So here is the great (and potentially not-so-great) thing about blogging. Different than personal journals or verbal promises, online blogging holds you accountable for your typed words. At the beginning of 2009, I announced my healthiest intentions for the year, and at the top of my list: Grow a Garden.

I remember laughing out loud when I wrote that goal, because any plants under my care have only withered, never thrived. However, at the end of 2008, I had just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and her book greatly inspired me to join the “locavore” (local eating) movement in any small way that I could. And so I decided that growing my own vegetable garden is the best way to cut back on wasted food resources and costs!

We were lucky enough to already have a sectioned amount of our yard, perfect size for a small garden, on the west side of our house. And my husband grew up working on farms in Ontario, Canada, and he naturally has a green thumb and a love for the outdoors.

Since I live in Colorado, we have the potential for blizzard conditions in April/May, and so it is always recommended to hold planting until Mother’s Day weekend. So last Sunday afternoon, we started our first vegetable garden. Initially, we turned over the soil several times, added peet moss, turned it again, added peet hummus and organic fertilizer, turned it again, used a garden weasel to break up the clay and large chunks, made 3’ furrows and planted our favorite seeds! I love my green veggies, so we planted one row each of zucchini, peas, lettuce, carrots and broccoli. And yesterday, I went to the farmer’s market and purchased two different varieties of tomato seedlings – I wanted to cheat and make a small head start on the tomato plants.

Our vegetables won’t sprout up for at least a few more weeks, but I am already giddy thinking about a hot July day, grabbing the freshest zucchini to make a beautiful salad or loaf of bread with my daughter. As Kingsolver’s book reminds us, it is important for children to understand where food really comes from (it doesn’t grow in the air conditioned grocery store)! So I hope that my 2-year old will pick up some of our enthusiasm and want to grow her own fruits and veggies someday soon. (As an extra incentive to keep her interested now, we added a kids’ water table next to the garden).

I have attached a photo of our vegetable garden – it is difficult to see where the seeds lie, but I am hoping to inspire even the most intimidated vegetable lover. If I can do it, so can you! And if you can’t find the space to plant a garden in your yard, consider growing some herbs or tomatoes in a large pot this summer.

You might think this article belongs on our Gardenaut website, but I can’t call myself a gardener yet – if all goes well with this first project, I might earn that right in August! And if you're looking for more ideas for helping your child understand food origins, check out this great game Z Recommends recently reviewed.