If you and your kids have been eagerly waiting to get back to kindergarten, the wait is over! There are a number of fabulous spring vegetables you can grow weeks before the last frost, as soon as the soil can be worked without sticking to tools. Many of these crops also happen to be extremely kid-friendly.
the perfect pea
My all-time kids favorite is the shelled pea. Here are some of the reasons why they are my absolute first choice for gardening with kids:
1) You can plant them early in the season, perfect for impatient little ones (and big ones) who can’t wait to get into the garden.
2) The seeds are huge and among the easiest for small hands to handle.
3) They sprout quite quickly and the sprout is large and unmistakable. This plant is less likely to be uprooted by small “helpful” weeders.
4) They produce their delicious pods quickly and are easy to pick.
5) They are delicious to eat raw and very entertaining to open and take out the green pearls of deliciousness. It almost brings tears to my eyes with delight as I watch my little ones busy harvesting and chewing on fresh peas in the garden, like young pandas in a bamboo field.
riveted radishes
Another great early spring pick for kids is radishes. They are often planted in the same area as carrots to mark the rows, as they sprout weeks before the wispy carrot seedlings. (Children love to grow and eat carrots, but they should know that the seeds are very small and take a looooong time to sprout.)
Radish seeds are considerably smaller than peas, but still manageable for many little fingers. They are also fast growing and mature extremely quickly (around 25 days for the smaller varieties).
They can also be extremely beautiful. The Easter Egg radish comes in the loveliest shades of pastel pinks and purples.
However, many avid mini gardeners were surprised to bite into a pink radish and experience a very different taste than Easter eggs. Radishes taste much less kid-friendly than pea, often pungent, even sulphurous, so you may have to work to make them more appetizing. Try slicing them very thin for salads, or take a 1950s hostess tip and make some radish roses: Cut off the tops and bottoms of your radishes. Place one flat (cut) end down and cut four or five “petals” on the perimeter of the radish, cutting ¾ down from the top. Then soak them in ice water until the “petals” separate a bit. (recipes.howstuffworks.com/how-to-garnish-cooking8.htm explains it best).
My dad describes eating radish snacks as a kid in Germany, a large white variety he remembers as “Bierettich”, perhaps similar to “white icicle”. To prepare them, he would hold them by the root, cut the vegetables, and then cut them from top to bottom to make a kind of fan. Then the cuts were salted well and left to soak. He was ready to eat when he got good and “tearful”. (This was traditionally accompanied by a cold beer with the oldest set.)
Maybe your gardening gang would like to try growing the mighty daikon radish, which can be up to 5 feet long! These white giants have a milder flavor and can be sliced thin and then shaped with cookie cutters for a cheerful vegetarian treat.
Or maybe your little ones just pull out handfuls of pink radishes, spray them down with the hose, and happily munch on them right off the ground.
Of course, there is always ranch sauce.
super spinach
Spinach is another kid-friendly early spring crop that we will be growing this year. The seeds are also quite manageable. It also matures quickly and has a mild flavor that can be used in almost any delicious and nutritious dish.
It is a particularly good cold frame crop for those of you who are lucky enough to have a helpful person in your lives. You can enjoy cooler-than-cool spinach all winter long in many climates with the help of a simple wooden frame built to catch the southern sun. Another way to take advantage of the season is to plant it in the fall, about four weeks before the average last frost date, and then cover it with mulch or row covers for overwintering. In spring you uncover the baby spinach, which will be ready weeks before the ones sown in spring.
For those of us who lacked such foresight, simply spread your spinach seed over well-worked soil with plenty of compost and nitrogen, water well, keep moist, and wait for your green leaves. The smaller ones will tend to uproot plants during harvest. If you plan to harvest more than once, you may want to harvest the spinach yourself by picking or cutting individual leaves.
If you have a picky spinach eater, here are a couple of really delicious recipes to try.
Creamy Baked Spinach
2 pounds fresh spinach 1 ½ cups hot milk 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon salt Dash of pepper Dash of nutmeg
Trim and wash 2 pounds of fresh spinach.
Place in a large pot.
Cover and cook just until softened.
Cool, then squeeze out excess water.
In saucepan, melt butter; then add the flour.
Beat and cook gently for 3-4 minutes.
Add milk; then bring to a boil.
Add the salt and a pinch of pepper and nutmeg.
Cook for about 5-6 minutes.
Combine sauce with spinach and ½ cup cheese.
Pour into a baking dish, then top with the other ½ cup of cheese.
Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20 minutes.
Delicious Spinach Salad
1 grocery-store sized bunch spinach, leaving just 1 small red onion, chopped ½ pound bacon, cooked and drained ½ cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Combine mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar; let stand at least an hour and a half.
Clean and dry the spinach leaves, then cut them into small pieces and place them in a bowl.
Sprinkle onions over spinach.
Crumble the bacon and put on top.
Toss with dressing and serve.
If you have a picky eater at home, like me, go for it. Research has shown that children are more likely to eat the kinds of vegetables they grew themselves.
Add that to the endless list of reasons you garden with your kids.