Time in the garden has always been part of our kids lives. From a young age, it provided a place to sleep in the shade nestled in the hammock or pram, a place to play in the paddling pool or help dig potatoes. We’d bring lunch boxes with extra snack as we all know when kids are eating then mama gets more done, or just pick at the veges or fruit straight from the plant.

They’re not always motivated to go, but once there they always get involved, it is a space that opens up much imagination, making potions in puddles, nests from kumara runners, jungles from corn stalks, or finding swamps near the bush fringe or hours in our Paitu stream. We are all, always, much happier outside together.

This garden time, and picking kai fresh from the plant has seasoned their little tastebuds to enjoy fresh fruit and veges. My son used to loathe cucumber as a small child, but it takes on an exciting new trait, when they get to pinch them straight from the vine. Now it is comical to see him munching on a whole cucumber like an apple, and now we have to insist they ask before they pick and eat. My daughter has learned how to pick carefully using two hands to help protect the rest of the plant, and knows which flowers are ok to pick and suck sweet nectar from.

We serve up the family salad on the adult and children’s plates, and I have been impressed how, generally, they eat it without protest* (*well, mostly without protest, they are kids, and balancing dinner time and tiredness is still a factor!)

Once involved, they enjoy being part of the planting process, which moves through to the harvesting process and sees them insisting on saving seeds to be able to plant them out, showing cool understanding the life cycle of the plant and allows us to share ongoing  talks of Papatuanuku’s seasons.

So where to start with what to grow with kids?

Our favorites to grow for little fingers to pick and munch in the vege garden –

• Summer (sow seeds in spring):

  Sugar snap peas, beans, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sweetcorn, sunflowers.

• Autumn (sow seeds in spring):

  Capsicums and carrots are great to slice into sticks and dip with hummus.

• Winter/Spring (sow seeds in late summer/autumn):

  Novelty vegetables such as purple brocolli and cabbage are pretty cool ways to get them excited to munch. They also open the broad bean pods and nibble on the beans inside. Edible flowers such as nasturtium are good to get established, bringing pretty and edible yumminess to spring salads and cake decorating.

We have some big pots near the house with kids peas and cherry tomatoes growing. The idea was that the kids would care for them (you can imagine how that went) but we love that they can go and pick at the ripe fruit (and learn, after much repeating, don’t eat the green tomatoes!)

Fruits and flowers for kids to grow –

• Fruits such as Cape Gooseberry are a sweet treat and a treasure to find and unwrap the little lantern like parcels. They grow throughout winter and are ready for spring picking.
• Strawberries are a great one too! It is said you need 6 plants per person, not a huge amount of garden, but lots of patience as the kids learn to wait to pick the ripe ones. They can fruit from October – February if in a sunny warm spot and protected from birds.
• Plums and peaches are great to grow and pick over the summer months.
• Grapes ripen late summer / early autumn and my two enjoy the treasure hunt of finding juicy bunches beneath the vines.
• Apples for autumn. In small yards, you can espalier the tree to encourage it to grow against the fence line.
• Mandarins are a winner, plus bonus is a tree to climb! These ripen from May to October depending on variety and tree size.
• Edible flowers such as nasturtium and viola are good to get established, bringing pretty and edible yumminess to spring salads and cake decorating.
• Sunflowers are great for display and then at the end of the season the little seeds are fun to nibble on like little birds would do. Be sure to use organic sunflower seeds as some ornamental varieties are treated with fungicide.

Growing edible flowers deserves its own writing, check back for future Paitu ponderings.

Kids are happy to be involved in the food prep too –

• We love to grow courgettes/zucchini as that is our summer baking staple and go-to for family bday cakes: chocolate zuchinni cake. They make an awesome quiche too and are soft enough for kids to be involved with the prep and easily chop or grate.
  They grow into marrows rather quickly, but at this size, these can also keep for a long time.
• Mushrooms and capsicums are soft enough for younger children to practice their cutting skills.
• Older children can help cut tougher veges like parsnips and carrots for soups and stews. You can help by cutting them down the centre first so they don’t roll around as they cut. Show them how to hold their fingers and the knife and supervise (of course!)
• Encouraging kids to grate these veges is also a good way to get them involved.
• Younger kids can also help with mixing, setting the table with utensils and deciding where everyone will sit. They enjoy decorating the table with garden treasures too.
• If you have a juicer, you can cut the fruit + veges into smaller pieces and the kids can pop them down the chute. Apple, beetroot, carrot and celery are a mix we enjoy. Include more apple for more sweetness, remember the quantity of juice shouldn’t be too large, to avoid upsetting tummies.

Once they get into the habit of picking, they seem to eternally forage around for what else they can find. Last spring they would nibble on the seed pods of broccoli, and its not uncommon for them to nibble on stalks of parsley. We are fans of tabouleh salad in our house!

A friend of ours is a talented chef and has inspired us to include edible flowers in our salads, or to decorate a piece of honey toast – my little girl delights in this! It is neat how many plants they can recognize and name. The kids have been proud to share and eat the meals they have prepared, neat to see them excitedly serve Dad at the dinner table.

Our family do enjoy the treats and shortcut meals sometimes too. We have dinner time battles just like anyone else. But If they are sat down with a bowl of vege soup or a tabouleh, it makes me happy to hear their excited “Yum!” and to know that the foundations for healthy eating are there, sinking in a little more every year, because they are part of the cycle of growing, harvesting and preparing.

Let me know what your kids like, or how your family gets on with growing xxxx