If you’re looking for something quick to grow with your kids you can’t go wrong with salad leaves. They grow relatively fast in relation to a lot of other fruit and veg so you can be munching on them in as little as four weeks.
Here we opted for Oriental Wonders Mix Salad Leaves (link below). Mixed packs like this have a lot of variety which makes things interesting and adds an element of surprise too, so they are perfect for keeping little ones interested. I must say with this mix I was really interested too, as I've never seen or tasted some of these varieties.
We designated H a small plot of her own, where she can dig and plant to her heart's content. After it was filled with multi-purpose compost we sowed the seeds. Usually I poke my fingers into the soil to make the hole for the seed to go in, but H was determined to do it herself this time, so I left her to it. There were tiny little finger holes everywhere! I helped out a little to make sure they were spread out enough, then we sprinkled the seeds on and added water - another of her fave gardening activities and one we do every single day (unless it's been chucking it down like it has recently).
The first shoots sprout quite quickly (after a week or so) then it’s fun to water them and watch them grow.
H loves to tickle them too. If you’ve read my blog from April ‘How to start a veg garden with a toddler’ you’ll know we like to tickle carrots to help them grow, but H has decided to tickle everything... she loves doing it and it’s really cute watching her - ‘tittle tittle’ as she says!
After about 4 weeks of growth we could have started harvesting these, but we delayed it so they would get really big and with the recent rain we’ve been having it was well worth it. So on our first day of sunshine (after about 7 weeks of growth) out we went with our child-safe scissors and got busy snipping at the leaves.
It’s a great way to practise using scissors and H was totally engrossed - tongue of concentration fully out and everything!
Then into the kitchen to wash the leaves and get rid of the excess soil and little bugs.
As always there are loads of learning opportunities at every stage from growing to harvesting and plenty of chances to discuss what's going on. Here we were discussing the size and shapes of the different leaves. The one she's pointing at is 'big and spiky' and the one next to it was the 'round circle one'.
Then it was onto the most important bit - the taste test. Yum! I was surprised by how fragrant some of the leaves were and one of them even has a little spicy kick to it too. Definitely more exciting than normal salad leaves. But if you prefer the normal ones there’s plenty to choose from and they all grow in a similar time frame.
Which variety will you choose?
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