Gardening Tips with the Haas Family
What do you do when you move into a new home and find a gardening bed? Start your own gardening journey, just like CECPTA member Karin Haas and her family did back in 2018! They moved the bed over, started from scratch and want to share some of their gardening tips with us all. Though they don’t get an amazing harvest, it is such a fun activity to do as a family, especially with their daughter, Haley. There is no routine they have set and no set date to plant things, they treat their beautiful garden as an experiment with some help from Garden Google. They plant something and, if they hate it – well, then they pull it up and plant something new. They definitely make me want to start a new hobby with these beautiful photos!
Q: What do you plant & when?
“I usually plant seeds in the spring and then a little bit in the fall, but as for what, it’s basically a fun experiment. We have a blackberry vine, a potted lemon tree, a mini pumpkin plant, sweet peppers, herbs, strawberries, spinach, kale, carrots, and garlic. We were especially proud of our GIANT cantaloupe that we grew from just ONE seed of a store bought cantaloupe!”
Q: What’s your secret to thriving plants?
“The plants that do best in my garden are the ones that thrive over the winter and also keep pests away, like; rosemary, basil, lavender, mint, and marigolds.”
Q: What do you make with your plants?
“We have been making basil pesto from the basil in the garden weekly.” UM YUM! [featured below is Haley making the pesto]
Q: What has been a struggle?
“Early in the spring we had to learn how to keep the slugs off of the strawberries!”
Haley, age 3, also answered a few questions for me and they are gold, pure gold. Haley loves the carrots she pulls from the garden [adorably featured above] & her favorite thing about gardening is watering … with the hose (because duh) [featured below – isn’t she cute?] When asked why she gardens –
Q: “Why do you garden, Haley?”
A: “so they will growz”
My personal favorite question. Are you ready for some toddler perfection?
Q: If you could plant anything, what would it be?
A: “a stuffie” – talk about a girl who loves her stuffed animals!
Karin and Haley are members of the Purple group and Karin served as our 2019-2020 Secretary. These two love spending time together outdoors and it’s awesome to watch them GROW together! Special thanks to Karin and Haley for teaching us a little bit about gardening! We hope some of you mamas decide to take up a new, absolutely adorable, and family fun hobby.

About the Author
Lauren is a mom of two kids, Wyatt (4) & Audrey (8 mo) … & the fur baby, also known as the OG, Luna Bella. (Oh & Mustard the fish). She is married to one heck of a guy, Troy, who she met in college. She has a Bachelors in Behavioral Analysis and a Masters in Social Work, currently she is navigating the life of a full time working mom as a hospice social worker for Centric, but has also juggled the jobs of stay at home mom & work at night mom. She is the RED playgroup coordinator and a member of the YELLOW playgroup. She loves cold brew, crafting, reading, and margarita nights with the hubs.