Our kids looove the garden. They spend hours outside digging, watering, collecting treasures, picking, eating and generally just being very, very happy. While fresh air and sunshine are obviously an incredible feeling for us all, I also think having a little piece of dirt to play with is just plain fun. Whether you live in an apartment, or have a small outdoor area (us!) or have a sprawling backyard, a simple garden can bring kids SO MUCH JOY!

Most people know our backyard because of our little playhouse. On the other side along a fence, we have a small garden bed where we grow vegetables. This year, the kids were fully onboard with it all, from choosing the plants to planting them!

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to share a bit about our garden this season as we are novice gardeners and the outcome is FUN more than whether the plants actually grow.

We started with simple things - herbs (parsley, cilantro, still need to plant chives), lettuce and kale and the bean plant that Xavier brought home from preschool. These are sure to produce at least something. I also let the kids pick out plants that they wanted (zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli), which we have never grown before. We have had success with tomatoes in the past (and our kids gobble them up like candy) so put in five different tomato plants this year to test out colour and variety (and also put one in a pot next to the garden instead of in the garden bed to test which plants were happier). Like I said, we aren't looking for an amazing garden; it's all more of an experiment!

This is an ongoing project that I thought I would keep you posted on over the summer. I am happy to share anything about the garden in hopes that it might inspire you to start one of your own! Just leave me a comment and I'll answer it as quickly as possible.

There are some key items that we love to have nearby for the kids to use. Below I'm sharing our favourite tools for gardening with kids, including our favourite slide, which is perfect for times when everyone just needs a break, ha!

I'd love to know...do you grow plants with your kids?