Growing flowers and veg with toddlers

[speedymama]

My DTS are only 2 years old but I have already purchased some sunflower seeds in order to sow them with the boys. I was looking on the web for other interesting things to plant when I came across \link{http://www.potatoesforschools.org.uk/GYOP/factsheets.html\this} and thought I would share it with you.

I'm new to planting and growing flowers/vegetables so a basic worksheet like this is right up my street.

I would be grateful for any suggestions you may have on vegetables that are easy to grow. I don't have a large soon to be vegetable patch in my garden but it does get a lot of sun from 11am onwards.

TIA

lots of veg are easy to grow

i wouldnt do maincrop potatoes (take up tons of room and are cheap to buy) but little new potatoes are lovely and fun for kids to help dig up.

Mine love peas and gorge themselves on them in the summer so we always do those although tbh I find them an enormous hassle and usually use frozen . Ditto broad beans.

Carrots and onions are good and bear no resemblance to shop bought ones.

Sweet peas are also a lovely thing to grow and the more you pick the more you get - so great for kids.

I love peas. Excuse my ignorance but when they have grown, do you take them out of the shell and use them straight away or can you freeze them as soon as you pick them?

I love peas. Excuse my ignorance but when they have grown, do you take them out of the shell and use them straight away or can you freeze them as soon as you pick them?

you have to pod them then you can freeze them or eat them straightaway - I wouldn't bother freezing them as tbh ready frozen ones are just as good, if you eat them within an hour of picking they are amazingly sweet. But the sugar turns to starch v quickly so only worth eating straight away.

my dds eat them all before we get there

oh tomatoes are easy too and something else kids like to eat (grow the little cherry ones in a container)

Thank you! Can't wait to get started now

ta for link sm. we grow ots of stuff in our tiny backyard (and it is tiny) mainly in containers but for some reason had never thought of potatoes. will try.

Anybody know if you can grow Peas in a pot. I can remember home grown Peas from childhood and they are delicious eaten straight from the pod. I've only got space for plants grown in Pots so any more suggestions, so far I'm thinking Cherry Tomatoes, Baby new potatoes, Peas hopefully, Strawberries. Want to try to get my toddler to understand that Fruit and Veg dont come from Sainsburys.

Think you can do peas in a pot, as long as ther is enough room.
We also do brocollli, and courgettes, both in pots.

Tomatoes are def th e easiest, especially if you get the tumbling ones, as they don't need to be nipped in, so they just grow and grow. We do those in a pot too.

And basil.

Another novice question. How do you prepare your pots/ground for sowing? Do you use compost or just dig the dirt over? How far apart do you sow the seeds, particularly in a pot? How do you feed and nourish the plants? Is it best to start in April when it is supposedly warmer or should I start now?

The more I think about this, the more I realise that I know nothing about growing plants or vegetables but at least I'm prepared to learn

Another novice veg grower here (taken on allotment but not started yet)and my mum has been giving me advice because she knows all about it. Sooo I'm going to get dd to 'help' by growing the radishes as they are supposed to be very easy and quick to grow. She probably won't eat them but hopefully won't get bored before she has the satisfaction of growing something either.

We tried sunflowers in the garden last year but they weren't a great success. This year I'll get the kids some nasturtium seeds as they will grow whatever they do to them!

You can do anything in a pot, really. I am the queen of pot growing.

Basil you can do by going to the supermarket, buying one of their basil pots, then seperating them all out into individual plants and planting them. Then pinch off the tops (and make a nice pesto with them). This will get you so much basil you don't know what to do with it.

Or you can buy seeds and faff around with them. I recommend VidaVerde.