Homeschooling and The Garden

Lately, just like everything else, our homeschooling has been focused on the garden. My kids know more about plants and where their food comes from than most adults. I alternate between finding this amusing and a little bit scary. But whatever else my kids do or do not learn from our educational endeavors, they WILL be able to feed themselves. Always.

Currently, we are studying the Grains of the World. Their history and origins, as well as cooking with them and growing them. One of my 4X4 ft beds at the top of the garden has been set apart as a school garden this year, and in it we are growing rye, red wheat, white wheat, barley, oats, millet, corn, and rice. Yes, I am attempting to grow rice. Who knows if all of them will grow in this climate, but even if they fail and die here, that will teach us something too!

On top of the garden that is set aside for school lessons, last week, each of the kids made their own 6X4 ft garden bed. They put them together on their own, and filled them with the new soil on their own.

They each have a garden notebook they are keeping growth notes/charts in, their garden journal and any plans or dreams they have for their garden beds. They each made a detailed garden plan showing what they want to put in their beds. They have big plans to have a street side vegetable stand outside our house this summer with the things they grow available to all who come by... for a modest fee, of course.

Because of their limited space, they are very careful about their plant selections. Alex is all about using his space to make the most money possible. He is turning into quite the entrepreneur. He chose a variety of tomato (with my help) called "Mortgage Lifter" which apparently produces the most pounds of tomatoes per vine and still has a decent flavor. Cyan, not being as interested in making money as Alex currently is, chose a tomato variety called "Sweet Pea" which is a tiny current tomato that is ripe when it blushes pink, and then filled the rest of her bed with things she likes to eat and flowers she wants to sell.

It is a mix of my two favorite things... homeschooling and gardening. I am just thrilled to be able to play in the dirt alongside my kids, and teach them about the food we eat as a family. Who knows? By the end of the season, I could be buying Alex's Mortgage Lifter tomatoes to add to our family meal. ;)