Super cute right? It was only early January and I was well into planning my organic square foot garden for the year. I actually started planning in December, ordered my seeds and got them in mid-January! I start all of my plants from seed so I tend to plan the second I start getting my new seed catalogs right after Christmas. I like to try and start a few of the hard to grow seedlings in February…Did it happen? Nope! Ok so now that I’m a mom it’s still easy to plan but it’s a bit harder to pull through. I’m hoping to get my seedlings started this week. The little guy is a bit too young to give me any input on the garden, but I figured garden planning could be a great way to continue to teach him about vegetables, shapes, and colors. Once he’s a bit older this will work well to teach him counting, then multiplication – the possibilities are endless really!
I’ve been working on this felt board garden planner since December….yes, that’s right….December. It won’t take you that long- why you ask? Because you can print off this lovely vegetable garden template, cut, and glue in 1 day, no problem….unless of course you have an 18 month old toddler that climbs the stair railing (yes not the stairs, the railing) every second you turn around (like mine), or has figured out how to open the dish washer and loves grabbing the “ouchies” (knives) while you’re sitting at his kids table trying to dab some glue on a cucumber. I want you to know though; even though he didn’t really enjoy making it, he likes playing with it! I put it up a few days ago and then went to do some dishes. I noticed he went missing (which usually means mischief) and turned around the corner to see him playing with it! HOORAY!
I was talking to my SIL on Christmas and she was asking me how on earth i got so many Christmas cookies made with a 1 year old. She talked about her experience with her 3 year old…making the dough, rolling, cutting, decorating, icing – she said it was exhausting! I told her, I never felt exhausted, because I split everything I do with the little one up into a multiple day project (that does mean that we have projects left out half finished everyday BUT I’d rather enjoy what we’re doing each day with a mess than end up having our activities stress me and the little one out). This is definitely a good multiple day project if you have an active 1 year old like me. If your little one is 2 or 3, they can probably help you even more and maybe you can make it in 1 day. If you actually have a garden you need to plan for make a template for yours, if not, just make one like mine, which is 20′ x 3′ (actually 80″ x 12″)
When we packed up our stuff and moved from Chicago to Michigan I decided that I own WAYYY too much fabric…and ribbon….and scrapbook paper….and stamps, glitter, buttons, stickers…well, you know…craft “stuff”. Seriously- I have a dedicated craft room thats packed to the brim with stuff (yes I’ve seen hoarders, no I’m not one…yet…j/k….I hope). Some days I think I have too much BUT some days, like the day I made these, when it’s 1 degree outside and your 16 month old is bored to death because it’s been too cold to go outside and you’re bored to death because it’s 1 degree outside and it’s been too cold to go outside, you’re happy you have all this stuff because you can whip up something fun to do without having to run out for supplies. In case you’re not like me with a hoard of craft items, here’s what you’ll need…Feel free to purchase them via the links below 🙂 Those are affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here. Basically, I receive a small commission to help keep this blog up and running.
Felt Board Vegetable Garden Planner
Things You Need:
– scissors (these are the best ones from my fashion design days, don’t use them on paper!Gingher 8-Inch Dressmaker’s Shears)
– glue (I use this E6000 Fabri-Fuse Fabric Adhesive
– 1 yd Brown Felt
– 1 Yard Emerald Green Felt
– 9″ X 12″ Assorted Pack Acrylic Craft Felt
– additional colors if you’re growing other stuff or if you want to make some flowers
THEN head on over to my Etsy shop to download my very reasonably priced, $5 pattern (click here to check it out). Print it and get to work cutting a gluing.
It also includes a step by step guide on how to make each vegetable. For vegetable types that allow for 2+ plants per foot I made one template with all of the “plants” glued to the “soil” base (a brown square)so that my son had a template to look at (and count) when he wanted to recreate a square on the board.
I think thats everything we’re growing. I would love to see how your felt board garden planner turns out!
I’m constantly trying to craft with my 1 year old. He’s a boy so he would rather be climbing 🙂
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