Growing veg with kids?

[Nature'sKids!]

Does anyone grow vegetables with their mindees?

[jadavi]

planning to next year! HAD A LOVELY CROP OF TOMATOES THIS YEAR so will grow even more next year with the mindees. Also courgettes and other easy veg! How about you?

[Caterpillar]

Yeah, we have chickens in the back yard, so we grow lettuce, beetroot, carrots, potatoes, herbs, strawberries and then when they are ready, we harvest them and feed them to the chickens, which in turn give us eggs, which we then eat!!!!

The kids love it - they see a real life food manufacturing / farming setup live everyday!!!!

[Helen Dempster]

Yep, I grow all sorts - potatoes, carrots, strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes, cauliflour, onions....the list goes on :) Brilliant activity to do with the kids, esp the ones who think they just come from the supermarket! One of the toddlers I have helped me harvest the potatoes, washed them and then watched me peel/cook it for our lunch :) If you're thinking of doing it and are able to do so, I would say go for it - saves you money and they taste so much nicer too.

[Mouse]

Why not register with the potato council to get your free potato growing pack? We've done it for the last 3 years & I know a lot of other people on here do it as well :thumbsup:

http://gyop.potato.org.uk/

I'm also registered with Marie Currie Cancer Care to grow daffodils (you do need to give a donation for this one)

http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/en-gb/fundraising-volunteering/schools/

We grow lots. Littlest ones start off with cress as it is so quick - they like to see rapid growth. We then move on to stawberries, onions, carrots etc. Lots of them can be grown in pots, so you don't even need to take over part of the garden. I am not in the slightest bit greenfingered, but even i can manage easy things :D

[Pinkrose]

You can also register with morrisons lets grow scheme, childminders can also collect the vouchers.
The website also has some useful activites and information about when to plant different seeds etc x

[uf353432]

yep - I built the kids a flower garden and a mini allotment to grow veg from seeds and flowers - they look amazing actually and the kids love getting involved and if you cut open some the veg you can teach them science as well

[Nature'sKids!]

You can also register with morrisons lets grow scheme, childminders can also collect the vouchers.
The website also has some useful activites and information about when to plant different seeds etc x

Really? Oh that's interesting!
We alreadygrow veg - apples, plums and pears, blueberries, blackberries, currants, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce cabbage, kale, beetroot, ... Plenty anyway lol

So obviously I'll be tying the kids in with it too as it offers such great learning experiences! Would love chickens but garden isn't big enough. My brother has some though.

[mrs robbie williams]

we grew pumpkins for halloween this year, they are quite a good size, the only downside was the vine thing dont stay in the veggie patch and trail out - oh and now we have rabbits who come out afta school for a run round the garden like to eat them - oh and we did strawberries in hanging baskets and child height, going to look into potatos and carrots next time x

[Penny1959]

We have 'salad pots' on the area just outside the playroom window - these are the mindees from start to finish and of course they therefore plant, care for and harvest and eat. We also have a small veg area and a small fruit area that mindees help with but that I and DH have responsibility for.



Penny :)

[Roseolivia]

We grow allsorts, tried Physalis this year which worked well. Corgettes are easy to grow as well.
We have 2 veggie opatches as well as a greenhouse, mindees only allowed in greenhouse with me as it's a glass one.

[miffy]

Why not register with the potato council to get your free potato growing pack? We've done it for the last 3 years & I know a lot of other people on here do it as well :thumbsup:

http://gyop.potato.org.uk/




We do this too and the children really enjoy it - this year we took photos all the way through and made a book about it.

Going to grow some fruit next year too.

Miffy xx

[jumping j]

I am well known in my family for baing able to kill any plant, including a cactus! But this year we managed to grow poppies and sunflowers, pumpkins, tomatoes, strawberries and tomatoes, we had a go at carrotts, peppers, lettuce and potatoes but I didn't get them in the ground in time, we started them off in pots!
The children loved seeing things grow and enjoyed eating them afterwards.
I'm using the pumpkings to decorate for Halloween so they are still in the garden and we used the sunflower heads to feed the birds and squirrels in the garden, we spent over an hour watching a squirrel climb up the sunflower, balance on the head and reach round to pick out the seeds!!!:laughing:

[fionamadcat]

[QUOTE=Mouse;997314]Why not register with the potato council to get your free potato growing pack? We've done it for the last 3 years & I know a lot of other people on here do it as well :thumbsup:

http://gyop.potato.org.uk/

I'd be very interested in doing this! How do you fill in the application form? Seems to want details of school? Do I just fill in my details and they'll send the pack?

Many thanks

Fiona

[jayne]

we have always grown a few things in the garden an in pots but this year we got an allotment and the children have loved growing things from seed we took some of the veg to our local childminder drop session and did some activities with them

[keeks]

[QUOTE=Mouse;997314]Why not register with the potato council to get your free potato growing pack? We've done it for the last 3 years & I know a lot of other people on here do it as well :thumbsup:

http://gyop.potato.org.uk/

I'd be very interested in doing this! How do you fill in the application form? Seems to want details of school? Do I just fill in my details and they'll send the pack?

Many thanks

Fiona

I haven't got a garden so we did this outside my front door this year. The mindees loved it, when we harvested we counted them, weighed them, cooked them in all sorts of ways, used some for printing artwork etc.

I think I just put Childminder where you put the name of the school? Not sure, sorry.

We also grow herbs and strawberries in pots outside my door. For next year I've bought these from B&Q to make it look a little tidier rather than just the black bags http://www.haxnicks.co.uk/garden/patio-planters/vegetable-patio-planters/

Ooops that was a pretty long link!

Good luck everyone!

xx

[The Juggler]

ooh yes, not a large amount but tomatoes in baskets, root veg (beets, carrots, leeks) salad veggies and potatoes. This year also had loads of courgettes and red peppers.

[murrayspud]

I will be doing this next year. We are already known as Tom and Barbara (from the Good Life) in our family, as we grow all sorts of things. 3 years ago I asked DH for a veg patch at the side of the garage, he had a think about it and instead of a veg patch, I got a polytunnel!!! It is fab - we can be in there even when it rains, it keeps us in veg for most of the year, and outside we grow fruit (apples, gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries) and potatoes too. I love spending time in there, and hope to get LO's involved next year - from March onwards :)

Kathryn x

[Narnia34]

We grew loads of veggies this year, beans, peas, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, cucumbers, potatoes and a load more.

We planted them into a small indoor propagator first so the children could see them sprout and grow, and then we planted them out into pots in the garden. We germinated a few beans in a jar with blotting paper, so the children could see the roots, and I planted a potato plant in a clear plastic pot so that we could see the baby potatoes growing.

Even with our rubbish summer here in Germany we managed to get some decent crops, which the children really enjoyed eating, because they were 'theirs'