If they pick it...they will eat it...mostly...

We are very new to the whole gardening thing...i am not proclaiming to be any type of expert...my husband is probably laughing at me writing this post since he is the real person behind the success of everything grown. He has quite the green thumb and willing attitude, for which i am ever grateful because i love the idea of a garden and not so much all the work...although i do help out...just not as invested as my husband. Is that a fair disclaimer, dear? okay then...so the other day bryson took a field trip with his first grade class to Tanaka Farms - cute place...a bit pricey...but what do you expect for a farm in O.C.? and anyway - they got to pick a pumpkin and also other vegetables out of the ground. Bryson was so excited because apparently they told him he could only pick 4 carrots, but one that he pulled out had like 5 fingers...you would have thought he won the lottery the way he described how it all went down...love that kid and his enthusiasm!

okay...back to my point. sorry - i am so tangential today...you are just going to have to roll with it...i doubt its going to get better...look i did it again. okay, right, so anyway - my point in it all is that when you get kiddos involved with the whole process they begin to see food differently. bryson has his own garden this past year for the first time and our only stipulation was that he could only grow foods he would eat and that he had to eat anything he picked. to my surprise he planted a bunch of peppers...and ate them all! So when he came home from the field trip with onions and radishes and carrots - i told him...you know what this means? you have to eat them! "oh man, mom...i didn't want the radishes...they told me i had to pick them. i don't really like radishes" Too bad! was my gentle mothering reply.

making a long story a little longer...last night i made a really special dinner for the fam bam...i lit candles and made dessert - the whole deal. part of the dinner was roasted veggies - and all of the veggies he picked were in it. He ate a whole radish and liked it...but loved the onion even more! Now - can i just tell you that Bryson did not start out an adventurous eater? This is only in the last 2 or 3 years (he is 7) that he is eating all this stuff - like spicy things and peppers and onions, etc. and a large part of it is the whole garden experience.


I know many of you may live in apartments or places that are hard to grow food, but even just one plant can open them up to the experience of seeing food grown. It is magical to them and so fun to see Bryson now plan his next year's garden alongside his dad. Even starting with something like this could open it up to them! Happy growing!

P.S. Sorry for the cruddy photos...its all my phone (and me) were capable of at the moment