The easiest veggies for children to grow that you can plant right now

Ahh, sunshine. Isn’t it lovely?! Take advantage of the warmer weather and head outside to grow a veggie garden with your children. It’s easier than you think and you’ll be reaping the rewards in no time!

Gardening is great for children. It gets them outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air, works their muscles as they dig, plant and weed and they’re learning about life too. Growing your own food teaches children about nourishment – plants grow better when we enrich the soil and feed them with plenty of water and sunlight. It teaches them to take responsibility for watering their plants and it teaches them about reward for effort, literally reaping what they sow. Here are five of the easiest plants to grow right now:

Tomatoes: Tomatoes pretty much grow themselves. Seriously, if you have a punnet of cherry tomatoes in the fridge, you can squish the seeds out and pop them in the soil and you’ll most likely be rewarded with plants. Seeds take about 5-10 days to germinate. Depending on the variety, tomatoes usually need something to grow against, so consider planting them near a fence or staking them.

Mixed lettuce: Lettuce seeds germinate in as little as seven days, making them great for children to see quick results. Leaves can be harvested after about four weeks. It’s worth planting new seeds every fortnight so you have a continual supply of leaves to give you salads all summer long.

Corn: It’s pretty spectacular to watch a plant grow from a seed to be taller than you! Children might like taking selfies with the corn so they can measure its growth over time. Corn will be ready to harvest in about 12 weeks and can be eaten cooked or straight from the garden – sweet and juicy!

Cucumber: Fresh cucumbers add a delicious crunch to salads and the mini varieties are perfect for little hands to hold for snacking. Cucumbers grow on a vine, so need a bit of space to spread out, or you can train them to grow up a trellis. They take about 8-10 weeks to harvest.

Capsicum: Capsicums are fun to grow because they come in a variety of colours. The red, yellow and orange varieties are sweeter than the green and more appealing for children. If growing straight from seed, it’s best to plant them in a small container first and move them to a warm spot in the garden when they reach about 10cm. Capsicum plants grow into small bushes, so plant them about 50cm apart to give them enough room.

Keen for more garden ideas? Check out our post on growing herbs.