Choose a fruit or veggie to read about it:
Nutritional Value:
Tomatoes are a great source of potassium, calcium, and vitamin A and C.
Quick gardening tips:
When planting tomatoes, remember that they love the heat! So be sure to keep them happy by placing them in a warm sunny spot, preferably somewhere that receives 5 to 6 hours of sunlight per day. If you don’t have a lot of room, they are great for vertical growing. All you need to start is a container and a trellises or some sort of fence the tomatoes can climb as they grow.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Summer
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 17 weeks
- Height: Bush, 3 feet; vine, 6 feet
- Spacing: 18 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1/2 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Tomatoes can be used in all kinds of kid friendly meals such fresh baked pizza, home made pasta sauce, and a crisp salad. You may also eat tomatoes raw after carefully washing and removing the stem. Use them raw in salads, sandwiches, and even juices!
Fun Fact:
Although the most familiar shape tomatoes come in are round, they also come in other shapes including, pear shaped, heart shaped, long sausage shape, and ruffled.
Nutritional Value:
Broccoli is a great source of dietary fiber, potassium, folate, beta carotene, and vitamins A, D and E.
Quick gardening tips:
Broccoli is happiest growing in cool weather such as late spring or fall.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Fall
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 16 weeks
- Height: 18-24 inches
- Spacing: 18 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1/2 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Broccoli is a wonderful side dish to any meal cooked whole with a little bit of sail and butter. You may also use it in soups, salads, and stir-fries along with other home grown veggies.
Fun Fact:
The current world record for eating one pound of broccoli is 92 seconds!
Nutritional Value:
Onions are Rich in dietary fiber, folate and vitamin C.
Quick gardening tips:
You can buy small onion bulbs from your local nursery. Loosen the soil with a large fork where you will plant the bulbs. Make sure it is in a well lit or partly shaded area. Plant the bulbs upwards in the soil so just the very tip of the bulb is still exposed. Be sure to water the onions regularly.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Summer
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 20 weeks
- Height: 12 inches
- Spacing: 4 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1/2 inch (seeds)
A few ways to enjoy:
Onions are often used as a seasoning to add flavor to a verity of dishes such as soups and dips. They can also be eaten freshly picked and raw.
Fun Fact:
The largest onion ever grown weighed 16 pounds and 8.5 ounces.
Nutritional Value:
Blueberries are a great source of dietary fiber and vitamin C.
Quick gardening tips:
Blueberries need plenty of sun and grow best in moist, well-drained, highly acidic soils. The berries ripen over time changing from a bright green to a dark blue-purple. The darker the berries are, the sweeter. The smaller berries usually have a little more tart taste. The fall and early spring are the best time to plant blueberry bushes. Although they take a little longer to produce fruit, it is well worth the wait.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Fall
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 1 year
- Height: 6 feet (High Bush)
- Spacing: 4 feet between each plant
- Planting Depth:14- 20 inches
A few ways to enjoy:
Blueberries are another fruit that you can wash off and snack on without any peeling or pitting. Because of there small size they are an excellent addition to baked goods such as muffins. They are also a sweet topping to your morning bowl of oatmeal or cooked right into a stack of fluffy pancakes!
Fun Fact:
Blueberries are one of the few foods that are naturally blue in color.
Nutritional Value:
Raspberries are a great source of beta carotene, dietary fibre, and vitamin A and C.
Quick gardening tips:
Raspberries love bright sunlight and grow best in well-drained, sandy loam soils. When growing raspberries, you should start with a raspberry plant from a reputable nursery to be sure healthy and free of any viruses. Securing them to stakes as they grow will help support the plant.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Fall
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Height: 6 feet
- Spacing: 2 1/2 feet between each plant
- Planting Depth: (canes) 3 inches, (potted) same depth as they were in the pot.
A few ways to enjoy:
Raspberries make the perfect snack freshly picked and also make a great addition to a variety of desserts. They can be used in pies, sprinkled on top of ice-cream and yogurt, or blended into a fruit smoothie.
Fun Fact:
Raspberries are actually made up of over 100 tiny beads of fruit, which combined together to form a helmet-shaped dome.
Nutritional Value:
Peas are a great source of vitamins A, B and C.
Quick gardening tips:
Peas are known as a cool weather crop that grow best when planted in the early spring or fall in cool moist conditions. Even soil moisture is important. They’re great for small spaces because like tomatoes, they can be grown vertically. They are also one of the quickest vegetables to grow, taking about 10 weeks.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Fall
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 10 weeks
- Height: vine, 5 feet
- Spacing: 1 inch between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Peas are a great snack raw, just pop open the pods and enjoy. They are also a tasty addition to soups and casseroles.
Fun Fact:
The world’s largest pea grew to be almost 8 inches in diameter, roughly the size of a soccer ball!
Nutritional Value:
Carrots are a great source of fiber, potassium, thiamin, niacin and vitamins A, B and C.
Quick gardening tips:
Carrots need to keep a consistent soil moisture from plant to harvest. If you are limited on space you may also consider growing a potted variety such as “Thumbelina” or “Chantenay”, which also grow more quickly. Remember to carefully scrub your carrots when washing to remove any excess dirt from being underground.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Perennial
- Seed to Harvest: 10 weeks
- Height: 12 inches
- Spacing: 2 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1/4 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Chopped carrot sticks are a fantastic snack raw with some ranch dip and make a flavorful addition to a soup or roast.
Fun Fact:
Although carrots are commonly orange, they can be found in many other colors such as red, yellow, white, and even Fo-Fo Figgily’s favorite color, purple!
Nutritional Value:
Spinach is a great source of iron, thiamin, potassium, folic acid and vitamins A and C.
Quick gardening tips:
Spinach is a cool weather crop that grow best when planted in the early spring or fall and grows in just seven short weeks.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Fall
- Light Requirement: Partial Shade
- Seed to Harvest: 7 weeks
- Height: 6-12 inches
- Spacing: 6 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1/2 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Spinach is best if eaten within a few days days of harvesting. It is a wonderful addition to a verity of meals such as omelets, salad, and even lasagna.
Fun Fact:
The world’s largest meat, spinach and cheese ravioli measured 5 square feet and weighed 200 pounds! It included 32 9-ounce bags of fresh spinach.
Nutritional Value:
Strawberries are a great source of dietary fibre, folate, and vitamin C.
Quick gardening tips:
Strawberries are exceptionally easy to grow. You can plant an individual strawberry bush in a 12 inch pot. If you choose to plant them directly into the ground leave about 15 inches in between each plant. Another great way to utilize space is to plant your strawberries in a hanging basket above your garden. The roots are generally longer so you may need to trim them back about 4 inches so you can make sure they are completely covered in soil. Be careful when watering to make sure you don’t over water. A watering can works best.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 3-6 months (smaller plants; Potted or Hanging) Height:
- 1 foot
- Spacing: 3 feet between each plant
- Planting Depth: enough to accommodate the plants roots
A few ways to enjoy:
Strawberries are usually eaten fresh from the garden after washing. They are a nice addition to a colorful fruit salads, tarts, and even to top off a plate of funny face pancakes with whipped cream. Another favorite treat is chocolate dipped strawberries.
Fun Fact:
The world’s largest strawberry shortcake was 827 square feet and 6,000 pounds! .
Nutritional Value:
The darker leafy lettuce, which is sometimes purple in color, is a great source of beta carotene. Lettuce is also a good source of folate and vitamin C.
Quick gardening tips:
Lettuce is a cool-season crops that perform best when planted in early spring or in the late summer.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Perennial
- Light Requirement: Partial Shade
- Seed to Harvest: 7 weeks
- Height: 6-12 inches
- Spacing: 6 – 8 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 1/4 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Lettuce comes in wide varieties and are about 95 % water, making it a light and refreshing snack. Lettuce is most commonly used in salads with a wide range of mix ins and dressings. Its a nice addition to any sandwich as well.
Fun Fact:
The worlds largest lettuce salad weighed 22,572 pounds!
Nutritional Value:
Beets are Rich in antioxidants, folic acid, calcium, and potassium.
Quick gardening tips:
Beets don’t take up much room. They’re happiest in deep, well-drained soil, and grow well in cooler weather. Beets grow from small pea sized seed clusters which consist of several tiny seeds.
Crop Details:
- Growing Season: Spring and Summer
- Light Requirement: Partial Shade
- Seed to Harvest: 8 weeks
- Height: 12 inches
- Spacing: 2 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: Depth: 1/2 inch
A few ways to enjoy:
Beets are sweet, and nutritious. They grow best in full sunlight and are most nutritious when eaten raw.
Fun Fact:
The Bright fuchsia color of beet juice is a great substitute for food coloring! Check out our recipe for Vivala Wee’s Pink Power Pancakes!
Nutritional Value:
Potatoes are a great source of potassium, dietary fibre and vitamin C. They are also a fantastic boost of energy that comes from their starchy carbohydrates.
Quick gardening tips:
Potatoes may be grown in containers if you don’t have a large amount of space and they grow amazingly fast. It is very important that you keep the soil moist but not too wet. Sunlight is also essential to make sure your potatoes will grow properly. They need about 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. A good time to know when to harvest is when the plants have flowered in about 6 weeks time
Crop Details:
- Growing Season:Spring, Fall
- Light Requirement: Bright Sunlight
- Seed to Harvest: 12 weeks
- Spacing: 10 inches between each plant
- Planting Depth: 5 inches
A few ways to enjoy:
Potatoes grow in all kinds of shapes and sizes. They can be baked and stuffed, mashed, chopped up, or thinly sliced and fried for your very own home made fries and potato chips!
Fun Fact:
The potato was the very first vegetable to be grown in outer space!
