Growing Fruit and Veg for kids

[johnnytheboy]

Some help required from you knowledgeable folks

Last year we had a wee flower garden for my daughter, this year I was thinking we could maybe buy a wee mini green house and maybe grow some spuds in some sort of container on the ground, what fruit and veg would everyone recommend? When’s the best time to plant these things?

 

[Stew]

I would recommend climbing french beans - a purple variety!

Beans because you get the repeated picking from them as they grow and they don't take up much floor space versus how much you get.
Purple because a) they're easier to spot b) they look cool and c)when you cook them you know they're ready because they've turned green!

 

[johnnytheboy]

Awesome, do you grow them in the green house or just in the garden?

 

[Stew]

Just in the garden.

They'll need starting off somewhere warm - greenhouse or windowsil could do.

 

[Toddy]

I like that idea Stew
My kids liked peas, they still like peas....and spuds.
Potatoes get huge though as they sprawl, and they don't need a greenhouse, just something with soil in it. I have had really good success with bins or those growing tubs things made out of tarpaulin like stuff.
How about a growbag though ? You could plant three different things in that with her...Stew's French beans, tomato and something from the sweet peppers family.
Herbs are good with children too. Mint, lemon balm (she can make her own perfumed bath with that) chives (and mind the flowers can be seperated and sprinkled through salads or top soups for a little oniony flavour burst) and the like are pretty robust, while plants like basil are very tasty and grow quickly in a glasshouse if there's enough sunshine.

I bought one of the cheap plastic greenhouses from poundstretcher a few years ago. It was surprisingly effective...you might need to peg it down though if it's windy where you are.....and we got a lot of good stuff from it. I think it cost me all of £3.99. Didn't break the bank, then I found a tall hexagonal one in B&M's for under a tenner, and it was worth it for the staging racks alone. I think every seed we sowed sprouted in that

Back to the herbs though, you might find she'd enjoy a herb garden, thyme, lavender, rosemary, etc., there's a lot can be done with those and they'll thrive fine in our climate too.
Good introduction to both making food and making simples.

For fruits, I'd buy her a strawberry plant and if you have the space nearby and don't have any, let me know and I'll send you some of the wild strawberries. They're as hardy as old boots, and their fruits are tiny, but they're little flavour bombs and they'll fruit from the end of the frosts right through to the start of them. They always have a sweet present for anyone who visits them
The other fruits that are excellent for children (because they're hidden under the leaves and the children look up) are raspberries and blackcurrants, but they both need space that the strawberries don't.

This thread pleases me so much; I love it that you're thinking of and doing this, with and for her

M

 

[daveO]

Totally agree with what's been said so far. My nephew used to love helping me dig the tatws. In containers though you can feel around under the plant for the spuds like a lucky dip without having to dig up or kill the plant so they crop for longer.

Sunflowers always go down well with the kids, the bigger the better. I've even grown my beans in the flower beds before now and they'll climb the sunflowers. Nastutiums are also dead easy to grow and you can eat the flowers. A bit peppery but sweet too. You can get them to ramble between taller crops.

Look out for the small round carrots. They grow well and quickly in containers and make a good snack.

 

[santaman2000]

Tomatoes grow well in pots (if the pots are large enough) I find it easier to transplant young ones from the nurseries rather than start them from seed but either will work. As to the best time to plant them you'd have to ask locally.

Is this a short term (one season) project or a longer one? If you are willing to invest a few years of your child's time a grapevine might be worthwhile.

 

[Robson Valley]

Have you space for carrots? Buy the seed for rainbow (white, yellow, orange, red and purple).
Kids like mint and can grow out of control like kids, too. Everbearing strawberries.
+1 for spuds.

 

[Janne]

Radishes, some mild varety.
Plus what you guys have already suggested.

I would plant stuff children can eat straight from the plant primarily.

If you have space in the garden, plant an apple tree together.
A nice one is Transparent Blanche, which is a very early variety, delicious to sink your small teeth in!