Those of you with young children will understand the irrational fear that most children have of eating vegetables. This is a mystery for me (and most parents) because vegetables are brightly coloured (which children like), have a variety of flavours (which children like), they can eat as much of them as they want (which children like) and they are very good for you (which may be the problem!).

I am also very fortunate because my youngest Son (aged loves to do things with his Dad (me!) and what could be a more rewarding experience than nurturing seeds and plants, watching them grow, feeding them, weeding them, picking the beans and peas, pulling the carrots and the cabbages, cutting the cucumbers, courgettes and sweetcorn … and then eating them together with the Sunday Roast!

I have just started a vegetable in the garden and asked my young son to look after the plants when I am away on business (which is very often!). So now I have a willing helper, who demands to look after the vegetable patch when I’m away, who helps with the watering and weeding when I’m home (surely its not because he gets to play in the soil!) and is really looking forward to being able to harvest the crop and eat the ‘fruits’ of our labour.

We are now a few days into our first harvest and we will see if the plan has worked and we witness the cheering spectacle of a small boy demanding more vegetables! …

… Runner Beans, Courgettes, Tomatoes, Mange Tout and the piece de resistance Sweetcorn! Our little vegetable plot is producing vegetables at a great rate of knots! Due to our less than expert status we let some of the courgettes stay on the plant an extra day, which resulted in them becoming the size of prize marrows overnight!

But! The grand plan seems to be working. Now my young helper is keen to see what to do with our vegetables. He is intrigued by how they are prepared, surprised at how many different ways there are to cook them and, most importantly of all, determined to find out what they taste like!

I don’t know how long this will last, but if we can grow enough, different types of veg, then maybe He’ll get a taste for it and develop a healthy diet from an early age.

We’re experimenting with salad plants now and I wonder if eating the produce raw will be better or worse (from and eight year old’s perspective …).

This article is an extract from Nigel’s blog (www.nigel-online.blogspot.com). Please visit the blog, read the full article and join in the discussion on healthy things to do with you children.

Nigel Girling is a 25+ year veteran in the high tech industry, and a family man. He has has recently started a blog (www.nigel-online.blogspot.com) that covers a range of subjects from IT Industry trends through basic engineering projects (too much watching ‘Scrap-Heap Challenge’!) to growing vegetables!

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