Get Kids Gardening with Miracle-Gro® Gro-ables!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro Gro-ables for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

This year on the first day of spring in Boston, it snowed.

The day after that, it hailed.

Spring comes slowly to Boston. Last year, I started my first vegetable garden with my kids. I waited until Memorial Day in case of frost. My husband built critter proof planters, complete with covers. It was squirrel, bunny, and chipmunk proof!

The kids and I enjoyed harvesting from our small garden: tomatoes, eggplant, string beans, lettuce, bell pepper, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers. Not everything was tasty; some of the cucumbers grew weirdly shaped and tasted woody. No one liked the spicy radishes either.

But the tomatoes were a hit! Nothing beats a tomato eaten right off the vine!

This year, I’m going to try planting from seed instead of seedings. I’m thrilled to be selected to grow with Miracle-Gro Gro-ables! They sent me 30 Gro-able pods of all kinds of vegetables! It’s so simple — everything we need to grow a fruit, herb, or vegetable can be found in this seed pod. We simply plants, waters, and watches the seed pod grow. And each Gro-able is guaranteed to grow!

We had a family meeting to decide what to plant. Everyone had a favorite and not everything made the list this year. We are going to grow: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce, herbs, and eggplant.

The seed pods from Miracle-Gro Gro-ables fit perfectly in my small garden plot. My kids and I had fun planting the pods. It makes growing from seed so easy: just push the seed pod into the potting mix until the top is level and water daily. In 1-2 weeks the seed will sprout. Several months after planting, flowers will appear. Fruit will soon follow!

Miracle-Gro Gro-ables pods are easy to plant!

Planting a garden with kids is a wonderful way to connect kids to Earth Day and nature. It also gets kids eating their veggies! Who wouldn’t want to eat what they’ve grown themselves?

I made a book list of my favorite gardening picture books for kids. From this list, kids can see that planting a garden can change the world. With The Gardener, a garden helps a little girl and her uncle survive The Great Depression.

The Curious Garden demonstrates how a garden can brighten urban areas.

Wangari Maathai won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work planting trees in Kenya.

The Ugly Vegetables brings a neighborhood closer.

A Seed is Sleepy gets kids curious about the diversity of seeds and how they transform into plants.

I hope these picture book will get you and your kids ready to start your own garden! It can be as simple as a kitchen window sill potted garden!

If you want to try Miracle-Gro Gro-ables, there are individual kits that come in one variety. You can choose from a list of 4-6 types. Gro-ables are a fun activity to get kids outside and interacting with nature and food now that winter is over!

Once you plant your garden, you might be ready for the next step … composting! I have a book for that too! That’s our next step too!