Today we picked the first batch of carrots for the year from our backyard garden. Winter gardens are my favorite, because I don’t have to battle caterpillars, drought, and intolerable heat. My kids like the winter garden for the food choices. Sometime in October, we planted tiny seeds together. Today, those seeds have become big, juicy sweet carrots. They love to see the orange carrot tops start to peek out from the soil and take turns pulling the big ones up by their lush green tops. I might take this conversation in the direction of metaphor. Our kids are like those tiny seeds; the amount of care we provide reflects the yield of the harvest. But that’s not really where I wanted to go with this topic. I really just want to talk about the garden as FOOD.
If you have a child who might be on their way to veggie-phobic or fully engaged already, a backyard garden is a great way to introduce veggies in a different way. It’s not necessary to dig out half of your yard and buy rakes, shovels and hoes. You might want to try it that way, but you might also prefer to start small. Plant some herbs in a pot for your patio. Herbs are a very easy way to start. Try some mint, parsley, or basil. My kids love to pick and eat the leaves directly from the plants. The kids can put a little seed in the dirt and watch the progress. They might be so excited when it’s finally time to harvest that they will have a taste.
Another option is Square Foot Gardening. With this method, you create a small garden box and get pretty significant yields. There are some great examples of Square Foot Gardens at The Natural Gardener in SW Austin. It’s also a really fun place to take kids for an outing. They have a beautiful butterfly garden, a labyrinth, a great aromatic garden, donkeys, chickens and goats, resident kitties all over the place, and some fun swings.
However you choose to grow, let it be a project you take on WITH your kids. Letting them be engaged in the process will give them a sense of ownership. They will be proud of the results and usually VERY happy to taste the finished products. Some of my kids’ favorites have been carrots, beets (they can eat the young green tops even before the root is ready to dig up, really yummy and sweet greens), snow peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, mint and parsley. These are all fairly easy to grow here and really delicious straight out of the garden. Quick tip: I’ve learned to wash well because my son has had pinworms 3 times from eating dirt covered veggies straight out of the garden.
Have fun!
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