Our 2 1/2 year old likes playing in the dirt, watering things, helping plant starts, etc. but has no concept of leaving dirt alone where we’ve planted seeds… he’s torn up our bean bed and the watermelons. We decided for this year we’re just going to buy starts (we would love to start our own seeds but have no space for all that involves) then he’ll have a more visual reminder that he needs to leave things alone. We chose fun purple string beans, strawberries, raspberries, yellow pear and red cherry tomatoes, pumpkins and brussel sprouts to help keep the kids’ interest along with all the stuff we love like cucumbers, heirloom and roma tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini.

It’s our first year doing a large scale garden (6 – 3×6 foot raised beds in our front yard) so we’re trying to be easy on ourselves and realize this is a learning year, trying to figure out what to plant, when, how much etc. We LOVE canning and are hoping or bumper crops of tomatoes, beans and cucumbers… but we’ll just have to wait and see.