Speed up
gardening with baby veggies
By Deborah Clark
Planting a garden is a rite of
spring. Digging into the dark moist earth is very satisfying.
Having your child participate will foster a bond with all things
natural.
But plants grow slowly, and children
are impatient. A compromise can be made by raising baby veggies.
Actually, the vegetables themselves will eventually grow into
mature plants. Harvesting the immature plants allows the remaining
plants to have more room to grow.
Choose vegetables that grow quickly,
at least to the sprouting (germination) stage. Good choices are
leafy greens, radishes and herbs. You need not limit yourself
to traditional vegetables, however. Many ethnic vegetable seeds
like gai lon (a broccoli-like vegetable of the mustard family),
bok choy and diakon (Japanese radish) can be purchased at grocery
stores, garden centres or ethnic food stores. Check to make sure
there are English instructions; if you can’t find instructions,
ask someone and write them down.
Sprout jars
Another option is to create sprout jars. Place a one-quart jar
on its side. Sprinkle seeds -- alfalfa, broccoli, radish, mung
bean, onion and garlic seeds are all good choices -- onto a damp
paper towel or sponge. Place them into the jar. Screw the lid
on and watch the magic begin. Placed in a sunny location, germination
should begin in several days.
Don’t get Peter Pan
syndrome
Don't limit your baby's garden to baby vegetables. Make sure the
children understand that some of the plants get to grow, just
as they themselves are growing every day.
Be prepared to plant the same vegetable
repeatedly, if the children decide they really like it. Buying
extra seed packets or large packets ensures that you can plant
again come mid-summer, when there are no seeds in the stores.
Ever-bearing plants like chard,
spinach and lettuce make picking easy. As long as the stems are
not cut to close to the ground, they will continue to produce
leaves all season long.
Mix and match
Planting these types of plants in a patch, rather than in rows,
yields a nice blend of flavors and textures. Unfortunately, unless
you have a chart showing each variety of leaf, you may not be
able to identify exactly which leaf you are eating. If you have
the children plant the patch, broadcast sowing will mix all the
seeds nicely.
If you don't have access to a plot
of ground, most vegetables adapt easily to containers. Root vegetables
need rather deep pots. Make sure the plants have good drainage,
and water them well. Containers are also portable. You can plant
the seeds indoors and move them outside once the weather warms.
You can continue to move them around the yard or balcony throughout
the summer
Taking the children to the garden
to see what has grown -- sometimes overnight -- is a wondrous
experience. Plant a garden today and watch all things grow.
© Deborah Clark
Deborah Clark is currently
writing a cookbook, Kids to Cuisine, when she isn't is busy introducing
children to all the wonders of nature. She also enjoys spreading
the wonder by writing about it whenever she can. She can be reached
at daclark@mywritemind.com.
