Kids in the veggie patch

The more your kids know about growing fruits and vegetables, the more likely they are to eat them! There are a few tricks to getting children in the garden - here's how to tempt kids into the veggie patch.

Research suggests that involving children from an early age in the production of fruit and vegetables makes them more likely to eat the fruits of their labour - and to eat more fruits and vegetables generally.

"If you can stimulate children into becoming interested in the natural world then they'll actually become excited about eating things they've been able to grow," says Roslyn Semler, a visitor programs officer at the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, who was heavily involved in the planning and design of the kids garden there six years ago.

Roslyn says the idea behind the children's garden was to get kids excited about plants and nature through play, and through their imaginations and senses. In one corner of the children's garden is the Kitchen Garden, a veggie patch where kids learn about fruit and vegetable production.

Encouraging children in the garden

Getting children in the garden is easier than you might think: "They can physically get in and do gardening," says Roslyn. "From working with compost and fertilising with worm castings from the worm farms, to planting seeds and seedlings, watching them grow, and harvesting the fruit and vegetables, they get to see what happens in a real vegetable patch."

How do we translate these principles to our gardens at home? Roslyn suggests that if you can grow vegetables that give immediate results you are more likely to keep the kids in the garden and interested for longer. Salad vegetables like the lettuce varieties, and Asian greens like tatsoi or Chinese cabbage are a couple of quick-growing examples.

Setting aside a section of the veggie patch just for the kids is another trick, so they can dig it up and water it and be responsible for what happens "on their patch". Allowing the kids to find and dig up ripe carrots and potatoes, for example, with minimal guidance from adults, encourages them to learn about the natural growth cycles of the plants.

"Kids love to watch things grow and have their curiosity stimulated," says Roslyn. "So getting them to understand the path that leads from earth to table can have long-lasting effects on how they view vegetables and fruit - and a kids garden is a great way to do this."

It's all about exploration and discovery, and if you can get your children in the garden growing fruits and vegetables, you'll have more chance of getting them to eat their greens.

Set up your own child-friendly garden space in your backyard with supplies from your nearest nursery: