How to Grow a Snacking Garden for Kids: Favorite Crops and Planting Tips
Kids and snacks go together like peas and carrots, both literally and figuratively. Join Melissa Strauss, a gardener and mom of three, in planning a delicious snacking garden that kids will love to help with.
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I don’t know about you, but my kids love a good snack. During summer break, I must hear the words ‘Can I have a snack?’ at least 20 times a day! But who can blame them? I love a good snack to bridge the gap between meals.
Store-bought snacks can be fun and tasty, but they aren’t always the best choice in terms of nutrition. A great way to steer kids in the right direction is to encourage them to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, which can sometimes be a challenge.
Kids also love getting involved in things we typically consider to be adult tasks. Gardening is one of those tasks that I find kids especially enjoy, and there are many great lessons to learn in the process.
Letting kids get involved in planning and growing their own snacking garden is a fantastic way to add more veggies to their diets. Watching the process from start to finish not only gives them a sense of accomplishment, but it piques their curiosity about foods that they may not ordinarily choose. Here are some tips on planning and executing a delicious snacking garden with the kids in your life.
Candy Cane
Chocolate Cherry
Sweet Pepper
Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry Sweet Pepper Seeds
Step 1: Choose a Sunny Spot
Kids tend to be impatient, and for good reason. Time seems to move more slowly for youngsters, so waiting for a garden to grow is already painstaking. Most veggies grow best in full sun conditions. If they don’t get enough light, their growth rate and production will be mediocre at best.
Make sure that when you choose your location, you pick a spot that gets plenty of sunlight. Six to eight hours is the minimum, and morning sun is coolest, so there is less of a chance that you’ll end up with scorched leaves. Well drained soil is also preferable for growing most things, so avoid low-lying areas where water tends to pool.
Step 2: Create a Kid-Friendly Layout
Make a plan for your snacking garden that is easy for kids to navigate and move around in. Little ones aren’t always careful about where they step and can be less agile in the early years. Adjust your plan to suit your family according to their ages.
Older children can handle more instructions, so your plan can be more involved. For younger ones, keep it simple and keep spaces between rows wide enough for them to navigate.
It’s easy and fun to use an online garden planner to create a layout, and kids can get involved with this as well. Our Epic planner makes it fun and easy to create a map and include icons for each plant, in addition to space requirements. It also includes planting guides for many types of plants, so everything is available in one place and easy to navigate.
Step 3: Choose the Right Seeds
Choosing seeds together is a fun way to keep children involved in the process from beginning to end. While younger ones may not be much help in clearing and amending soil, choosing the veggies they like to eat is a great way to make them feel involved.
I like to grow small versions of tender veggies that are great for eating straight off the vine. If they can pick it and eat it on the spot, even better! Consider the texture of what you plant, as some can be fibrous and less appetizing to young palettes. Here are some of our favorite kid-friendly varieties.
Carrot ‘Little Finger’
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common name Carrot ‘Little Finger’ |
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botanical name Daucus carota ‘Little Finger’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 3” roots |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Sweet, crunchy carrots are one of the most popular veggies at my house. They truly are nature’s candy. If you fill lunchboxes with baby carrots, you’ll love the ‘Little Finger’ variety. Baby carrots from the grocery store are just larger carrots cut to size. ‘Little Finger’ is a naturally small cultivar that only grows to about three inches. They grow fast, too, which is an added bonus, and they are extra sweet.
Celery ‘Utah’
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common name Celery ‘Utah’ |
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botanical name Apium graveolens ‘Utah’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 10”-30” |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Celery is crisp and savory and makes a perfect vehicle for nut butter. Toss some raisins on top to make ants on a log. Kids love the icky bug reference, and the sweet and salty mix is one even adults can appreciate. Celery likes mild weather, so it’s a good early-season crop. ‘Utah’ is great for harvesting young while the stalks are still tender.
Cucumber ‘Muncher’
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common name Cucumber ‘Muncher’ |
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botanical name Cucumis sativus ‘Muncher’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 4′ vines |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Cucumbers are refreshing and crunchy straight off the vine, perfect for a kid-friendly snacking garden. Persian varieties are small with nice, crisp, and snappy skin and fewer seeds, so they are good for snacking and pickling, too! ‘Muncher’ is perfect for small hands and is resistant to diseases. The pretty vines are about four feet long and look nice on a trellis.
Melon ‘Minnesota Midget’
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common name Melon ‘Minnesota Midget’ |
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botanical name Cucumis melo ‘Minnesota Midget’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 36″ vines |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Juicy melon is a kid-approved snack, but it can take them a long time to ripen, and littles can be impatient. ‘Minnesota Midget’ is an heirloom that dates back to 1948, and its small size means it matures in only 60-70 days! A single melon is only four inches and is perfect for a single serving. Allow plenty of space for these long vines to spread out.
Snap Pea ‘Sugar Daddy’
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common name Snap Pea ‘Sugar Daddy’ |
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botanical name Pisum sativum ‘Sugar Daddy’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 24”-30” |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Snap peas are sweet and tasty and go well with everyone’s favorite dipping sauce. Their pretty vines need some support, and kids can help train these yummy snacks on a trellis in the garden. ‘Sugar Daddy’ is the perfect pea for snacking on raw. They grow on short vines that make them easy to reach. The pods are stringless, sweet, and crunchy. These are guaranteed to please little palettes.
Pepper ‘Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry’
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common name Pepper ‘Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry’ |
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botanical name Capsicum annuum ‘Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 18”-24” |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Bell peppers are hit-or-miss with some children, but ‘Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry,’ in case you couldn’t tell from the name, is always a hit. These tiny one-and-a-half-inch peppers have variegated foliage, and the peppers are as well. They ripen to green with white stripes, or you can leave them to turn red and cream for extra sweetness. They’re the perfect size to add to a charcuterie board, too!
Radish ‘Cherry Belle’
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common name Radish ‘Cherry Belle’ |
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botanical name Raphanus sativus ‘Cherry Belle’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 2.5”-3” |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Radishes are cute root vegetables with a peppery flavor. Not all kids will appreciate the spice, but ‘Cherry Belle’ is perfect for them. These have a mild flavor and a nice, snappy texture. They also mature in under a month, so there is very little waiting involved.
Tomato ‘Sun Gold’
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common name Tomato ‘Sun Gold’ |
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Sun Gold’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 6’+ |
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hardiness zones 2-11 |
Tasty tomatoes are easy to grow, and pole types with small fruits can take less than two months to bear. The long vines are pretty to look at, and tiny tomatoes tend to be nice and sweet. ‘Sun Gold’ is an Epic favorite that has pretty golden tomatoes on tall vines. They are indeterminate, so they bear all summer and into the fall months.
Step 4: Keep Them Involved in the Process
I tend to fall behind when it comes to consistency when it comes to gardening with my kiddos. It’s usually easier to do the tending on my own, but including them in the work can be beneficial for everyone.
Kids love watching their plants grow and develop as much as adults do. Help them stay engaged by regularly watering, weeding, and tending to their plants. Teaching them how to care for and support various plants will stick with them into adulthood.
Step 5: Avoid Pesticides
It’s not always possible to avoid pesticides altogether, but in this case, it allows children to eat the fruits of their labor right from the vine. There are many ways to control garden pests that are safe and non-harmful to humans.
Companion planting is a good way to keep your veggies pest-free. Trap crops like nasturtiums and mustards lure insects away from your vegetables. Others, like marigolds and many herbs, act as repellants.
You can also introduce or attract beneficial, predatory insects to help control pest populations. Green lacewings are a great choice, and ladybugs work as well. Just make sure you are not introducing a non-native species.
Step 6: Let Them Pick Their Snacks
Finally, make sure to include your kids when it comes to harvesting their vegetables. Planting things and watching them grow is fun and engaging. But nothing compares to the fulfillment of filling a basket with beautiful, delicious vegetables that they grew with their own hands.
Most of all, have fun. Keep this project low-pressure, and invite kids to participate in all the ways they find interesting. By including them in your gardening project, your kids will learn to love the hobby, too, and you will give them the lifelong gift of knowing how to grow their own food!
