Hi, I would plant things that your kids enjoy eating, and maybe just stick to 2-3 kinds, since you’re short on time? Ex: strawberries and carrots

If you can get them bare roots, strawberries are inexpensive (I can get them for 30 cents each in my area). Just dump a bunch of dirt in a sunny corner, and have fun with it! :)

Hope this helps!

Carrots didn't work well for me here in FL last year when I tried. Zucchini, Okra, peppers, eggplant and sunflowers have done well for me so far in the spring/summer.

Buy a couple of large pots, and some tomato plants (or whatever your kids will eat). Plant the tomato in the center and maybe sow some lettuce seeds or radish around the perimeter. The kids can watch the seeds germinate while the tomatoes grow.

Grow peas! Snap peas, shell peas, snow peas, on short vines. I was a kindergarten teacher with a garden out back of the school. Kids love peas. Easy and they don't need sprays. Just protect from rabbits, deer and groundhogs.

Do you still have the raised beds, or are you starting fresh? Where are you?

Kids love cherry tomatoes and pumpkins for Halloween! I think corn is usually a favorite (you have to plant a few rows for pollination) They love anything dramatic! Thus the pumpkins and corn! Being time constrained, unless the kids love zuk, I would avoid it cause it grows SO fast and you can get one the size of a new baby in a couple of days! Carrots are yummy, but take quite awhile to germinate and that involves keeping the bed damp.

When my daughter was 5 her kindergarten class did a butterfly garden. I helped pick out plants for them. One thing that we did was went out and counted how many butterflies we saw in the garden everyday for a week before we planted the plants. Then after planting the plants they counted the butterflies again for a week. They did the math before and after..... and did a basic graph. Then they studied local kinds of butterflies. The teacher had them look up the actual Latin name and the common name. They made a poster about it. So they learned the scientific classifications. They also read the book the Hungry Caterpillar and talked about the life cycle of the butterfly that also went on their poster. You could do two, or three (but someone would have to help your two year old.... maybe the siblings) so if you had a butterfly in the brushfoot, Papilioidae, and monarchs.... they can see that there are different classifications within the same species.... (more science) When you plant you must make sure you plant both a host plant and nectar plants.... again more science.... if you do papiloidae you can also plant carrots, dill etc for them to eat too.... and might get them to eat it because the butterflies do.... We also made butterfly cookies for the class. So she had to measure the ingredients (math) and decorate the cookies (art).... so what you plant in your garden can also have things done in house for days that rain..... One thing I had my daughter do that her teacher loved, was each kid had to study a particular butterfly. My daughter's was the Zebra Longwing which was the state butterfly... Once the butterfly laid eggs we measure the eggs daily and took pictures all the way through the chrystalis and she put the pictures on her presentation board. I made her do the board, but I did show her how to lay it out so it did not look haphazard, I thought she should learn real presentation skills, but after it was laid out she had to paste it up and then DECORATE it to her own delight. For nectar flowers we also planted some zinnias because they come up quickly.... Someone above suggested sunflowers.... so you could do those as well. if you make sure they are not the pollen-less ones you will attract honeybees.... you can then do a similar project (minus the measuring :) ) of bees. Then you can go to the store and purchase different kinds of honey so they can do a taste taste... wildflower, alfafa, clover, orangeblossom... if you have an orange tree then you can smell the flowers so they could compare the taste. If you talk about the wildflowers ... and then introduce regular flowers that are edible into your gardern ( MAKE SURE they KNOW they can't eat ALL FLOWERS..... especially the two year old). I would plant quick growing foods like radish and lettuce though it may be getting to hot.... it is here in zone 10. I would grow a everglade cherry tomatoes. They do quite well even in the heat of the summer here in Florida. And of course you can interplant that with your zinnias but NOT your dill.... so you can explain companion plantings..... then do the original companion plants The Iroquois believe corn, beans and squash are precious gifts from the Great Spirit, each watched over by one of three sisters , This could help incorporate social studies history. You could read about the pilgrims etc.... Now for one last thing..... you can do a lot from seeds.... but they also show how you can get plants from other plants..... for instance if you plant milkweed, you can cut the milkweed off and put it in water and watch for roots, once it starts to root you can transplant it into a pot and wait until you see roots coming out from the bottom of the pot before you plant it.... when you go to the grocery store, pick out a bunch of green onions, cut the tops leaving some root that you can also start carrots this way.... you can put some of your tomato, eggplant, or pepper seeds to start in eggshells that you fill with potting mix, once the plants have true leaves you can move them to the garden... explain how the shell helps the plants grow. Once you get their interest in these things I would start a worm farm with them and let them feed the worms, and use the casings in the garden.... with these things you can do a whole curriculmn of math, science, history, and reading.... make it FUN.... and they will love gardening forever. None of these things should cost much money.... maybe the worm bin, but I just used a plastic tub and drilled holes in it.... I certainly hope you have lots of fun doing this... i certainly enjoyed gardening with my daughter..... I took her on free field trips to supplement her learning.... we went to a horse farm and petted the horse, and brought back the poop and put it in the garden... did the same thing with pet store and got bunny poop. We went to Barnes and Noble and got a coffee and a cookie and some coffee grounds .... ate and drank cookies and coffee and then brought the grounds home for the worms. Once the garden is producing do things in the kitchen together.... if the child ends up not liking one of the items they planted, let them look up a different recipe explain how it is ALL different.... and look at their tongue and explain how everybody's taste buds are different.... how the sense of smell also affects taste... and how people's taste changes over time.... so much ...... have fun.....

One thing my kids (same age as your middle two) is rooting things like pineapple tops, celery bottoms, garlic that's sprouting Etc. It's easy, free, and if one fails, toss it in the compost and stat a new one.

Zinnia and marigold sprout easily and reliably. Get a few pots and a bag of potting soil and let them go to town.

Pineapples do grow well in many places here in FL. I have about half a dozen I've started from tops myself.

Wondering if Katie will follow up and tell us where she is located in FL? We have several different zones, which can make a big difference in what can be grown when.

Sorry, I'm in Apopka, on the outskirts of Orlando. area code 32703 if that helps?

And no, no more raised beds. I'm thinking maybe starting off with some cherry tomatoes in pots in the backyard, and some pots of herbs as well as I know mint and basil both love my conditions, and maybe a pepper plant? The kids all love to eat red bell peppers? I could get started plants for those. Then do some flowers from seed in smaller pots to put out front?

Those all do well for me, so I think that's a good idea. I'm on the other side of town. I have mint coming out my ears right now. One plant I put in last spring has taken over a 10' square area. Definitely keep that one in a pot.

Ha! Maybe I should put it in instead of grass, lol. The big dogs have destroyed the grass, so I'm in the midst of laying down mulch in the backyard...so much mulch. Sigh. But I'm pretty sure nothing alive stands a chance against the canine equivalent of wrestlemaina meets nascar taking place in my yard 3-4 times a day.

So, if I start those things in pots, can I just use a bag of potting soil to fill the pots? Do I HAVE to mix up some fancy mix on my own like I've done in the past? I'm looking for reliable, decent results with low effort, not wonderful results with lots of effort, lol.

For a single season/annual plant, regular, store-bought, bagged potting mix will work perfecty well. It is when you get into long term or permanent container growing that the mix becomes critical.

There are potting mixes with a bit of fertilizer in them, which helps.

You might try a different variety of sweet pepper, rather than bell. They can be a tad difficult to grow successfully, and there are others that can be more generous.

I like the cactus soil because it drains well and we get so much rain. If I get the garden soil in the big bag instead of the potting soil I usually add handfuls of bagged sand and mix it in as I toss the other in. I believe it has fertilizer in it.

I have found that sweet banana pepper will produce through most of the summer, where bell peppers only make in early summer and late fall. My kids like both, some prefer one over the other.

Also, use a high quality potting mix, not potting soil. Anything with soil on the name is meant for the yard and probably will not drain well. You can add pine bark to help stretch the mix to lower the cost. I would not go more than 3 to 1 (3 pine bark to 1 potting mix).

Peppers do well in 5 gallon containers. Tomatoes need 15 to 20 gallons unless they are a true dwarf like Red Robin. That tomato will only get 8 to 12 inches tall and can be grown in gallon size containers. You would have to order seed to grow them.

You can get seeds for those little snack peppers. I've seen kids gobble those down. There are lots of fun, quick growing vegetables that kids can munch on raw--radishes, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, peas, lettuce, cukes, etc. Basil and oregano for pizza, jalepenos for salsa. All dead easy stuff you can do in pots.