Kids Eating Veggies

21 years ago

My daughter loves veggies. Lucky, yes - my son isn't so inclined, but we do what we can. :) So, you'd think that a veggie garden and my dear 6 year old would go well together, but not so.

She loves seeing the plants grow. She is especially enamored with lettuce. I have two big containers of iceberg lettuce next to the deck, and she's constantly picking off leaves and eating them. I have bibb and romaine in the veggie bed, and it's fenced in, so she's always bugging me to let her in to pick some leaves to eat.

But she won't eat anything else I grow! Last summer I had strawberries, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, zucchini, and peas. I'd serve them at dinner, and she'd be eager. She'd ask, "did this come from our garden?" and I said yes. Suddenly she'd push it away and say "yuck!" What on earth is this child thinking? Veggies from the garden are somehow inferior to those sold at the grocery?

--Pam

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

babzclare
21 years ago
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!Sorry, i happen to remember when my siblings and i were kids and we did the same thing over my dad's vegetables. I didn't realize then what I know now-what great stuff he grew. I would not make a big deal out of it, my son does that with most food in general and I think it's just a kid thing. I thank him for at least trying something. We are growing orange peppers(his favorite color)and I can't wait to see if he really eats them. I'll keep you posted : )
0
mikie_gw
21 years ago
my daughter wouldn't eat veggies .
untill we sq/ft gardened together .

She had a good time walking between plants and picking stuff we couldn't reach & really loved cherry tomato fights , squirting each other with the hose & citrus seed spitting contests. (mom didnt appreciate some of our antics and maybe that grew her interests in veggies.)

pretty soon she would even eat store bought veggies.
0
Related Discussions
Veggie Garden Tools for Kids
Q
Comments (8)
When my kids were young they enjoyed planting larger seeds like beans and corn that were easy to pick up individually. Purple podded beans were a real hit with them and for awhile came packaged in a packet to appeal to kids...called magic beans or something like that because they change to green when you cook them. Raised beds and planters worked well when they were young, too, since it kept them from trampling the young plants they could hardly see. They loved to water the plants. A watering can kept them happy and kept the plants from being washed away by hose watering. Lots of small cute kiddie water cans are available. Some of the tools they used were adult tools with small blades, rakes, etc. that we trimmed to have a child sized handle. They were sturdy and priced better than the child sized things we could find then. I tried to interest my son in gardening one summer, but did not want to push the issue too much and make him hate it. Finally, in September, when everything was winding down for the year, he announced he wanted to grow beans. We planted some in a large planter and moved them inside soon after they sprouted...just before the first frost. We ate them around Thanksgiving! Sometimes you just have to work with the kid's schedule.
...See More
WANTED: Edibles (veggies, herbs, etc.) for kids
Q
Comments (6)
Thank you for all of the wonderful and generous replies! For some reason, not all of the replies came to my email, so I apologize for the delay in responding to some of you. I emailed everyone back! Yes, we plan to be seed savers, so we can trade and plant more next year, or donate to other people looking to start gardening... or maybe to a community garden. I keep coming back to this site and finding there's always something new that I didn't see before (or didn't have time to check out). I hope to learn all kinds of things here and check out lots of forums and pick up tips and hints as we go. Maybe in the future, in turn we can mentor someone else. We're also experimenting with multiple gardening techniques including indoor container gardening, aquaponics (over the fish tank), and of course, outdoor gardening too... It's all a lot of fun, and the kids are having a blast (and it's not even warm enough to plant outside yet)!
...See More
You should check out those 'crazy kids' on the veggie forum!
Q
Comments (23)
Zebra striped tomatoes are tasty. But even better is a variety called Yellow Sausage (or something like that. Sausage is definitely in the name, though.) It's weird looking, basically does look like a tomato shaped like a lumpy sausage, but it is incredibly flavorful. It's kind of stripey too, and ripens to a yellow color. My roommate likes to do weekly dinner parties, and people would fight over the slices of the Yellow Sausage tomatoes when we would make salads with our backyard tomatoes. We are definitely growing that one again this year. My peppermint tried to take over the world. I have a concrete backyard, very small. I think the peppermint actually rooted to the concrete. It smells fantastic though. Made a peppermint syrup at the end of the season that was delicious. We'll see if it comes back. I'm assuming it will, but I'm not certain. I gotta figure out how to repel the mosquitoes in a big way this summer though. I did NOT enjoy my yard starting in August, because I could not even go out there for 5 seconds without ending up with 6-10 mosquito bites. And I'm really allergic to mosquito bites; they swell up to at least half dollar size spots. Ugh.
...See More
Confused about sun and veggies
Q
Comments (2)
Hi Brad, and welcome. I have an exposure much like yours and will be planting some veggies there. The area is also bordered by an east wall, so it's basically a narrow strip in my case. Much of that area gets around 4-5 hours of sun and that should be ok for most things. The direct sun hits the west wall side from around 10am-2:30pm, and the east wall side gets sun from around 11am-3:30pm (yes, I have obsessed over tracking sun times in each section in the yard, lol). Reflective material around the area can help max the light. Raising areas can help, too, and so can strategic planting of taller veggies so they do not block light from shorter veggies. But the amount of sun it gets should be ok as it is. (Jim's mention of the 2 edged sword sure is a fact!LOL) Sounds like you have a nice garden area size and it's so satisfying to watch the children's excitement as things begin to sprout. Plus, can't think of a better way to get kids to eat veggies they'd normally avoid...my daughter would eat an onion like an apple if she grew it, lol. RR
...See More
totalchaos
21 years ago
My eldest turned 6 last week and this sounds just like her. She could be concerned about the veggies' feelings and might be feeling a bit canabilistic after tending the garden. Sounds crazy but we're not 6.
0
caitzs
21 years ago
Did she help you grow and harvest them? Part of the fun of vegetables is the growing part too. Picking them right off the plant can solidify the connection between the "fun" of growing them and eating "yucky" vegetables, making eating them more fun too. If she doesn't do the work of sowing, growing, and harvesting, there is no difference in her mind between store-bought and home-grown veggies.
0
pkock
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I think totalchaos was close to the truth of it - ripping out a carrot you've watched grow up seems a bit like "harvesting" a pet chicken to a 6 year old. :)

Another problem is that sometimes I have trouble with certain crops tasting right, harvesting them at the right time. By the time my lettuce got to a decent size this year, it was too bitter to eat. And there's the bug issue - grocery store produce doesn't have bugs on it, and my garden often does. (I garden organically).

I think she's caught on, though. She's been raiding the peas when I'm not looking - ever since I showed her how yummy they are fresh-picked, I've found a lot of empty pods. :)

--Pam
0

Kids Eating Veggies

Comments (5)

babzclare

mikie_gw

Related Discussions

totalchaos

caitzs

pkock
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Kids Eating Veggies

Comments (5)

babzclare

mikie_gw

Related Discussions

totalchaos

caitzs

pkockOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

pkock
Original Author