2017 Garden + Beanstalk Seeds

I am looking forward to summer salads from the garden so much this year! Our garden has officially been planted, and I have some new seeds in the ground. I’ve partnered with Beanstalk Seeds to grow some new produce this year!

Beanstalk Seeds is a seed collection targeted to kids and families to make growing produce as fun as can be. The project is a division of Kansas City Community Gardens (KCCG), which works to create vegetable gardens with low-income families, schools, and community groups in the Kansas City metro area. All proceeds from Beanstalk Seeds sales go towards helping more people grow their own nutritious produce. Moreover, gardening with kids means parents drive attention away from video games and TV and connect, get dirty, and eat well with their kids doing something that is fun for both generations.

Beanstalk Seeds have been tried and tested in the KCCG for over a decade in over 200 gardens. Not only are they are reliable to grow, but the Beanstalk Seed varieties are unusual in colorful ways, so kids love them. “Rainbow Blend” carrots, “Purple Hyacinth” beans, and “Dragon Tongue” beans are all hits with kids. I can’t wait to see what they look like when they come up, and Mazen loves anything to do with dragons I am hoping he has as much fun eating them as he did planting them!

In addition to buying seeds individually, you can simply order Jack’s Magical Seed Bag and get a themed bag of seeds in a nice variety. Choose between “Plant A Rainbow” and “Snackable Garden”. These make great gifts! The Beanstalk Seeds website goes a step beyond an online marketplace, including guide sheets, fun facts, easy recipes, and a parent blog covering gardening tips for children’s gardens.

Here are a few shots of my garden as it stood in late March. A few plants from last year actually popped back up after the last frost, and then others were just weeds.

Thomas, Mazen and I went to a garden shop and stocked up on organic compost to till in before planting this year’s seeds.

We borrowed Thomas’s parents’ tiller, which was great to have!

Once the old plants were harvested and cleared and the soil nourished and tilled, I used the garden plan that Beanstalk Seeds sent me as a guide. In the past, I have mostly stuck to greens, so I am excited to try a few new veggies this year! Starting at the top, I planted rows of Greens (kale and swiss chard), Roots (carrots and radishes), Salad (spinach and lettuce), and Pods (peas and beans). I nixed the beets they recommended because they aren’t my favorite and I wanted to save space for more salad. I would have nixed the radishes in favor of more kale, but somebody loves radishes and insisted I plant some ; ) I left some space at the bottom for him to plant some tomatoes, too.

Here’s where the fun comes in! It is just so crazy to think that these tiny seeds will grow into real food. I planted them in rows as per the package instructions and will thin them out after they pop up a bit more.

I have never planted beans before!

A few days later, those seeds sprouted up in neat rows of green. The miracle of nature!

Here’s the herb garden before. A total mess, but home to thriving rosemary and thyme. We cleared out the weeds, mixed in compost, tilled a bit, and planted dill, cilantro, parsley, lavender, and basil.

We had TONS of rain the next week and lots of sunshine after, so I will update you guys with photos as things continue to progress If you have yet to plant a garden this year, please consider supporting Beanstalk Seeds!

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