Family Fun: I Spy Backyard Garden Game

Strawberries, Snap Peas, Tomatoes, Avocados - these are just a few of the fruits and vegetables growing in our backyard this summer. In normal times, we would never have attempted to grow such an ambitious and colorful edible garden. But this Spring, with the pandemic turning our lives upside down, the idea of growing our own fruits and vegetables at home, instead of shopping for them at the store, really took root...and so began the difficult task of banishing the gophers from our backyard.

Fast forward to the middle of Summer, the gophers are gone, our seeds took root, the baby plants flourished, and we now have a backyard full of amazing fruit and vegetable plants. It was easier than expected to start the garden. It's been buckets of fun to tend the garden. And, the whimsy and wonder of discovering the ways our edible plants change and grow has brought us unexpected joy!

To share the wonder of our edible garden with you and your family, we thought it would be fun to create an I SPY Backyard Garden Game for you to play. The rules are simple:

• Look at each question and the series of photos attached to it.
  
• Play "I SPY with my two eyes" by finding the fruits or vegetables in each photo.
  
• Use the fruits or vegetables you find to correctly name the garden plant.
• Check your answers with our ANSWER KEY located at the end the game.
• Have fun exploring these amazing edible plants in our backyard garden.
  

#1. One of our favorite fruit plants is shown below. Can you name it?

#2. Who knew growing this vegetable would be so much fun. What is it?

#3.  October is a special month for this plant. Do you know what it is?

#4. This plant is cool because its fruit is blue. What is it?

#5. This plant likes to climb and is best eaten straight off the vine. Do you know what it is?

#6. This plant has super sour fruit. Do you know what it is?

#7. This plant is a favorite of Native Hawaiians. The root is used to make Poi. What is this plant's name?

#8. This tree will grow much bigger. We'll use its fruit to make guacamole. What is it?

#9. This vegetable looks exotic but is surprisingly easy to grow. What is it?

#10. This plant makes oodles and oodles of vegetables. We make zoodles with ours. What is it?

ANSWER KEY:
#1. Strawberry plant
#2. Tomato plant
#3. Pumpkin plant
#4. Blueberry bush
#5. Snap Pea plants
#6. Lemon tree
#7. Taro or Kalo plant
#8. Avocado tree
#9. Artichoke plant
#10. Zucchini plant

Excited to have your own edible garden? Fruit, vegetable and herb plants are surprisingly easy to grow and do well in pots or the ground. So grab some fruit and vegetable seeds, or pick up some starter plants at your garden store, and start planting! Wishing you well on your edible garden adventure!

Plant, Water, Grow, Eat!