[becky]

Well, I have just done a tour of my allotment, for the pre-school that my daughter goes to. They all loved it, the peas, the raspberries, the chooks, it was great, just hoping that it might get them interested in a small way. From small acorns, great oak trees grow, and all that jazz!

[GrannieAnnie]

Good for you Becky, I hope what you've shown them puts a little thought in their minds that will grow into something big one day!

I think all children should be shown where their food comes from!  Although when my OH offers to show the children and grandchildren where your roast chicken comes from, they usually 'chicken' out!!!! hahaha

[tetley]

well done becky........I bet some of them have gone home to ask mummy or daddy if they can grow something.....you never know!

[mum of 3]

our kids take it all for granted now but when nieces and nephews come they are facinated

[ytyynycefn]

We had the 5/6 year olds from my son's school visit ours - they loved smelling the herbs, seeing tomatoes actually growing, watching the frogs in the pond and stuff.  It's great to get them interested at a young age!

[upthetump]

well done, getting kids interested is a very worthwhile thing to do. As others have said, children should know where their food comes from. My daughters were my inspiration in getting my first plot when they were 6 and 4. They came with me to plant and pick it was so rewarding to see their faces when the first radish sprouted right through to picking corn cobs. Fabulous. I wanted to teach them that food came from the ground and not just from supermarket shelves. Very well done for showing the kids around, for some it can be a life changing experience for the future.  

[wellingtons]

... and have always tried to encourage him with planting seeds, picking veg and things.  And it's been interesting to see him become mildly interested.  He has favourite jobs ... he likes digging carrots, picking beans and doing pretty heavy jobs on the plot, like edging the path or humping paving slabs about.

But for the last few months he has been working at a local plant nursery and he has absolutely loved it.  He's been planting seeds, potting on, nursing them through from seed to sale.  He's bought plants for the garden and for his bedroom and the house.

So the local nursery has in a way succeeded where perhaps I stumbled, but as I keep telling myself he would never have taken the job on in the first place.

It did make me chuckle a couple of weeks ago, as I sat at the dining table with my 17 year old son, and his 17 year old girlfriend and we were podding broad beans ... and they were perfectly happy!!  

[nicky]

Great! My daughters 6 and 9 love helping in the garden. They had so much fun pulling up the potatoes it was like a lucky dip as to who found the biggest one. We have chickens as well and they can't wait untill they start laying. I'm a firm believer in children knowing how things grow and where are food comes from. If we want our children to respect and protect the planet they need to understand how it works.

[upthetump]

Hear hear

[Fat Hen]

If we want our children to respect and protect the planet they need to understand how it works.

I'll second that, my eldest daughter (6, barely), enjoys helping in the garden, planting seeds & watching them grow.  She has her own chilli plant and for a while it was the only one with fruit on.

We also have 3 pet chickens (2 hens & a rooster) which although not particularly good layers produce about 1/2 dozen eggs between them a week, which my 2 daughters have for breakfast scrambled on sunday.  It's sweet to hear them thanking the chickens for the eggs they are eating.