Growing Food and Kids

  So the garden’s not a novelty anymore. The kids have helped plant the seeds and maybe even water them a few times, but the new is wearing off. It’s like the new puppy that your kids promise to feed and water every day, and forget about after the first week.

But if you really want to make growing food a family affair, you’ll have to keep the kids’ attention. And there are plenty of ways to do that. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

• Stage a race. If you have more than one child, let each one plant his or her own pepper plant or corn stalk, then watch to see whose will grow tallest or will yield fruit first. To make the contest work, each child has to be responsible for watering, weeding and otherwise caring for his own plant.
• Encourage eating. “It’s a wonderful experience to pick a vegetable like a cherry tomato right out of the garden and pop it in your mouth,” Kathy Van Mulllekom wrote in the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) last month. If you avoid using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, your kids can taste the bounty as they help you pick the produce — which will make the experience a lot more fun.
• Reinvent the lemonade stand. Rather than keeping all the produce for your own family, let your kids flex their entrepreneurial muscles by opening their own vegetable or fruit stand in your driveway or on your front stoop. If neighbors will pay 50 cents for lemonade (or more, it’s been awhile since I’ve shopped at a lemonade stand), they’ll pay for a few tomatoes or squash. And your kids will love the responsibility of picking and washing the vegetables, making a sign to advertise their goods, and interacting with their customers. (Make sure you stay nearby for safety.)
• Give it away. Even better than selling your produce is helping kids give it to someone in need. Look for elderly neighbors or families in need and let kids get involved in harvesting, preparing and delivering the food.
• Make a mess. Let your kids know that when you’re working in the garden, it’s ok to get dirty. Lisa Kadane of the Calgary Herald offered these suggestions last week: “To contain the mess, bring snacks and drinks outdoors so they’re handy. Fill a bucket or basin with warm water, and have old towels nearby. Dress kids in old play clothes. If it’s hot, let them garden in bathing suits and run the sprinkler when the planting is done.”

How do your kids feel about growing food with you? What are your strategies for keeping them excited about gardening?

Photo credit: EveryStockPhoto.com, License info: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/