Homeschooling in the Garden

Time for garden updates at The Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge

We completed our experiment comparing Miracle Grow Potting Soil with our handmixed soil.   We had planned to complete the experiment after four weeks, but ended it early at three weeks because our lettuce was begging to be made into a salad. 

Here are the two pots side by side.  You can see the lighter pot (our handmade soil mix) has grown quite a bit bigger.

 Up close of our hand mixed soil results.

Up close of the Miracle Grow soil pot

Miracle Grow pot's red romaine is 12 3/4 inches tall.

Home-made potting soil red romaine is 13 1/2 inches tall.

Freckle Lettuce in hand-made potting soil is 10 1/4 inches versus

Freckle Lettuce in Miracle Grow potting soil which grew to 7 1/4 inches.

Hand-mixed potting soil frilly lettuce is 9 1/2 inches versus

The Miracle Grow potting soil frilly lettuce which measured 7 1/2 inches.

I was actually surprised with the results of this experiment.  Thinking the Miracle Grow, with its added quick growing fertilizer, would have had the advantage with a short growing crop like lettuce, I was happy to have such concrete results which proved otherwise.   Another variable I hadn't thought about was the amount of moisture the different soils held.  Holding moisture longer than my hand-mixed potting soil, the Miracle Grow pot often still had wet soil when the other pot was dry and ready to be watered.  So it never dried out.   This could have effected the results of the growing experiment.  

In other gardening news, my garden beds are slowly, but surely filling up.

Cucumbers and lemon balm

I-E made this trellis for me.

E-R planting some thyme next to our basil and lettuce plants.

Baby cuc

But the all-time favorite garden past time has been

Trying to throw the trowel

just right, so it lands in the dirt upright--it's harder than it looks!

This fat guy is always waiting for us in the afternoon!

How is your gardening growing?