Noah has a 3 second concentration span. I tried planting seeds one day. I had about packets of them, I don’t know what I was thinking when I thought he would help me out from beginning to end. He had had enough after the first packet. I was disappointed, until I took a step back and considered his age and understanding.

Kids want to see quick results. Planting potatoes is not a good place to start if you want your child to see quick growth, after all, potatoes take about 5 months before they are ready to harvest. Try radishes, or lettuces, beans or cress. Even if the family don’t really eat some of these, they are cheap and will help cement in the child’s mind about the importance of caring for things, and that rewards do come to those that care in a positive way.

Don’t expect a child to have the same passion as you in the garden, we understand the importance of seasons, timeframes involved in the planting to harvest cycle. What I have found works with getting kids to make the connection from garden to plate is to get the child to help you harvest. The best time for this is when you are about to prepare the evening meal. Take the child into the veggie garden; explain what you are going to cook and the ingredients needed. Then ask them to help you pick and prepare the veggies for dinner. Don’t then expect the child to eat everything that you have just picked, just because it has come out of “our special garden”, children have taste buds too. Trying to force the picked produce down the child’s throat will sour the whole experience.

Helping you do simple tasks like watering will help the child understand that plants need food and water just like humans do. Buy a small can and point out particular things you want them to water. Another great thing to do with kids is to get them to plant a fruit tree in a pot. My brother in-law bought Noah an avocado tree, pot and compost. He had great fun planting it and waters it each day. Ok there will not be any fruit on it for a long time, but he enjoys watching it grow and gets excited by new shoots and leaves.

We have chickens roaming the backyard and Noah loves collecting the eggs. He helps round up the chooks, feeds them his toast crusts and tips out their water, causing them to almost die of thirst on hot days!

Gardening with kids does not have to be difficult, time consuming or stressful. Make the simple tasks fun, give them a few responsibilities within maintaining the garden, and soon you will have a little person with green fingers hassling you to be out in the garden more!

One of the contacts I have made since starting my business is James Bray, a nutritionist with the University of Newcastle, here in NSW. After an exchange of emails, James kindly sent me some fascinating articles about studies that have been carried out in the United States into educating kids through setting up vegetable gardens in Schoolyards. This wonderful tool that not only educates kids where some of their supermarket food comes from, also enhances, through practical application, the maintenance of these gardens, teamwork, psychosocial development and cooperation will their peers.

Over 2,000 gardens in the state of California have schoolyard programs established, and many more nationwide. There are official government programs such as Farm-to-School, and Edible Schoolyard, that run a 12 and 17 week program that not only includes classroom theory but also takes the kids into the schoolyard to establish and grows vegetables for consumption, selling at local markets or school fetes. Alternatively some schools have set up kitchens where the children can learn basic cookery with the produce they have grown.

These programs are primarily run for kids between the ages of 7-11, a prime age to teach the basic of not only healthy eating, but environmental concern and basic science. Schools also invite local farmers in to talk about traditional and modern farming, its challenges and future sustainability methods. Within some of these programs schools have made agreements with farmers that local produce will be used in school meals and in exchange school trips are made where children can observe a working farm.

There are of course hurdles to overcome when establishing such a program, such as who looks after the beds after the program has finished, how to avoid graffiti or damage from uninvolved persons and maintenance throughout a holiday period. Teachers, followed by parent volunteers and then students continued to maintain the beds once the program was finished or over the holiday period throughout many of the schools in California. Another interesting point to note is that one school in California recorded that the children involved in such a program felt more attached to the school and motivated them to work harder and engage themselves in many other topic areas.

Although there has been little study into the consumption of eating fruit and vegetables and obesity, “inadequate consumption of vegetables among adolescents has been correlated with a range of poorer academic and health outcomes”(Ozer, E. 2006). Broader school curriculum can reinforce the practical teaching that is done in the schoolyard. Probably the most important support from an educational stance is to cease selling soft drinks and unhealthy food options in the canteen during school hours.

There is currently a study being conducted here in Australia into the health benefits of having schoolyard gardens. I look forward to the results. Growing produce in school is not just about digging around in the dirt for a few weeks, observing something grow until it has matured ready to harvest. Growing produce needs to be taught hand in hand with nutrition, environmental awareness and science. This combination will help teach our children that the only way to establish a sustainable world, populated by healthy people, is to engage schools and communities into growing their produce locally and teaching the basics of healthy living.

www.edibleschoolgardens.org
www.farmtoschool.org