Don't eat the corn. Never, ever use any chemical not labeled as food safe around anything you wish to eat.

The grass fertilizer is actually fine for corn (corn is a grass), but the weed killer is not.

Agentho, I think it's absolutely wonderful that you are gettng your kids into gardening. I hope it sticks for them. I recall when my grandfather pointed me in this direction many years ago. My first "crop" was radishes. I can still recall my dad sitting in the lawn chair eating my fresh harvested radishes.

By the way, I wouldn't suggest using anything with the broadleaf herbicide in it. You do want for this to be a success, don't you?

Scotts is recalling some of their product. You might want to check their webiste.

grandad. i remember my first "garden" I think I was about 7 or 8 and my paretns actually let me dig up part of their yard. My first was radishes too. Although my dad does like them but moy mom did. :)

BillinPA, I've always thought that "radishes" would be the likey vegetable of choice for most youngsters having their first gardening experience. They are quick to sprout and have a short growing season. When we grow them in Louisiana in the spring/summer they have a tendencty to be very srong. So now in my "older and somewhat wiser days" I usually start seeding these in October. However, I clearly recall that my dad did not seem to have any issues with the strong flavor.... or maybe he just did not want me to give me any negative vibes.

However, I clearly recall that my dad did not seem to have any issues with the strong flavor.... or maybe he just did not want me to give me any negative vibes.

LOL, wouldn't it be funny if he went to the store and bought mild radish and made you think they were from the garden? Couldn't blame him at all.

My 8 year old came home from school with this cabbage plant from Bonnie that is supposed to grow into this 40+lb monster and you wouldn't believe how protective I am of this cabbage. The last thing I want is anything to go wrong with it and leave a bad taste in his mouth toward growing things.

JustAGuy, That did not happen. He actually watched me pick the radishes and had me wash them with with the garden hose and I watched while he ate them... I too ate a couple and I do remember that they were a bit "radishy". He did have me go inside and get the salt.. Maybe the salt covered the radishy taste. Nonetheless, I too couldn't (now) have blamed him..

First of all, remember that the most important plant nutrients are light and water. This is the basis of their life. They use light and water to photosynthesize to make food for themselves and you. So remember that most food plants like full sun. The first thing you want to do is find the sunniest spot in your property. Remember that the sun goes East to West, making an arc with a slight Southerly tilt.

The fertilizers are fine, the problem is that weedkiller. The problem isn't so much toxicity so much as your plants might not even grow. Is the weedkiller already applied? Maybe you soak your garden to help get rid of it? Actually I don't think it even works like that. I guess the only thing you could do to avoid it is stop applying the weedkiller and plant later, the weedkiller may dissipate over time. Then again it might be formulated to stay for a long time. If you do manage to grow them, you do need to look up about that weedkiller to see if your plants are edible with that stuff in the groud.

Using the sunflower as a trellis/support is a good idea, except sunflowers are allelopathic, they naturally make their own plant-killing chemicals to kill plants around them so they can hog up all the sun and soil nutrients.

And you guys with the radishes - there are pod radishes, or rat-tail radishes, which are radishes bred for their seedpods instead of their roots. So hot weather causing bolting is exactly what you're looking for with these radishes. And the spicy mustardy flavor is a good thing. Apparently the seedpod are good pickled, but they can also be lightly cooked in meals.

Most of these broadleaf killers disapate in a given time. Contact Scotts. I bet that they would offer help.

CrAzY LaRrY

GO CORN IN THE FRONT YARD

DONT EAT IT!!

BEST wishes+

I'm trying something similar and read that sunflowers do work as a support for plants. I am going to grow painted lady runner beans (known for their pretty flowers) up a few sunzilla giant sunflowers. Your girls might like growing beans too. You can eat em young (cooked like grean beans) or grow them for shelling them like say kidneybeans (don't eat filled out runner bean pods raw though, beans like that have a toxin--same as you wouldn't eat raw kidney beans).

Thing about corn in small gardens is (correct me if I'm wrong guys) that first a stalk only produces one or two ears, and second, that if you only grow say 2 plants the ears won't have many kernels on the ear of corn cause corn is polinated by wind and you have to have a nice stand of corn to get the individual kernels of corn to be polinated and grow. That's my understanding of corn, and that's why I don't grow it in my small kitchen garden.

Best of luck, it should be fun; I remember growing my first sunflower seeds as a kid too :)

Kristi