Fun with Vegetable Gardens

If you want instant success with a vegetable garden, plant beans.  Okay, not instant success, but you can see results in just a few days.  And over just a few weeks, you'll notice palpable results.  They grow really fast, and it is super fun to pick and eat them.

I recently remembered something I did as a kid once with my best friend that was really cool.  I'd like to share it with you in case you were not blessed with this awesome trick and in case you have a boggart in your house that convinces the young ones they don't like beans.

I don't know if you can tell what that is a picture of - I realize it isn't very clear.  It is a picture of a glass, stuffed with (illustrated) paper towel, with a bean pressed against the glass.  Actually, I have four seeds in that glass and I planted them two days ago - look that the results already!

Okay, find a clear glass or jar with your mom's permission (or that you don't mind sparing if you are mom).  Take a sheet of paper towel and shove it down in there, sticking your hand down the middle to press the towel against the glass.    Then just drop a seed down between the paper towel and the glass - it should just fall into place, but you can work it into place with your fingers if it isn't where you want it.  Then gently pour water over it - using your judgement.  It doesn't really matter how often or how much, but if you notice that the paper towel is drying out (just touch the edge with your fingertips), it is time to water it.

The size of your glass depends on how long you intend to keep it in there.  You could, in theory, leave the bean growing in your glass forever if you want.  But if you use a small glass, you'll probably have to transplant it later on.

I've also seen people do this with cotton balls, which is a better choice (for stability reasons) if you intend to keep your plant in the glass.

This is a bean plant that I planted in March or late February.  I have already picked one bean but these two are not quite long enough yet.  When picking your beans, I read that they are at their best when they are long but not quite defined yet by the pods inside.

And while we're on the subject of my indoor garden, why don't I show you where it's at now:

 

<Squash>

Most of the pictures here are of my squash.  I also have cucumber, six small peppers, a few tomatoes, and some pitiful chives.  And I have some flowers - Blue Boys, Morning Glories, and Sunflowers.  Some I have already moved outside.

I have yet to have a successful vegetable crop due to vacations or just a lack of TLC, and I am open and eager for advice from those who have loads more experience.

This is the first time I used the manual "setting" on our camera so tell me how the pictures came out!

~Meggy

Instructions for planting beans in a bag