Just watching your parents digging, cultivating, sowing, weeding and harvesting can get pretty boring in the long run. Most children are very enthusiastic about gardening, as long as they get their own bed to sow and harvest themselves.
Which plants are suitable for a vegetable garden for children?
A vegetable garden for children should be in a sunny location and contain fast-growing, robust plants such as radishes, carrots, kohlrabi, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini. Berry bushes and strawberries are also ideal for little hands.
Planning the children's bed
But before mom and dad start staking out a patch of garden soil for the offspring, they first have to put some energy into the planning - it also applies to children's beds that only those who have taken appropriate precautions can harvest. This not only concerns the selection of the right location, but also the preparation of the soil (which should be improved if necessary), the choice of plants suitable for children, etc.
Location and size
The same applies to a children's bed: if possible, grow vegetables in a full sun location with humus-rich, well-drained soil. Parents should not make the mistake of giving their children an unsuitable piece of ground; assuming nothing would come of it anyway. The opposite is the case, because if the plants don't grow as hoped, the little ones quickly become frustrated and give up. Also remember that children have shorter arms and the beds should therefore be significantly narrower than usual. Only then can the little ones get everywhere and garden like the adults.
Optimal for little people: a raised or table bed
Instead of a conventional flat bed, raised or table beds tailored to children's sizes are also wonderfully suitable for introducing children to gardening. The optimal raised bed for (larger) children is between 80 and 100 centimeters high and a maximum of 100 centimeters wide - smaller children of course also need smaller and lower beds.
Suitable plants for the offspring's snack patch
The smaller the child, the faster a garden has to deliver results (read: fruits). Fast-growing fruit and vegetable plants are very suitable for children, as they are also robust and can be eaten straight away. Ideal vegetable plants for children include:
- Radish
- Carrots
- Kohlrabi
- Peas (especially sugar and marsh peas!)
- cucumbers
- Tomatoes
- Salads (especially cut and picked salads)
- and zucchini.
But pumpkins and melons, physalis, berry bushes (raspberries, currants, gooseberries) and strawberries are also ideal for small children's hands.
Tip
Don't talk too much into your children when planning and caring for the garden, but just be there to give advice and, if necessary, help - the children make the important decisions themselves. If only the adults decide, it is more effective demotivating and the little ones quickly lose interest - mom does everything alone anyway.
