General health guidelines recommend eating fruit and vegetables far more than any other food group. Fruit and veg will help young children develop physically and mentally, keep them strong and overall, will lower your whole family’s chances of getting disease.
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Fruit and veg contain all the lovely vitamins and minerals so necessary for a healthy body. They are low in fat, sodium, sugar and calories. Many of them provide potassium, fibre, folic acid and various vitamins and minerals, in particular Vitamin A and C.
They’re healthy! They’re superfoods. But how do you get kids to eat them? That is the age old question.
Growing your own vegetable garden can help.
What do you need to grow your own garden?
- A small patch of ground.
- A sunny spot.
- A water source nearby.
- Accessibility.
- Storage space for tools.
- Enthusiasm and a good attitude.
What do you do if you dont have a garden?
You can grow vegetables in pots or window boxes. Before planting, be aware of how much sun the area gets so that you can plant the right veggies.
Gardening with kids is not just a fun activity. It allows them to learn in a hands on manner. They come to respect nature, see life cycles, be responsible, have a sense of accomplishment and reap the rewards too.
Children learn to be responsible. They need to care for their vegetables daily. It may only take five minutes a day but they learn that they have to give those few minutes of their time, otherwise their vegetables may not do well. At the very worst, they may die.
There is no greater joy than seeing your tomatoes flourish. Or finding a new green pepper or a whole lot of new beans. It is also supremely satisfying picking vegetables from your own garden and then cooking with them.
Vegetable gardens also teach about community. It’s nice to be able to share veggies with your friends. Take some to your teacher. Trade them for other vegetables. Or feed them to the school rabbit.
What are the benefits to growing vegetables with children?
- Sense of accomplishment
- They are more likely to eat the vegetables
- It saves a lot of money
- There is always something to eat
- They can sell the excess
- They learn responsibility.
- They become young farmers.
How to design a vegetable garden
It’s not a bad idea to draw a design of the garden first. It does not need to be a complicated design. Then look at the patterns of the sun. Maybe watch the sun and your veggie patch for a few days. This way you can decide which vegetables you should grow and when you should grow them. Your garden will be seasonable and you will learn which veggies do best in summer and which in winter.
A raised garden is a good idea. You dont have to bend down to tend, or to pick your produce from. And with a raised garden, you can somehow get better soil quality. A raised garden may also be better protected from dogs or other pets you may have running around.
Try and shelter your garden from some of the more harsh weather elements too.
Keep the beds of your garden narrow. This way children can reach all the vegetables, without having to walk into the bed. Till the soil and use compost to nourish your soil. When planting your vegetables, read the instructions and ensure you have plenty of space between vegetable, or seedlings, to encourage good and easy growth.
Be gentle with your seedlings. Remember to water daily, or as per the instructions. Remove any weeds or alien vegetation that may creep in. Take joy in picking the lettuce leaves and using them in the evening’s salad.
Children will love eating what they grow. You’ll find they want more and more.
References:
http://kidsinthegarden.co.uk/plants-for-kids/growing-vegetables-with-children/
https://naturalearning.org/children’s-vegetable-gardens-introduction