When we are learning about plants, like most other subjects, regular
observation and participation is the best teacher. For a child (and for most of
us adults) there is no better incentive to garden than harvesting food to snack
upon!
When creating a snack patch for children, consider creating a low, narrow garden
bed or use pots so that they can reach to sow seeds, water plants, remove weeds
and eat their crops. Garden beds can be made from recycled objects quite
inexpensively. Starting with a small area or a few pots, even one planter box is
enough to assist the child in developing an understanding of producing food from
seed to table.
Other useful items include small garden tools, a watering can and a basket or
bucket to collect produce. Hats, garden gloves and boots offer protection for
gardeners of all ages.
Examples of food plants which are quite easy to grow and fabulous to snack on
include snow peas, green beans (climbing or bush varieties), cherry tomatoes
(yellow pear or red…both are delicious), nasturtiums and gooseberries. These all
tend to ramble and require at least a little space and usually staking as well.
Because sweet corn is tall and a heavy feeder, it is best suited to a garden bed
or individual pot. It is delicious to eat raw, though, and some varieties grow
to an impressive three meters in height!
Strawberries, the many varieties of mint (including chocolate mint), baby
carrots and radishes are all very tasty and suit a variety of growing
conditions. Children who normally don’t like to eat spicy foods will often
nibble a young, freshly picked radish from their garden.
Passionfruit vines ramble along fences or trellises, and even up trees. Our
children love to “pop” these sweet baubles and eat the pulp while playing in the
garden.
Sprouts are another snackable crop, which suit just about any
gardener, anywhere. Information on growing them is widely available in books, on
the Internet and on packets of sprouting seeds often found in health food
stores.
A lovely little bush on which most children love to snack is
Sweet Leaf (Sauropus androgynus F. Euphorbia- ceae) or “tropical asparagus,” a
tropical plant that is very high in nutrients. Its young leaves taste like green
peas, but the plant is much more prolific and easier to grow than peas. Sweet
Leaf will do well in a large pot, to be moved indoors in temperate and colder
climates as required.
While working in their gardens, discuss with children what is
safe to eat. You can make labels together from any water-resistant material such
as pieces cut from plastic container or popsicle sticks to identify “their”
plants.
Washing produce is recommended to remove soil and surface
microbes. I hope that the use of all pesticide sprays is avoided in your home
garden, so at least their toxic residues are not a concern here.
The produce from a snack patch can be eaten right away or
brought inside for a salad or other meal. Fresh, home grown, organic food is
brighter, crunchier, tastier and most full of nutrition the minute it’s picked.
That makes it the highest quality of all snack foods available.
Many natural therapists attest that food has a vibration or
energy, which is at its peak upon harvest, compared to food that has been
handled, transported, stored, processed, etc. Therefore, it is said that the
freshest of garden snacks feed the soul as well as the body. You may or may not
subscribe to this theory, but it’s another exciting benefit of snacking from the
patch if it’s true!
Having their own edible garden encourages children to try foods,
especially raw foods that they might not eat at the table. Right from
toddlerhood, our six children have been provided with a small bowl of
fresh-picked goodies to nibble upon while watching me work in the garden.
They’ve progressed to helping harvest the ripe berries and pods themselves and
then to planting seeds with me, preparing beds, labeling specific plants and all
the other related gardening and kitchen tasks. This is a normal part of our
family life, as basic as going to the store, opening the refrigerator and
rummaging in the pantry. But it is intensely more real, healthy and important
for them and for the Planet.
Belinda Moore is a home-educating mother of six. She
landed in tropical north Queensland, Australia quite by chance and enjoys the
simplicity there, compared to her time in cities. Growing things has been a
lifelong passion, no matter where she has lived. Other passions include her
family, homeschooling advocacy, writing, sewing and environmental issues. Her
family runs a home-based business that can be found at
www.spiralgarden.com.au.
The photo that appears with this article is of Belinda's daughter
Abbey picking a snack from her family's garden.
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