With the big cross-country eclipse coming up in April and all the exciting things happening with Space X lately, I though it might be fun to try out some space-themed tomato varieties to release this year. Two tomato varieties in particular did not disappoint. Here is the first of the two space-themed varieties Grow Your Health Gardening is releasing this growing season:
Heaven Oregon
Heaven Oregon Tomato is an open pollinated variety and a favorite in 2021 by other growers and I can see why. It is an unusually shaped tomato. It is primarily red with a globe-shape that comes to a point at its base like a tear-drop and has purple shoulders. It has a hint of orange flecking and shading on the lower half near the purple shoulder on the skin (see photo below), but the interior flesh is bright red throughout. Its flesh is watery and best for slicing. Heaven Oregon tomato is about the size of a golf ball and looks so pretty on a plate!
Heaven Oregon Tomato has a tear drop shape and is about the size of a golf ball (around 1.75″ in circumference.) Photo copyright 2024 Grow Your Health Gardening.
This is an indeterminate tomato and needs support as it grows to around 70 inches tall. I enjoyed watching it ripen on the vine. As you’ll see from the photo below, the Heaven Oregon tomato as a whole is green with dark purple shoulders while it is growing. It slowly fades to red as it ripens. She’s a no-fuss tomato with no disease issues or cracking. The hard part for you as a grower will be to be patient enough until it reaches that deep red indicating it is ready to enjoy!
One tip I want to offer is to harvest the whole cluster and keep the vine that holds the cluster attached if you want it to hold a couple of days indoors. Do not put these in the fridge. They’re best enjoyed harvest to table in my opinion. They are especially lovely roasted whole and added to any dish — especially pasta (yummmm)!
Our line of seed for sale comes from Oregon Heaven Tomato plants that were grown hydroponically / aeroponically in zone 7B Atlanta, Georgia, so unlike the line of seeds that come from the NW, we’ve adapted this variety to grow hydroponically in hot and humid conditions as well. As we have discussed in the past, research has found that plants can store 5+ years of environmental survival conditions in its DNA for future generations. Our seed will be adapted especially for hydroponic growers, but soil growers should also have no problem growing it.
Heaven Oregon hangs on the vine to ripen a little bit more. Photo copyright 2024 Grow Your Health Gardening.
I tried to track down the back-story on this pretty tomato. One grower said it was developed by Dr. James “Jim” Ronald Baggett, a professor for 30 years who in 1973 became the head of the vegetable breeding program at Oregon State University OSU.1I could not find anything that supported that claim. Baggett has been credited for developing Oregon Eleven tomato, Oregon Spring, and Oregon Star, so it’s quite possible Heaven Oregon might be part of his work given the similarity with naming (even though it doesn’t seem to start with Oregon?) As a side note and nod to another great variety to try, Honey Boat Squash was also bred by Baggett’s program.
For now, I am not going to attribute Heaven Oregon Tomato to him until I get confirmation. For now, Heaven Oregon Tomato’s history remains unknown to us. If you happen to have a source to show Baggett should be attributed as the breeder, please feel free to share with our community in the comments below.
This is a chef’s delight and perfect for the home grower alike. You definitely won’t find this as a seedling start at any big box retailer garden center as a start, so it’s best to grow from seed. You also won’t find it in the grocery store where produce is bred to last 10+ days from harvest (yuck old food!) Grow this beautiful tomato and enjoy it at home knowing that you get to try what most folks miss out on!
This is part 2 of what we’ve trialed in new tomato varieties as we continue to bring you our fav’s! If you missed part 1, you can read it here, otherwise, let’s keep cruise’n and share the rest of our new tomato variety releases for 2024 highlights!
All of the varieties mentioned here can be found on our store.growyourhealthgardening.com (and if you sign-up for our newsletter on our store, you’ll get a 15% off coupon to save money on any $15 seed order. Remember, we always include a free package of seeds with every order!)
Chocolate Stripes Tomato
I had first listened to expert market grower, Craig Schaaf, on a podcast where he was being interviewed by Alabama market grower and homesteading pro, Noah Sanders. (I love how Noah shares his passion and wants to help others through the Well Watered Garden Project.) In the podcast, Craig shared his experience growing warm season crops early in the season in his cold Northern climate and how epigenetics played a key role in why he saved his seeds season-after-season. What he shared really inspired me to dive deeper into epigenetics and to keep on my path of saving my own southern soil and hydroponic-adapted seeds every growing season.
Fast forward to the following year when I was bedridden with Covid… I entertained myself doing research for the upcoming growing season on my computer. It was then that I happened-upon Craig’s videos through social media and recalled his interview with Noah. I decided to reach out to him and I was thrilled when he responded! It was great to have him connect me with other like-minded growers on his social media channel. I enjoyed learning more about the Korean Farming Technique (KFT) method he uses to grow his own crops. (Craig has a heart to help others learn, so I encourage you to check out his videos on Gab @Schaafcraig which are chalk-full of experienced growing tips if you haven’t already.)
All that to say that Craig and I exchanged some seeds last year as he was interested in testing some micro-dwarf tomato varieties. I sent him my fav’s and he sent me his tomato fav’s. One of his choices he liked was Chocolate Stripes tomato. I couldn’t wait to test Chocolate Stripes Tomato in our Tower Garden aeroponic / hydroponic system and she did fantastic! I have to agree with him that it is a wonderful homegrown tomato variety. It reminds me a lot of Cherokee Purple and Paul Robeson. It looks beautiful when sliced due to its striped coloration. I enjoyed how it tasted so much that I wanted to offer the next generation from his shared seeds here (he gave his permission of course.)
But don’t just take our word that it tastes wonderful! Chocolate Stripes tomato was also voted as one of the “Top 3” “best tasting” tomatoes by TomatoFest attendees along with the event’s “tasting panel”. It was also voted on by thousands of TomatoFest customers purchasing seeds. This is a sure win as a great BLT sandwich tomato as well as to add to salsa’s and salads for full flavor.
Besides the fantastic taste and ease of growing, here’s the thing that makes this seed stock special… Craig said he would start this seed in early spring and be the first to market using his growing techniques in the northern region of Michigan where he lives. (I think he has a video on his technique on the channel I mentioned earlier in the article.) This seed stock has been adapted to grow in colder conditions according to Craig, yet it also grew beautifully for me in my hot and humid growing region of Atlanta, Georgia (zone 7b).
For those of you who have been following GYHG for awhile, you probably recall me sharing that seeds can hold 5+ years of survival traits in their seed DNA so that the next generation can thrive all the more. That means that our seed from this variety will be especially suited in either soil northern conditions all the way to the south where it gots hot and humid. Furthermore, if you grow hydroponically, your seed will be right at home and produce better for you than the first generation — that’s why we call this seed “hydroponic adapted”.
When I was doing some research online to find out more about its history, it appears that it has come from the Seed Saver Exchange (SSE). I did find some detailed information from a European blogger:
The ‘Chocolate Stripes’ tomato variety was bred by Ohio American John Siegel and was created in the early 2000s by crossing ‘Shimmeig Creg’ with a pink beefsteak tomato. Between 2006 and 2007, the new variety entered the seed bank Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) via Al Anderson, an association for the transmission and preservation of seed-resistant varieties. ˈChocolate Stripesˈ promptly won the award for one of the top three flavors at the Carmel TomatoFest event that same year and the following year. 1
My plants were grown in an aeroponic / hydroponic Tower Garden and I had no problems with cracking or fungal diseases. If you see this in photos online on other pages or videos, it’s either the seed stock is not strong and/or growing methods. This tomato grew beautifully for me and I will grow it again.
Again, you can’t find this variety as a seedling in most big box garden centers or definitely in the produce aisle of your grocery store. This variety is best started from seed and harvested going from garden to table. It’ll keep a little while inside once harvested, but I really think it’s best enjoyed straight from the vine as you’ll get all those good nutrients it offers the closer to harvest you eat it.
Just looking at these pics from last year’s harvest makes my mouth water! I can’t hardly wait for tomato season to be here again!
We’ve trialed new tomato varieties and are bringing you our seven fav’s over the course of a week we will release more information about each one. So much of why I grow the food I do is because I cannot find these amazing tasting varieties at the grocery store. They are just best enjoyed from garden to table and so worth the time and little effort involved in growing them at home.
All of the varieties mentioned here can be found on our store.growyourhealthgardening.com (and if you sign-up for our newsletter on our store, you’ll get a 15% off coupon to save money on any $15 seed order. Remember, we always include a free package of seeds with every order!)
Without further adieu, here are our new tomato seed varieties we have home grown and offer to our customers:
Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato. Photo copyright 2024 Grow Your Health Gardening
Aunt Ruby’s Green German Tomato
My husband loves to try out barbecue places across the southeast and whenever we go to any barbecue restaurant there are two things we always try if they are on the menu: banana pudding and fried green tomatoes. So, for the past 20+ years we have taste-tested our way across the southeast and I wanted to pair that knowledge with testing varieties at home to find the perfect green tomato variety to make our southern favorite, Fried Green Tomatoes! And I am officially declaring that Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomato did not disappoint! (It’s also a great addition to any salsa verde!)
Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato variety has been listed in the top 10 tomatoes by many chefs and home growers alike as well as won several taste tests.1 Slow Food USA ( slowfoodusa.org ) nominated this tomato to the Ark of Taste Program. This is also one of the 100 varieties described in Carolyn J. Male’s book “100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden“. In fact, Chuck Wyatt, Seedsmen Hall of Fame and long-time grower and fan of vintage tomato varieties had this to say about Aunt Ruby’s German Green;
“Excellent flavor and texture, good slicer, or for salads. THE OUTSTANDING GREEN VARIETY. If you have never tried a tomato that stays green when ripe, you should try this one, This is the biggest surprise I have ever experienced in tomatoes,”2
— Charles Atwood ‘Chuck’ Wyatt, “A Grower of Vintage Tomatoes” and Seedmen Hall of Fame Recipient
According to my research, Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato is a family heirloom from Germany. It purportedly was first introduced in the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) 1993 Yearbook by Bill Minkey of Darien, Wisconsin. According to Tatiana’s TOMATObase, Minkey received the seed from Nita Hofstrom of Clinton, Wisconsin. Hofstrom’s Aunt Ruby E. Arnold (1915-1997) lived in Greeneville, Tennessee, and had grown it for years and according to Aunt Ruby, the seed originally came to the United States with her German immigrant grandfather. Aunt Ruby had simply called it ‘German Green’. Minkey asked Aunt Ruby for permission to rename this variety and he called it ‘Aunt Ruby’s German Green‘ after Ruby Arnold.3 You should know that I couldn’t find anything on the SSE’s web site to confirm or deny this account, but we have reached out to them for comment as it contradicts another account given by Victory Seeds Co.
We have not tested the pH level on this particular tomato, but according to tomatoabout.com, green tomatoes tend to have a high acidity level with a pH range of 3.5 – 4.2 pH.4 If you’re not sensitive to the acidity in tomatoes, this one will help support healthy stomach acid which you want to break down food easily in your stomach.
One of the advantages of growing your own homegrown green tomatoes is how you can control when to harvest tomatoes. By allowing them to fully ripen on the vine, you can increase sweetness and reduce tart green flavors while also getting the most nutritional benefit from your homegrown tomatoes, because it is not sitting on a store shelf somewhere aging. You also get THE BEST green tomatoes to make Fried Green Tomatoes or salsa verde and this variety is worth growing if you like either of those sides.
The seed stock we sell comes from plants grown hydroponically on a Tower Garden. They are open-pollinated and our parent plant produced multiple large beefsteak green tomatoes (see photo below) weighing 10-16 oz or more each. With proper pruning and timed fertilizing, you could reach 1 pound or more.
Plants do vine, so you will need a strong support cage. It typically ripens late in the season taking around 85 days to be ready for harvest after transplanting outdoors when overnight temps are a consistent 64ºF. This variety you’ll want to start from seed as it is typically difficult to find starts of this tomato from local greenhouses or big box stores.
You can find and purchase Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato here (and if you sign-up for our newsletter on our store, you’ll get a 15% off coupon to save money on any $15 seed order. Remember, we always include a free package of seeds with every order!)
And if you have a favorite Fried Green Tomato or Salsa Verde Recipe, feel free to share with the GYHG community in the comments below!
Here’s a look at how abundant Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato is on the vine. The darker yellowish green is how you know when the fruit is ready to pick and enjoy. Photo copyright 2024 Grow Your Health Gardening
Use the following chart to help jog your memory on when it is best to prune either a fruit tree or a bush. We will come back to this list periodically to add to it as we have updates. And after you have pruned, be ready for when blooms emerge as spring is an ideal time to fertilize once you see new growth.
Fruit Trees:
Apple
Winter or early spring
Train tree for low head and prune moderately. Keep the center of the tree open with main branches well-spaced around the tree. Avoid sharp V-shaped crotches.
Cherry
Winter or early spring
Prune moderately, cut back slightly the most vigorous shoots.
Citrus
Spring after risk of freeze has passed,
Prune after risk of freeze has passed, but well in advance of summer heat. Water sprouts, a.k.a. “suckers”, emerge frequently, especially the first few years of the tree’s life. It’s best to remove suckers as they appear, otherwise, they take energy from the tree. The thorns also make harvest difficult. If the suckers do produce fruit, it is usually bitter and unpalatable.
Peach
Early spring before buds
Prune vigorously removing one-half of the previous year’s growth keeping the tree headed low and well thinned out.
Plum
Early spring
Remove dead and diseased branches, keep tree shaped up by cutting back rank growth. Prune moderately.
Quince
Early spring
Cut back young trees to form low, open head. Little pruning of older trees is required except to remove dead and weak growth and keep airflow.
Flowering Japanese Magnolia
Early spring
Before buds open, trim off side limbs that cross another limb. Keep center of tree open for airflow and birds will nest in it.
Fruit Bushes, Flowering Bushes, and Vining Plants
Blackberry
After bearing and summer
Remove at ground canes that bore last crop.In summer, but back new shoots 3.5′ high.
Boxwood
Early spring
Trim and shape before new growth occurs.
Blueberry
Winter while plants are dormant
Blueberries only grow on branches that are at least one year old, but the older the branch, the fewer the berries produced. You must prune the bushes so that they provide enough new growth for blueberry production the following year.
Raspberry
After bearing and summer
Remove at the ground in fall canes which bore last crop. In summer, head back new canes 20 ” to 22″ inches high.
Currant
Early spring
Remove old unfruitful growth and encourage new shoots.
Gardenia
Right after blooms have faded
Pruning your gardenia every other year typically keeps the size manageable. Gardenia blooms on new growth, so pruning after bloom cycle is ideal.
Gooseberry
Early spring
Same as currant—cut back shoots at 12″ inch and side shoots to two buds.
Grape
Late winter or early spring
Requires heavy pruning of old wood to encourage new bearing wood. Remove all old branches back to main vine. Cut back the previous year’s new growth to four buds.
Hydrangea
Early spring
Hills of Snow variety cut back to ground. Other varieties: remove dead and weak growth, cut old flowering stems back
Elderberry
After fruiting (Sept/Oct)
Prune severely. Remove one-half of season’s growth on established plants.
Roses, Tea, Hybrid, Perpetual
Early spring
Cut away all dead and weak growth and shorten all remaining branches or canes to four buds for weak growers and five buds for vigorous varieties.
Roses, Climbing
After flowering
Cut away all dead and weak growth and shorten all remaining branches or canes to four buds for weak growers and five buds for vigorous varieties.
We have a FANTASTIC resource you will want to bookmark. It tells you what conditions the particular variety needs to help it germinate. Some seeds need it dark. Some seeds need bright light to germinate. Some need to be soaked beforehand. No matter the situation, this is where you want to start.
And remember, when you start from seed, even though you are taking a bit of a gamble on some seeds, the thing that is so awesome is you can grow varieties not commonly found at big-box retail garden centers. A whole new world awaits you!
Oh — and if you’re new to seed starting, be sure to check the “Seed Starting” tab on our Web site for other helpful tips to help you in your quest to start seeds at home.
I’m scheduled to give a “Tomato Talk” to a local group of community members who are interested in growing their own tomatoes from seed in the next 10 days and in the process for preparing for this talk, I thought I’d do a little soil test for what makes for a strong seedling and share it with y’all as things grow so that you can grow your health through gardening and learn tips for what I learn along the way. 😉
I took four (4) 4-pack planting trays and used the same batch of sifted soil for all four packs. The control 4-pack is straight up soil only. The second 4-pack I amended the soil with worm castings only. The third 4-pack I amended the soil with activated charcoal from a company I heard about and am trialing their product before bringing it to sell in our store and online. The fourth 4-pack soil is amended with the same ratio of worm castings as the second 4-pack as well as the same ration of the third 4-pack of soil with activated charcoal (so this final 4-pack has both amendments in it.)
A glimpse of our current seedling test subjects.
I then repeated the same amendments in another batch of similar soil, but put it in a soil block and amended certain soil blocks with worm castings only and activated charcoal castings only and a mix of both worm castings and activated charcoal. I also included rock wool just to compare growth of seed in this substrate as well. The rock wool will need to have kelp diluted and added to it as the seedlings grow as the rock wool is pH neutral and is devoid of nutrients.
For plants, I chose seed that was from the same lot, same harvest, same parent plant. All seed is our homegrown line of seed that we’ve saved and developed season after season, so I am confident that we have good strong seed stock to run the test. I chose to plant microdwarf tomatoes, because we are in the middle of winter here in Atlanta, Georgia and I can grow micro-dwarf tomatoes indoors under lights and evaluate results before our busy season of the summer harvest begins. We selected different micro dwarf tomato cultivars including Florida Petite Microdwarf Cherry Tomato, Rosy Finch Microdwarf Cherry Tomato, Aztek Microdwarf Cherry Tomato and Venus Microdwarf Cherry Tomato.
Rosy Finch Micro Dwarf Tomato Seedlings pop out of the soil ready to reach for the light.This is a Fiskars Soil Block that is a plunger style and easy to use. You can make soil blocks of four or one larger soil block.Setting the first soil block with the other four 4-pack trays already finished and planted.Small bits of Activated Charcoal in equal parts and mixed thoroughly in each 4-pack of soil as well as equal parts of worm castings mixed well in 4-packs of soil keeping things as consistent as possible. We are testing to see if the activated charcoal makes any significant difference before carrying a product in our store. Stay tuned!
To gauge results, we will weigh all produced fruit and count the number of blossoms and the number of final fruit set by each tomato plant. I will do my absolute best to give equal amounts of water by first measuring what each plant is given and offering the same amount to each plant.
My hypothesis is that the air pruning action of the soil blocked starts will produce stronger seedlings for transplanting in the long run because when that root hits the air, it will signal to the plant to produce roots on the interior of the soil elsewhere. More roots will mean the plant has more opportunities to take up moisture and nutrients in the long run. I also think the soil block with BOTH worm castings and activated charcoal will perform the best because the worm castings will further any biological activity that may be happening within the soil and “cling” to the activated charcoal which the plant can tap as it needs.
That’s my best guess, but I could be wrong! We shall see what plays out in our little science experiment. What do you think will perform the best and why? Tell us in the comments below!
• The key to giving your body better nutrition is to grow your own food. — You will be able to eat what you grow shortly after harvest, thereby getting the highest level of nutrient that the plant can provide because the plant is allowed to grow to full maturity where nutrients will be at a peak AND you will be able to consume it shortly after harvest. — You have control over how your food is grown meaning soil health, hydroponics, and anything applied to the plant to control pest pressure or enhance nutrition profile in plant like beneficial biological foliar tea applications. — You will benefit not only physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually from being more connected to your food and outdoors.
• If you’ve never grown your own food, taking that first step can feel overwhelming. Begin by just choosing to focus on how to grow a food that you eat already and taking a moment to think about why you are motivated to make the effort.
• A simple and very doable approach to getting started growing your own food is to simply ask one question, “What one new thing can I learn to grow this year?”
The key to moving to better nutrition for your body is to grow your own food. That’s how my journey began. What did I do? I simply became curious and had an attitude to learn — and I picked just one plant to learn about. I deep dove into learning everything I could about that one plant and what it needed to grow. Single focused. One simple step. A willingness to change and grow through gardening.
Background Image credit: Kim Kight Moda Fabric Nov 2021 Release
Here’s how you can make a BIG difference this year in your health by just learning to grow one new plant:
Step 1: Consider healthy grown food choices you are already enjoying.
You’re more likely to eat what you grow and if it’s already something you’re familiar. Research has even shown this to be true with children — children are more likely to eat what they have grown. Why would we be any different? 😉
For example, I like to eat Kale. I noticed that Kale was on EWG’s (Environmental Working Group’s) Dirty Dozen List. I didn’t want to give up eating kale simply because it was often sprayed by those growing it and wanted to reduce the amount of chemicals I was putting into my body. I also found that my kids like the cheesy kale chips at the store, but my pocket book felt the pain every time I had to purchase that in bulk. The best solution? Learn to grow it.
Tower Garden growing hyroponic lettuce, kale and bok choy. To learn more visit: erincastillo.towergarden.com
Tip: If you’re new to growing Spinach and gardening altogether, I recommend that you don’t pick spinach as your first plant to try growing from seed. Instead, purchase a start and grow it from that stage or read our article on how to start spinach from seed.
Background Image credit: Kim Kight Moda Fabric Nov 2021 Release
Step 2: Learn everything you can about what the plant needs to grow.
Single-tasking has been proven to be THE BEST way to get something done. Keep it simple. Don’t over-complicate things. Just choose one thing and learn it well. Focusing on learning one new plant will set you up for success and lead to better nutrition for your body!
We are so blessed to live in an age where we have so much information at our fingertips with a simple search. Take advantage of this and devote at least 15 focused non-distracted minutes a day to look-up details about the plant you’re wanting to learn how to grow. Record what you learn on a sheet a paper and put it in a 3-Ring Binder. This becomes a handy-reference in seasons to come as you add other plants to your ever growing notebook.
You’ll find that after a couple of growing seasons, you’re able to add more than one plant to your ever-growing “new plants I’m curious about” list. And you’ll be able tackle more because once you know a plant, you can grow a different similar variety with ease because you’ve already studied that plant group.
“Take advantage of this and devote at least 15 focused non-distracted minutes a day to look-up details about the plant you’re wanting to learn how to grow. Record what you learn on a sheet a paper and put it in a 3-Ring Binder” — Erin Castillo, Owner of Grow Your Health Gardening
Tomato Lover’s Heirloom Tomato Seed Collection by Grow Your Health Gardening Seed Co. is our top pics for anyone who wants to grow tomatoes not found in the big box chain or grocery store. A true culinary delight.
Let curiosity guide your research. Ask questions like:
What temperature does this plant like to grow in: Cool or Warm? Knowing the temperature preference of a specific plant cultivar will tell you what time of year to start growing that plant. For example, kale likes to grow when it is cooler. Okay. How cool? Is there a certain range of temperature it prefers? Okay. We find that it likes 70ºF-80ºF, but some varieties like Lucinato (Dinosaur Kale), Dwarf Siberian, Vates Blue Scotch, Premier, White Russian, and Red Russian can tolerate SOIL TEMPS as low as 20ºF. I can look up those temperature ranges for the area I live in and look to see about when those temperatures are occurring. Then, when I look at the days to maturity, I can use a calendar calculator and count backwards from that temperature range and I can get my seed start date. Not sure how to quickly find a date? Just do a keyword online search for “count days calculator” or pull out an actual monthly calendar and physically count the days backwards with your finger.
What sort of lighting requirements does the plant need? Most vegetables need 8-10 hours of full sun a day. Consider watching where you have a sunny patch for the longest hours in a day. This is going to be your growing area. Don’t have a sunny patch and just a lot of shade? No problem! Invest in an indoor growing system with grow lights where you can control the temperature and grow year round.
What is the ideal pH range your plant needs to take up nutrients? Your pH level plays a very important role in which nutrients a plant can access and use to fuel it. I’ve provided a chart (below) to illustrate which nutrients a plant can take up when it’s within the ideal pH range. Most plants need somewhere between 5.5 to 6.8. Leafy greens prefer the 6.0 pH to 6.5 pH range whereas tomatoes prefer between 6.0-6.8 pH. Notice how kale, which likes it between 6.0-7.0 pH, when soil or water in a hydroponic or aquaponic system is kept between this range will be able to access nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Boron, Copper and Zinc and Molybdenum. If you’re growing hydroponically, you can quickly and easily test pH levels with a pH meter like this. If you’re growing in soil, you can get a soil test from your local county extension office for around $10. You can also get a device like this that will get you fairly close. Remember, soil takes several months to adjust the pH level. Hydroponics and Aeroponics takes only a few hours with either pH up or pH down.
pH Absorption Chart shows which nutrients are available to a plant based on pH range.
Heirloom Beans are a fun way of exploring a healthy and high protein food group. There are so many different types of beans (bush beans, pole beans, runner beans, etc.) that the options are endless in enjoying new types of beans you can’t find in the grocery store. Check out our line of heirloom beans at https://store.growyourhealthgardening.com
What sort of nutrients does my plant require? If you’re working in soil, it will be helpful to understand your soil food web and how micro-organisms and beneficial bacteria within the soil work together to help replenish nutrients in the soil for the plant to access. If you’re working in hydroponics or aquaponics, you’ll want to purchase a TDS meter and a well-rounded nutrient like this Mineral Blend. When you go to add your nutrients, simply keep your PPM levels within the ideal range the plant prefers. You can find a fantastic hydroponic cheat sheethere that we’ve created for your convenience.
How long does it take for my plant to grow? Knowing this tidbit of information helps you figure out when to start growing your desired plant and calculating days to ensure you can get your plant to harvest stage. For example, I know that kale takes about two months to go from seed to ready for harvest. Again, you can reference most of this information in a simple chart here.
How many should I plant to produce enough food for myself and my family? How does that fit in with the growing space that has enough lighting that I have to work with at home? Learning how big a plant gets and if it continues to grow after a harvest can help you understand what sort of return you’ll get from starting one plant and growing it out.
Are there any diseases or pests that may target the plant I intend to grow? Can I take any preventative measures that don’t require chemical applications? For example, kale can get hit by the army worm. The eggs are laid by pretty white butterflies on the underside of the kale leaf where their young can have an instant food source. By simply covering your food crop with a net before these butterflies show up, you can dramatically increase your success rate and achieve your goals in growing healthy food. And know that it’s perfectly fine to learn as you go… don’t feel that you have to have a handle on all of this before you begin. When something shows up, you can look up what it is and how to deal with it. It’s part of the learning process.
What can I do with what I grow? How can it be preserved? For example, if I have a lot of kale, I can dehydrate it and make cheesy kale chips to store in my pantry (which my kids love). I can freeze it and use it in morning smoothies. I can dehydrate it and use in soups for added nutrition. Thinking how you already use this food will help you anticipate and plan ahead when the plant is ready to harvest.
How will growing this benefit me? We are such a consumer culture that wants things ready in an instant. We have to break this cycle. We forget that there is joy to be found in the rhythm of being more connected to our food and the process of seeing something from beginning to end — from seed to harvest to table. There are intangible benefits to note, like getting more exercise and being outside in the sunshine and fresh air which produces Vitamin D in your body and (sleep chemical). It relaxes your body which reduces stress and cortisone levels giving your thyroid a break. Then there’s the actual nutritional benefits. What vitamins does the plant you intend to grow give to your body? How will those nutrients help you be healthier and stronger? Sitting down and focusing on these things and having them written down will motivate you to keep going when you encounter any challenges to overcome along the way.
Background Image credit: Kim Kight Moda Fabric Nov 2021 Release
Step 3: Reap the rewards. Bask in the benefits of your time and effort.
I just can’t describe how good it feels to have those you love, enjoy eating something that I grew. It feels good knowing I gave them the very best thing that they could eat and KNOW that it wasn’t sprayed or treated with any chemicals. One of the best feelings ever. I remember when I learned to grow basil and made pesto. My kids loved it! (And I did, too!) I loved that I could easily make it and put in the freezer for a quick week-night meal and that it was immune boosting. It’s the “new elderberry syrup” for improving our health. (Yes, basil is that healthy!)
Rosemary Lemon Chicken is a tasty dish and the flavors are more pronounced with freshly picked and harvested rosemary. Check your growing zone to see what rosemary varieties are frost-hardy in your area.
Rosemary harvested can be dehydrated and stored to add to any dish later on.
If your plant didn’t grow or produce like you thought it would, that’s okay, too! In our home, we know that not meeting our goal or objective doesn’t equate to failure. Failure is when you don’t even try. If you feel discouraged, pick up your bootstraps and realize you have already succeeded because you took that difficult first step when so many others wouldn’t even attempt it. You are further along than you were before you ever tried. We can learn from everything we do. And as you’ll see in growing plants, every plant has very specific needs that must be met in order for them to grow (which also may make you reconsider the whole antiquated evolution theory and how things just may have “coincidentally happened” … more on that another time… but I think you may discover that plants are more complex than just throwing a seed in the ground. They were designed with a purpose and need specific parameter to grow and thrive.)
Even the chickens can enjoy the fruits of our labor. Kale is a FANTASTIC healthy green (or purple in this case) to feed chickens in the winter. Here, we hang a wire basket and share some of the bounty with our girls knowing what they eat will benefit us as well when it comes time to enjoy the eggs they produce.
So remember, there are countless benefits to consider. Think about and write down how learning about that one plant has or will benefit you. When I consider my own journey, growing my own food has been more than just plants though…. I have gotten off the couch and out from behind my desk and computer (except for this moment of course as I write to you) and it gets me actively moving my body which is good for me. I love to wear earbuds and listen to music or Podcasts as I work, so it is a moment where I can step away from my life responsibilities and refuel my mind and spirit while accomplishing a gardening task like pruning, checking on water lines and levels, or checking for pests. Know that you’ll benefit as well in the same way; research tells us that those who garden are happier. I’m also getting a good dose of Vitamin D from that sunshine and producing melatonin which both help your immune system. I have a college degree and could work in any corporate setting, but I have purposely chosen this natural permiculture and hydroponic organic method of growing food, because it is healthier for me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Plus, it is something a can do with my children, teaching them how plants grow and why they should grow them. I am sowing into not only myself, but the next generation.
Background Image credit: Kim Kight Moda Fabric Nov 2021 Release
Step 4: Repeat.
After you’ve finished the growing cycle of your plant and have accessed how it went in your gardening journal, repeat the process the next season. Pick another type of plant you’re interested in learning more about and pursue it. But here’s the cool thing… because you have already learned how to grow that other plant, you can now choose another variety within that same plant group and grow it AND the new plant you’re interested in learning more about. As you repeat this process season after season, before you know it, you’re growing a whole slew of healthy plants and enjoying reaping the benefits!
Let us know which plant you’re curious about and plan on learning more this year in the comments below!
Happy growing,
Erin
Erin Castillo is the owner of Grow Your Health Gardening and Lead Grower of GYHG Seed Co. She is certified in hydroponics and growing food using organic methods. She believes that life is to be lived to the fullest.
Beauty Lottringa growing on the vine. Such a pretty tomato!
We are loving eating BLTs (Bacon, Lettuce + Tomato with Mayo on a slice of bread) fresh from the garden with tasty hydroponically-grown heirloom tomatoes! (So juicy!)
And this rare variety from Russia called Beauty Lottringa makes a tasty AND beautiful plating! Can you believe that each tomato has less than five seeds in it?! WOW! I personally love how each slice looks like a red flower.
Slice of Beauty Lottringa on a BLT Sandwich. This variety only has about 5 seeds or less on average in each tomato!
BLT Sandwich with Black Passion and Beauty Lottringa featured in photo above. To shop all our hydroponic-adapted exclusive line of seeds visit store.growyourhealthgardening.com
I’m still debating on whether to sell this variety because of the low seed count, but I may end up doing a giveaway, so be sure to visit store.growyourhealthgardening.com and sign-up for our email updates and tips to be the first to hear when our new hydroponically-adapted line of seeds release or if we do a give-away on this particular variety.
Do you love BLTs as well? What is your favorite slicer variety?
April is “Gardening with Kids Month” where the industry focuses on encouraging young people to learn more about growing food at home. I wanted to join in on this topic, because I feel it’s so important to teach the next generation about how to grow food. And here’s the best part — you don’t have to know everything about growing food to do it. It’s fun to learn together! If you’re interested in gardening with your children, hopefully our story will inspire you in your journey…
A little bit about my background and knowing a little something about gardening with kids…
As some of you might know, I am a mother to five (5) amazing souls — I am blessed, despite battling PCOS, to have identical twin sons who are now 20 years old, another son who is 16, another son who is 11, and a daughter who is now 8 years old.
When my twins were going into 5th grade, my husband and I felt led to homeschool our three boys (our other two littles had not yet been born.) I left a good paying career in marketing to dive into something totally foreign to me… educating my own children. I felt strongly that I only had my children for a season and I didn’t want to be so distracted with wealth-building that I missed the greatest wealth right in my arms — my children.
Thinking back on that time period, I was very involved in our sons’ education. I volunteered at their school and knew the Principal by name. I knew our sons had a lot of potential, but they were struggling in an environment where they were expected to sit at a desk all… day… l-o-n-g. We hit a breaking point, when I learned one day my son had not been out to recess in over a month, I was not only livid, but I knew that to continue doing the same thing and not getting the results you wanted was not the answer. I remember at the time that I got together with a small group of moms from our church to scrapbook each month and it just so happened that when we met that evening at my house that it coincided with learning my son hadn’t had any time to move his body and play at school for over a month. There was this mama in our group that had homeschooled one of her two children that asked, “Erin, have you considered homeschooling your boys?” Gasp! No! Who does that?
Slowly my friend began to share and open my eyes to the possibilities with homeschooling and she eventually took me to a homeschool expo that totally blew me away. There was so much I could do with my boys as far as teaching them that I was overwhelmed with the possibilities. Here I was, a college educated fully-capable woman who thought only trained “professionals” (aka: government school teachers) were equipped to teach children. How blinded I was by my own biases. It was one day while driving down the road when one of our boys in the back seat of our SUV dropped a swear word that my husband and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, “We’re homeschooling.” It was becoming more and more evident that their environment was impacting them more at school that our efforts were at home.
Taking the leap to homeschool felt like I was jumping off a high cliff into a deep pool of water, but looking back over these past decade of living life in this way IT IS THE BEST DECISION I’VE EVER MADE. My children went from doing life in silos, to doing life together. We focused on developing character and growing in relationships just as much as reading, writing and arithmetic. But alas, I digress. Back to how we used gardening to grow our children…
When I began to teach our sons, I saw first-hand what their teachers had complained about — the high distractibility and the difficulty focusing on tasks for any length of time. Even I was a bit surprised at how hard it was for them to get through a subject. Here I was taking out of school because they didn’t fit the mould and at home, I was just making it look like what they came out of doing because that was what was familiar to me. Doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results is akin to insanity, so this SANE mama gave herself permission to step outside the box, society had placed us in and begin to do what was best for my children even if it looked different than what the government school was doing. So I began to deep dive in to figure out how my sons best learned as individuals with the aim to change them from fidgety fifth graders to fantastic focused learners!
At the time, I had joined a homeschool group where one of the moms offered a Classical Education / Charlotte Mason group out of her home where Mom’s met once every couple of weeks on a Saturday to discuss the book, “The Well-Trained Mind” by Susan Wise-Bauer and Jessie Wise. [Get on Amazon]. One of the big take-aways from those wonderful group of mamas with a heart for their children was to simply get children outdoors. And this ended up be the perfect place for me to start with my active young sons.
We encourage our children to explore this amazing world around us and respect the creatures they discover. All five of my children have brought me various critters they have discovered (here a skink) and I take a picture for posterity before they release their catch back into the yard or wild. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
Tap your child’s natural curiosity and imagination through exploring the outdoors
So one of the big take-aways this Charlotte Mason / Classical Education type group focused on was our ability as a parent to tap into the natural curiosity of our child / children and the outdoors is the PERFECT place to spark the imagination and wonder of a child. One of the ways we can do this is through nature walks. Prior to going on our nature walk (aka hike), we would equip our children with a task to find one object that was simply interesting to them. They were only to collect one item, nothing more. Of course, the beauty of this was it didn’t have to be limited to a hike — in fact, when I had a newborn in my arms, I would send the boys out into our fenced back yard for a certain length of time with instructions to bring back something that caught their eye as interesting. Sometimes it was an oddly colored or shaped rock. Maybe it was a leaf. Or a bug. Or moss and a uniquely shaped branch. Or some other type of critter like a skink. The goal of the exercise was simple — get them out from behind a desk and get their body moving and their eyes open to the world around them.
Something amazing happened. They were able to come in and sit down and stay focused on their task. I was a believer in this learning method. We had found something that worked!
I would call them in and we would set on the back deck or at the kitchen table and discuss as a family what they had found. This helped their linguistics and built confidence talking about what they thought and gave me insight into what they found to be interesting. One son loved moss (interestingly he ended up having a moss garden as a teen) and another son liked a frog (which totally Next, I had a simple set (like 7 colors) of water colors and brushes with water in solo cups for each child and a small 6 x 6 piece of blank water color paper. The instructions were simple… paint what you see. And the most important part — I did it with them. You might be wondering, Erin, why didn’t you have them use a sketch pad and sketch paper? Well, in using water colors, a child learns how different colors interact with each other. They learn how colors can blend and layer upon one another for a certain affect. They learn how to pay attention to detail — to not only the color hue of whatever object they are examining, but even down to how the light hits that object and creates a shadow. It was okay if it wasn’t perfect. We weren’t aiming for perfection — we were simply observing and trying to communicate visually what we saw and orally what we had observed. The two step process of letting them move their bodies, find what is fascinating to them, and then slowing down and paying attention to detail showed me that my children could indeed focus. Without any drugs. Without missing any recess. And learning about the amazing world right out our back and front doors.
My youngest son (age 10 in this photo), brings in our hydroponic cucumber harvest. This variety is Ashley Cucumber and hydroponic-adapted seed can be found in our Grow Your Health Gardening (GYHG) Seed Co. store. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardeningOur son, Joshua, shows just how big our kale harvest was off of one Tower Garden last spring when it was at it’s full production mode. We processed all this kale freezing some for healthy smoothies and making some into healthy kale chips which my kids love as a snack. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
Understanding how a child learns and helping them make connections is key
And the beauty of this ‘learning method”, if you will, is you are using both sides of the child’s brain. Very young children in particular are very right-brain hemisphere dominant, especially during their first three years of life. According to the book “The Whole Brained Child: Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind” by M.D. Siegel and Ph.D., Bryson, you want to encourage cross-brain learning functions whenever possible. [Get the book] They write, “We want to help our children become better integrated so they can use their whole brain in a coordinated way. For example, we want them to be horizontally integrated, so that their left-brain logic can work well with their right-brain emotion. We also want them to be vertically integrated, so that the physically higher parts of their brain, which let them thoughtfully consider their actions, work well with the lower parts, which are more concerned with instinct, gut reactions, and survival. … What molds our brain? Experience.”
We want to help our children become better integrated so they can use their whole brain in a coordinated way. For example, we want them to be horizontally integrated, so that their left-brain logic can work well with their right-brain emotion. We also want them to be vertically integrated, so that the physically higher parts of their brain, which let them thoughtfully consider their actions, work well with the lower parts, which are more concerned with instinct, gut reactions, and survival. … What molds our brain? Experience.”
When using watercolors and painting, you are tapping right brain creativity, but in giving them the task of looking and remembering detail, you are tapping left brain logic. If you have a child that asks “why” all the time (I remember my mother getting exasperated with me at one point because I was this kind of child), know it’s their left-brain wanted to know the linear cause-effect relationship in the world and to express that logic through language. It is a blessing to have a “why” asking child as they are wanting to make connections and learn!
Siegel and Bryson I think would agree with this outdoor Charlotte Mason / classical education method of learning for they write, “…children whose parents talk with them about their experiences tend to have better access to the memories of those experiences.” So, getting in the habit of engaging a child by focusing on the world outside your front or back door is key in engaging and inspiring these kinds of conversations. What I found over time is when they were older, they were able to have some very grown-up conversations with adults to discuss their experiences and relate to people in a way their peers didn’t seem to be doing. In their high school years, I also saw a richness to what they wrote about as they drew from these memories and made connections to the world around them on a bigger scheme. My middle 16 year old son, who was given time outside from first grade on to explore his world continues to BLOW ME AWAY at times with the connections he makes with literature and history right now as a homeschooling Junior in high school. And he writes poetry for fun… again… I’m blown away by him and his creative mind that taps into the logic of what he is perceiving about the world around him.
Children will watch what you do and follow your lead
I know what I’ve mentioned here is not specific to gardening, but as we were doing every day life, this kind of learning was adapted to what I was doing — growing food. For example one day, my son, Joshua, noticed me saving some seed from some fruit I had processed from the grocery store. I would set these seeds on a tray in the corner of my kitchen to dry and save. Soon, I noticed my seeds were being added to by someone else in the family. Other seeds being added to my drying area. Come to find out, Joshua had taken notice of my actions and he was inspired. He saved seeds I would have never tackled! I remember he saved a mango seed one time and actually grew it into a tree! (It was doing great until it was left outside on a cold night [sad face]). Today, Joshua has graduated for Seed Saving School from the Seed Savers Exchange and is a great help in isolating, pollinating, collecting and processing seed for our Grow Your Health Gardening Seed Co.
Joshua collects basil seed off of our hydroponic system. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
Involve your children in what you’re learning or curious about
If your children see you learning and inquisitive, they will see that learning isn’t limited to school — learning is for adults, too — it’s an attitude. And a mind that continually learns is a good thing. I didn’t want to only teach my children reading, writing and arithmetic and science — I wanted them to learn how to learn. I knew if they had the skills to find the information they didn’t know, they could learn anything whether I was there or not. And I had the honor and priviledge of being that example to them from a very young age.
If your children see you learning and inquisitive, they will see that learning isn’t limited to school — learning is for adults, too — it’s an attitude.
—Erin Castillo, Grow Your Health Gardening
Here, one of my twins finishes potting up various pots to learn about root growth and development as part of a lesson on aerial root pruning. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
When my twins were about 8th and 9th grade, I began to really get intrigued by this idea of hydroponics. I was tired of fighting the Georgia clay soil. I would amend it and invariably it was never enough, because the very next season it always returned to clay. And then I fought the weeds. Oh the weeds! As a busy mom of five at this point, I didn’t have the band-width to be out watering the garden and weeding day in and day out. I was doing good just to feed them three square meals a day and get their lessons done. There just wasn’t enough of me to go around it seemed and so our little gardening patch suffered as a result. But I missed growing food and I was determined to find an easier solution. So, when I say I dove in to learning more about hydroponics, I mean a full-head-long plunge. I watched videos, read articles, purchased books, attended workshops. I immersed myself in learning whatever I could find on the subject online and from the library, new books and old books. (Even still today I listen to podcasts and read to learn more.)
There was a YouTube video by a gentleman that particularly caught my eye. He was growing tomatoes in bato-buckets. It was a gravity fed circular system and it fascinated me. I was astounded at how simple the system was while getting seemingly high production out of the plants he was growing. I wanted to see if what he was claiming was true, so I talked my husband into helping me and the boys build a simple system. As part of their High School Biology class, I incorporated some botany since they were studying the differences between plant cells and animal cells. I had the older boys track the pH levels and PPM levels using some meters I had picked up from the hydroponics store in Atlanta. I was amazed at how the tomatoes thrived and the parsley and basil flourished! And I didn’t have to weed or water a single thing! I just had to make sure my reservoir was full and nutrients and pH were in range every couple of days or so during the hottest days of the season. We had tomatoes and herbs growing until our first snow that year! I was impressed! I was hooked!
We didn’t just stop at the hydroponics for learning… we dove in and even did other types of labs. For example, we did one on how different pots affected root growth through air pruning. In this exercise, our sons learned that roots need oxygen to grow and how air pruning will strengthen a plant through encouraging lateral root development. The more roots your plant has, the more it can uptake nutrients you offer it whether in soil or in a hydroponic/aeroponic system.
Our then 7 year old daughter holding hydroponically grown Rainbow Swiss Chard. I had to move some things around in my Tower Garden and we both learned that day that Rainbow Swiss Chard has roots that are the same color as the stalk! How cool is that?! Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
The rest is history as some would say… we have explored all sorts of growing systems using water including aquaponics, the Aerogardens, and my go-to-favorite, the vertical garden growing system the Tower Garden (full disclosure, I am a Rep as well because I love it so muchand I want Mama’s to succeed in growing healthy food for their family!) Since this all began, I now hold certifications in hydroponics, aquaponics, seed starting, a graduate from the SSE Seed School and more. Joshua (the son who was and still is a seed saver) can now take any orchid and rescue it, bringing it back to it’s intended beauty. And, as far as I know, he is also the youngest to become a Master Gardener in our county.
I am so thankful for our local County Extension Office — they have been an excellent resource to our family as we have learned over the years and grown. I will talk more about this resource in upcoming articles and how you can tap into it for FREE! Here Joshua holds an azalea plant he won for attending a local workshop. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardeningTower Gardens were a game-changer for how much food we could grow in a small space. Here, we grew over 100 plants on our back deck. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
And the learning hasn’t stopped with just my sons as they’ve graduated from High School and have moved on to other things. My younger children keep me going. One recent example has come out of a book I read which made me want to get better at growing flowers in my garden. I began to follow a gardener from Virginia (also in zone 7, so similar growing conditions to where I live in Atlanta, GA), Lisa Mason-Ziegler. I picked up her book “Vegetables Love Flowers: Companion Planting for Beauty and Bounty“. In this book, she talks about how important the flowers are to the food bearing plants in the garden — not simply for pollination, but for bringing in natural predators and balancing the ecosystem. I would play her Facebook live events while I worked on my own seed starting. There’s always something new you can learn…
Be watchful of what delights your child and then be purposeful…
It was around this time-frame where I was listening to Lisa and working in the garden that my then 7-year-old daughter ran up to me with a clutch-full of Dandelions and wild Violets. Then a thought fluttered through my mind… she loved flowers so much that she brought them to me to share her joy in them. How could I join her in that?If I could combine that desire to pick flowers she had with my desire to grow more flowers … and that led to growing two flower beds last season of sunflowers and zinnias. My husband financially backed my hair-brained idea and generously gave me some sunflower seeds and kits from Lisa Ziegler’s shop for Mother’s Day. I was so tickled to dive right in and do this project with my daughter.
Throughout the growing season, she learned so much about how plants grow and what flowers needed after they were picked to extend their vase life. We even learned how you can use lemon basil or cinnamon basil as filler in your arrangement and it makes it smell divine! My favorite part was when we would go out to pick flowers together she would be stripping off lower leaves and say, “Mom, thank you so much for helping me plant a flower garden.” Kid you not — this is forever engrained in my mind as a special moment we would share. And she didn’t just say it once, but multiple times throughout the season. I knew we were onto something that was working!
In looking back on last season, I think it also gave her something a little bit different than what I was doing (growing food) that she could make her own. It was HER flower patch to pick from anytime she wanted. She may not understand for a long while that I was intentional about all that, but that’s okay. The spark of learning about flower growing has been lit and my job is to fan the flames of learning and supporting that interest. She and I both find great delight not only in bringing bouquets in to our home and making our home environment beautiful, but also sharing with neighbors and those who need encouragement.
As I write this, in our upcoming growing season she is growing more cool season annuals. What’s more, she is dreaming and talking about one day owning a flower and gift shop. Will she do that? I hope so… I love the idea of encouraging entrepreneurship, but what I love more is she is learning about how plants grow and finding joy in the journey. She is learning through gardening. And the best part is, I am blessed to get to do that right along side her. We grow in relationship as mother and daughter doing something we both love — she can be mimicking my example of growing plants, but make it her own by it being her own little patch to nurture and enjoy.
Like Siegel and Bryson mentions in their book, “Spending time with family and friends and learning about relationships, especially with face-to-face interactions, will wire it in yet other ways. Everything that happens to us affects the way the brain develops…This wire-and-rewire process is what integration is all about: giving our children experiences to create connections between different parts of the brain. When these parts collaborate, they create and reinforce the integrative fibers that link difference parts of the brain.”
—Siegel and Bryson “The Whole-Brain Child: Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind
Our seven-year-old daughter waters in her Sunflower and Zinnia transplants while her big brother, Joshua, helps with finishing touches to the flower bed. I love how gardening brings our family together. Photo: Follow us on Instagram @GrowYourHealthGardening
Here’s the main thread through all these years with my children… we had fun growing in relationship with each other and learning about the world we live in along the way. My children are more connected to where their food comes from and why they should eat those greens I put on their plate, because we have reached out the world outside our front door and have brought it into our lives. They have learned a life skill in how to grow food — they can be independent and self-sufficient in a world with a burdened food system where people rely on large scale agricultural farming practices. When Covid hit and grocery stores were bare, we had food growing and didn’t feel fearful. We felt empowered. They have developed some great character traits in patience and now understand the work that went into the food that is on their plate making them more appreciative of others and our hard-working farmers. These are just some of the great things gardening has brought to our family and I’m only getting started…
I’ll stop there for now, because there’s more I’d like to share about teaching children to grow their own food, but hopefully that will give you an idea of a little bit of our journey as a family and how I approach involving children in the garden… more to come… but for now the garden calls me with our 2021 seed season ramping up. (My children are finished with their math and ready for a break so we are all headed outside for a bit.) Let me know if you have learned something through gardening with your child in the comments below. I love to hear from you!
Chat with you again soon…
— Erin
PS: A special thank you to my help mate and best friend — my husband, who has supported me every step of the way. Love you.
Erin Castillo is a certified hydroponic grower, small-scale farmer outside of Atlanta, Georgia, and owner of Grow Your Health Gardening Seed Co.. She loves to share her passion for helping others grow healthier lives through connecting with people she loves while also growing nutritious food.
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