. It now has four terraces. I still plant hot peppers in the first row next to the sidewalk. (They are a little small this year.) Tomatoes are in the second row. More peppers. Barely visible are some flowers and herbs on the fourth level. And it is all surrounded by pollinating plants. The marigolds help keep the deer from eating my garden.
