The Value of Growing Up "Growing"
If you and your kids walked through a veggie garden would you be able to answer the question "what is that"? You know what a carrot or tomato looks like, but could you explain to your child where it came from? Too many of our younger generation believe vegetables come from the grocery store.
They have never had the chance to plant a seed, to watch it grow and then enjoy the taste of that freshly picked vegetable or fruit.
By introducing our children to the process of growing food they can discover where their food comes from, along with learning to value and respect our earth.
If your kids knew more about how a carrot or a piece of Swiss chard grew, perhaps there would be less coaching on your part for them to eat all their vegetables.
Every child deserves the chance to experience the joy of planting a seed and witnessing the miracle of that seed sprouting out of the earth.
No matter where you live you can have a small space vegetable garden.
A pot filled with lettuce, a hanging basket overflowing with cherry tomatoes or a small plot in your back yard or in a community garden.
If you are just starting out growing some veggies or if you want to start a garden for the enjoyment of your children choose plants that will grow fairly fast, that way you will both be able to see results quickly.
Some great vegetables to start with are radishes, lettuce, peas, tomatoes and carrots.
Your kids will love the surprise of how each of these vegetable plants grow.
Carrots and radishes grow under the ground as root vegetables, they are pretty much hidden away until they are big enough to be pulled and eaten.
Lettuce grows as a leaf, which can be cut close to the ground and it will grow back.
Peas grow inside a pod on a vine, which can also be dried and saved as seed for future plantings.
Tomatoes are actually a fruit that starts out green and turn red as it ripens; they can be tiny as cherry tomatoes or huge, depending on the variety grown.
Your kids will be fascinated by what happens to a tiny seed in a matter of a few weeks and will love to help to take care of them.
It is important to teach our children the benefit of caring for something and growing a garden is a great way for a child to be able to nurture something through it full circle of life.
Introducing your children and perhaps yourself to the process of growing some of your own food is a gift to them, to yourself, and to the future of our planet.
Pulling a carrot from the earth, wiping the dirt off on my pant leg and biting into its crunchiness takes me back to my childhood.
I grew up around gardens filled with fabulous veggies, we would hill potatoes, we picked and shelled peas for freezing, we tied an ice cream pail across our little bodies so we could pick raspberries with both hands; one for the pail one for our mouth.
I would love for every child to experience the joy of planting and tending a garden so they to can have the memory of pulling and eating their first "dirt wiped off" carrot.
They have never had the chance to plant a seed, to watch it grow and then enjoy the taste of that freshly picked vegetable or fruit.
By introducing our children to the process of growing food they can discover where their food comes from, along with learning to value and respect our earth.
If your kids knew more about how a carrot or a piece of Swiss chard grew, perhaps there would be less coaching on your part for them to eat all their vegetables.
Every child deserves the chance to experience the joy of planting a seed and witnessing the miracle of that seed sprouting out of the earth.
No matter where you live you can have a small space vegetable garden.
A pot filled with lettuce, a hanging basket overflowing with cherry tomatoes or a small plot in your back yard or in a community garden.
If you are just starting out growing some veggies or if you want to start a garden for the enjoyment of your children choose plants that will grow fairly fast, that way you will both be able to see results quickly.
Some great vegetables to start with are radishes, lettuce, peas, tomatoes and carrots.
Your kids will love the surprise of how each of these vegetable plants grow.
Carrots and radishes grow under the ground as root vegetables, they are pretty much hidden away until they are big enough to be pulled and eaten.
Lettuce grows as a leaf, which can be cut close to the ground and it will grow back.
Peas grow inside a pod on a vine, which can also be dried and saved as seed for future plantings.
Tomatoes are actually a fruit that starts out green and turn red as it ripens; they can be tiny as cherry tomatoes or huge, depending on the variety grown.
Your kids will be fascinated by what happens to a tiny seed in a matter of a few weeks and will love to help to take care of them.
It is important to teach our children the benefit of caring for something and growing a garden is a great way for a child to be able to nurture something through it full circle of life.
Introducing your children and perhaps yourself to the process of growing some of your own food is a gift to them, to yourself, and to the future of our planet.
Pulling a carrot from the earth, wiping the dirt off on my pant leg and biting into its crunchiness takes me back to my childhood.
I grew up around gardens filled with fabulous veggies, we would hill potatoes, we picked and shelled peas for freezing, we tied an ice cream pail across our little bodies so we could pick raspberries with both hands; one for the pail one for our mouth.
I would love for every child to experience the joy of planting and tending a garden so they to can have the memory of pulling and eating their first "dirt wiped off" carrot.
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