If you’re looking for ways to keep the kids interested in the garden this summer then a quick read of this article will put a few ideas for quick growing plants that’ll keep little ones engaged for more than five minutes. There’s nothing more satisfying that eating your own produce straight from the garden so let’s get planting! 

Garden planting: Spinach 

Top of the list is spinach, not only because it grows quickly; the boys all want to be like Popeye in my house and it’s been a great way to introduce vegetables into their diet. Spinach grows in not time at all too. If you have good quality soil then that’s half the battle over already. You’ll need to constantly water spinach but with plenty of sunlight to go it’s pretty realistic to expect a good crop in as little as four weeks! If the conditions aren’t quite as favourable then I would suggest six to seven weeks is also feasible. 

Given the speed at which Spinach grows, it’s an ideal additional to the vegetable patch and sure to keep the kids interested. From sowing seed it’s only a few days before first growth is noticeable. This is pretty exciting for kids and a brilliant way to educate and teach the basics of gardening to your children, and have fun at the same time! 

Baby Carrots 

What would a vegetable patch be without baby carrots? I haven’t just picked baby carrots for the speed of growth either, they are delicious and the only vegetable I have consistently been able to get all my kids eating, representing Bugs Bunny 🙂 

In the right conditions baby carrots will show you seriously rapid growth. You can expect a decent crop in as little as 30 days! There isn’t really much better than heading into the garden with the kids and harvesting organic baby carrots. 

Cucumbers 

 Cucumber is another great planter for the garden, technically cucumber is a fruit but we almost always treat it and eat it as a vegetable. They grow really easily, in fact, perhaps too easily! You’ll need to allow plenty of space or at a minimum provide the plant with a trellis to grow. 

Regarding timing, it’s pretty realistic to expect a decent crop within six to eight weeks. This isn’t the quickest grower but it certainly is a family favourite for your garden planting. Cucumbers are super versatile for the kitchen so should definitely be on the vegetable to do list. 

Lettuce 

The list wouldn’t really be complete without lettuce would it? It’s the one thing we can normally get our kids to eat beyond spinach and Bugs Bunny’s carrots. That’s because it’s genuinely quite tasty. Also looking at the overall list you have a cracking basis for a lovely summer salad following this little article. What better way to enjoy the garden with the kids this summer. I hope I’ve given you a few nice ideas to work with and I hope it helps you introduce the family to the garden, planting is the best way to go about it! 

** This is a guest post **