How does your garden grow?

When I was younger - around Ryan's age - my parents got me a goldfish. As the story goes, I loved my fish. I would ask to feed it everyday and gave that fish all my love and attention. Apparently, a little too much attention. My mom started noticing little drops of water on the outside of the fish bowl every now and then. And as the days went by, she noticed the fish seemed to be getting sick - it was not as lively and not swimming very well. Finally, the fish died.

Turns out? I would often take my fish out and pet it. Oops.

I think about how cute it would be for Ryan to have his own pet, but he's got a lot of his mommy in him so maybe it's best we wait a few years on that. In the meantime, we've decided the next best thing to a living, breathing pet is a living, breathing plant!

Nate and I have talked often about starting a garden - lord knows we have plenty of room for one  - and with the cost of food (along with everything else) continuing to rise and our focus on eating healthy, now seemed as good a time as any to get going. Plus, it's an activity the whole family can get in on.

We're in the early stages right now - we've bought a ton of seeds and some young plants and have been keeping them warm and safe inside. But the weather is getting warmer and the plants are getting bigger, so we've spent the past two weekends plotting out our space in the yard and getting their new home ready for transplant.

The best part of growing a garden? Kids are encouraged to get dirty - and will happily oblige.