Gardening with children: 3 easy things to grow

In a world where living with the environment in mind is becoming more and more of a focus, home growing is increasing in popularity. If it’s not something you’ve ever done before, let alone with kids, then it can seem a little daunting, so we’ve put together a little list of a few things which are fairly simple to grow and don’t need that much space to break you in gently!

Not only is it a great activity to get the entire family involved, it can also be a really crafty way to strongly encourage kids to eat their vegetables – even the most ardent vegetable hater can’t resist the taste of pride, having grown some themselves!

Sunflowers

This is a traditional favourite. Simply plant in individual pots (you can start small, and re-pot into a larger space as it grows), and keep well-watered in a sunny spot. One fun game to play is allocate each family member their own sunflower seeds and have a competition of whose can grow the tallest!

Please note: if you take part in the competition option, even though sunflowers are really easy to look after, it’s always good to plant some spares to avoid the crushing disappointment of any casualties!

If you don’t fancy looking up to huge flowers, you can still enjoy the sunshine they bring to your garden with a dwarf variety.

Potatoes

You might be narrowing your eyes at this one, if you’ve heard they take a lot of ground. Potatoes do take a lot of ground if you’re planting multiple plants – across an allotment, for example – but did you know they can also be grown in containers?

Simply half-fill a large container with drainage holes in the bottom with soil, plant your seed potato which you can buy online if you’re not near a garden centre. As it starts to grow upwards, keep topping it up with soil until it stops, or you reach the top.

When the spuds are ready, you can have the best treasure hunt ever, finding all of the potatoes in the container? Why is it the best treasure hunt ever? Because once you’ve found them all, your treasure hunt can end in a bowl of homegrown and homemade chips – yummy!

Cress

If you have no outdoor space, prefer to be indoors, or have very little patience then all is not lost – you can still join in. Cress is a super simple option. Simply save one of the plastic trays things such as mushrooms are packaged in from the supermarket, or a margarine tub, and recycle it as a cress tray.

1. Line your tray with cotton wool or kitchen paper
2. Make it very damp, but not sodden
3. Evenly sprinkle with cress seeds

Keep them in a cool dark place like a cupboard, keep the cotton wool or kitchen roll damp, and in not very long you will have your own little cress forest which you can cut and add to salads and sandwiches!

Have you had success gardening with your kids? Send us photos of your efforts on Twitter or Facebook, we'd love to see them!