I’ll be spending this month encouraging my children to get out into the garden and help me with my new food growing endeavours. I’m a novice gardener with barely a perennial or a flowering shrub to my name. I love nature and appreciate the beauty of other people’s gardens but I’ve never been able to fully commit to my own.

Since setting up The Cool Food School, part of my goal has been to teach children about where food comes from. There are many benefits to teaching children about growing food so its high time I put my money where my mouth is, step up to the raised bed and get my dig on …

And here’s why I’ll be encouraging my kids to get involved too :

1 - The number one reason I’ll be encouraging my children to grow with me is because it will help make them excited about the fruit and veggies we grow and in turn, encourage more eating of said produce - a win win for everyone

2 - Growing food teaches children to appreciate where that food comes from. We have become more removed from the origins of our food than any generation before us resulting in situations where children think that cheese comes from the garage (a child in one of my classes one time). 

3. Hopefully, when children have a better understanding of where their food comes from and the work that is involved in growing that food, they will be less likely to waste food .. I have no research to back this up …it’s just a wild hope!

4. And on the subject of food waste - growing your own food helps reduce food mileage, packaging and food waste. You only pick what you need when you need it rather than having a bag of carrots in plastic rotting at the bottom of your veg rack …(we’ve all done it!).

5. Gardening teaches children about seasonality. Yes, they will be disappointed that they can’t have strawberries in January but when the strawberries do ripen in the summer, it will be joy all round (so long as the birds don’t get them first!).

6. And that brings me on to delayed gratification - something that our children (well mine anyway) experience very little of due to the instantaneous nature of our online world. Delayed gratification has many benefits for our children (and us, let’s be honest!). Teaching our children to plan a garden, sow and tend it and then enjoy the fruits of their harvest helps to teach them about the bigger picture, it teaches patience and the value of planning and goal setting - valuable life skills.

7. Gardening can also teach children to be responsible for something outside of themselves. Plants need to be watered and weeded and minded as they grow and when children are successful in the garden, it will teach them to be reliable and responsible in their everyday.

 8. Gardening is a form of exercise. If you have a child that’s not especially sporty, this might be a nice alternative way for them to exercise. Gardening can be pretty strenuous if you’re digging beds or hauling piles of weeds to the compost. Also great if you have children you want to tire out!

9. Gardening is a sensory experience - we can teach our children to smell the leaves of plants, feel the texture of different leaves, listen to the birds, feel the muck on their hands. 

10. Gardening can be therapeutic for children (and us mammies and daddies!). Research has shown that children with behavioural issues (and those without) benefit from spending time gardening - it brings a sense of calm as well as helping to improve self-esteem.

11. Gardening is a great family activity - there are suitable activities in the garden for children of all ages. Check out the Know-it-Allmanac - a great introduction to growing and eating for all the family by GIY- the home of food growing in Ireland.

12. Being out in nature is good for our overall well being - it lifts our mood and that of our offspring— everyone appreciates that even more now in the past year following all the lockdowns we’ve had. It is relaxing and helps children (and adults) to destress. Unless they end up throwing muck at each other but fingers crossed that won’t be the case ….

13. Gardening can be done by everyone irrespective of the size of their garden. Kids can grow herbs in pots on the windowsill or in repurposed shopping bags on the patio. It is relatively inexpensive to start kids off growing and could end up saving you money in the long run. Check out Quickcrop and Little Green Growers - two Irish companies that can send you all your gardening needs.

14. Having my children involved in the garden means less time spent on a screen - so that’s always a good thing!

15. Gardening is fun and interesting and exciting for kids. Digging and planting and watching their plants grow and the excitement when they can pick and eat something they’ve grown themselves - that’s what I’m looking forward to! Yes, there is work involved but 30 minutes less scrolling a day is good for me too!

Do you grow your own food? What do you grow?