Looking for my green thumb

My mom has a green thumb. I remember her garden in our first house where the watermelons were half the size of my body (granted, I was four at the time). And I remember when we lived at the second house and she grew sunflowers that I couldn't reach the tops of. Even today, she grows vegetables in her home garden and has her grandchildren help tend them whenever they visit her.

I don't have a vegetable garden, but it is something I've wistfully wanted for us to have in our new home: A spot to grow a few vegetables that we can then chop up and eat at dinnertime.

For now, I have a few plants on my back porch (my peppermint smells amazing out there!). I thought I was content to wait for the full veggie garden, but after reading that kids who learn to garden end up eating more vegetables as an adult, I'd like to rethink how soon I want to start planting my crops.

My son has never been a big veggie eater, so if I can get him excited over growing his own food, maybe he'll also get excited about eating it.

OK, maybe he won't get excited over veggies. But, I would settle for him tolerating them.

Do you have your own home vegetable garden? Any tips to share with me?