There are numerous benefits to growing your own food in your garden with children which I will explore below. 

In many ways we are really lucky to have a large garden of 90 feet which the children can run around and explore.  In other ways we are not so lucky as it’s going to cost a small fortune to landscape such a huge space and may even require a second mortgage!

Ever since I was a child I wanted to grow my own food.  I’ve honestly got no clue what I am doing, but since me and Ben bought our first home together in 2014 we have been growing fruit and vegetables every summer.

Before this house we lived for three years in a flat with no garden.  And before this I lived in no less than 10 houses from my late teens to mid-twenties and many were flats, shared houses and bedsits without a garden to call my own.

I always knew that as soon as we had a garden we would grow some fruits and vegetables.  I had my eye on some vegetable trugs for a long time and when we moved in we bought some!

The garden already had a mulberry tree, cherry tree and raspberries.  We have kept these and also added pear, plum and apple trees, as well as a huge strawberry patch.

We grow different vegetables each year in our two vegetable trugs, which are around 1m in length each.  We’ve also grown in sacks and patio pots.  We’ve grown potatoes, leeks, tomatoes, green beans, courgettes, carrots and salad leaves.

Our garden and patio is a royal mess, to me anyway, and needs a good sort out.  We plan on building more raised vegetable planters when we eventually get round to properly landscaping the garden.  We’d like to grow more and learn more about growing.

It’s also a plan for the future as we are so busy with work currently and continuing to do up our home.  With all this and raising two children, we’ve never had enough time to expand and nurture a vegetable patch, but have grown as much as our free time currently permits.  We’ve had good intentions and we always enjoy eating what we have managed to grow.

Reasons to grow your own food with kids

Growing our own vegetables is something that brings value to myself and my children.  There are lots of benefits to growing your own food, especially when getting kids involved, which I’ll share below.

• Truly organic – only by growing your own produce will you be able to control exactly what goes into the soil and on the food for it to grow.  You can purchase organic seeds and over time, save your own.

• Fresher than fresh – it’s no secret that supermarket food from the fresh aisle is, well, not so fresh!  Some fruits and vegetables have been shipped from abroad, stored and then sat on the shelves losing precious nutrients at every step.  Growing your own means you can eat food that has just been picked, like instantly or 5 minutes ago.  You can’t get much fresher than that.

• Higher in nutrients – as I just mentioned, the longer fruits and vegetables sit around, the more their nutrients deplete.  The fresher they are, the higher they are in nutritional value.  If you pick your own produce from your garden right at the moment you need it, then you will maximise the nutritional value.

• Encourage a love for nature – getting outdoors, in fresh air is super healthy, will lessen screen time and hopefully encourage a love for the great outdoors and nature itself.  They will learn the value of all the plant cycle and how important wildlife is, such as bees and butterflies to pollinate and worms to fertilize the compost.  Rather than see these things as pests, it will hopefully encourage them to love insects and wildlife as we need them for food production.

• A valuable skill – learning to grow your own and to save seeds is a valuable skill that can save money and be used as a survival skill if needed.

• Healthy eating habits – lots of kids hate certain vegetables, or all of them, but you’ll be surprised how many they will eat when they grow them by themselves.  They are proud to eat what they have grown and it can be a great way of encouraging healthy eating habits from a young age.

• Teaches patience – even as adults we can be very impatient and want everything done yesterday (guilty!), but gardening and growing your own food requires patience as it takes time.  It’s so exciting when those first seeds sprout and the food starts growing.  It’s amazing how excited the kids get!

• Family bonding – it also creates quality time together and a hobby that can be enjoyed by all ages.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, growing your own food with children is a rewarding experience that nurtures a connection to nature, promotes healthier eating habits, and teaches valuable life skills. While our journey has been a work in progress, the joy of seeing our kids harvest and taste the fruits (and vegetables!) of their labour makes every effort worthwhile.

Even with our busy lives and a garden that still needs plenty of work, this shared activity has created lasting memories and a sense of achievement for the whole family. As we continue to learn and expand our little patch of homegrown goodness, we’re reminded that the journey is just as fulfilling as the harvest.

If you’ve ever thought about starting your own vegetable patch, why not give it a go? Even a small space can yield big rewards—and who knows, you might just spark a lifelong passion for gardening in your little ones too.