For many people, the first time they encounter a tomato or a bunch of salad greens is in the grocery aisle in their supermarket. Or, if they are getting their food prepackaged, or in a can, or in a jar, or in a restaurant, or in the frozen food section of their supermarket, they don’t even see that.

But baby vegetables, popping out of the earth and spreading their leaves, have a charm all of their own. They can be as cute as baby chicks. Don’t have a garden or place to grow things? Check out How Things Grow at a man and his hoe® from time to time to see how your food grows. Do you want to see how a particular vegetable grows? Let me know.

Baby Arugula

Baby Swiss Chard

Baby Ruby Streaks Mustard

Baby Squash

Baby Tomato

Important to all growing vegetables, is a healthy environment. This includes providing habitat for a rich variety of insects. All of the vegetable beds here are not far from borders of flowering plants which provide food and shelter for predatory insects, spiders, and even snakes. See Bees, The Beauty of Produce, How Apple Pie Starts, How Things Grow, and The Soil Will Save Us.