PICKYEATERS - May, 2013
The Best Beans? MY Beans!
The taste of home-grown food stays with us. Involving children in a “planting project” is a great start to a lifelong appreciation of fresh, healthy food.
- Involve the family before you start. Talk with your children about your “planting project” if you have never grown anything before.
- Let the kids make the decision about what to plant. Keep it simple.
- Plant something your children will eat. It makes no sense to plant radishes that can be harvested within 30 days if the child simply will not eat a radish. Beans are perfect for a first-timer.
- Start small. One small line of one vegetable that flourishes is better than a back yard of over-achiever failures.
- A handful of seeds in a planter can be a fine substitute if you do not have space outside, yielding enough for several child-size portions. New seeds can replace those that have flourished and been picked every 30-40 days for an ongoing – and on-growing -crop.
- Make sure your selection matches the climate and growing season of your location.
- Select a vegetable that matures in a short time frame so that kids can see and taste the result of their efforts almost immediately.
- Take photos of each step of the growing process so your children will have memories of their success.
- Plan to cook the “first harvest” the day the “crop” is picked so that children will immediately experience the accomplishment of eating what they have grown.