This week we have been enjoying our very own grow your own strawberries.
Fruit (and vegetables) become so much more exciting when we have planted and watered and then picked or dug them up.
It won’t be long before we will have courgettes, potatoes, tomatoes, beans and onions. Last year, our five year old won a prize in the local village garden show with a red onion he had helped grow.
Hidden veg
Courgettes are not a favourite with the kids but recently I had a much more successful attempt. In terms of everyone eating and liking them I hid courgettes in with chocolate muffins. An American friend had told me muffins are great with veg and fruit in.
Growing some of our own food, even if it is a pot with cherry tomatoes or a tray of cress, helps our children learn where it comes from and gives them a huge sense of pride and achievement when we eat it.
We don’t have to go mad and rent an allotment or dig over half the garden. A small space, a pot or two or even amongst the flowers are all fine.
Ready potted
If you would feel you would like to do this but don’t have a lot of time, or feel you do not even have a hint of a green fingers, most garden centres, and some supermarkets, sell tomato, courgette, pepper, bean plants (and many more) so that you don’t have to plant and do the seed bit.
Another advantage I have found is that they will try to eat a lot more if we have grown it…. their faces were pictures when they tried radishes!
Do you grow your own fruit or vegetables? Do you have a patch in the garden that could be used or do you have an allotment? Share your grow your own stories with us.
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Beckie Whitehouse
Beckie is a mum to three kids, and works in the Cambridge area as a coach.Feel free to get in contact for a no obligation discussion.