In our experience, children can do pretty well everything in the garden that grown-ups can do. Including children in the growing and preparation of food is the canniest way we know of encouraging them to eat healthy food.
Planning: One of the most enjoyable things about gardening is planning your crop. Settle down with a pile of catalogs and make plans for all the great things you can grow. Mail-order seed catalogs are generally well illustrated, and children could cut out and paste images of future crops on to a rough plan of the garden, familiarizing themselves with the plants. Be adventurous with seeds – after all, it’s only one season of risk. (If you are planting trees or fruit bushes, research your varieties and root stocks thoroughly.)
Seeds: The easiest to sow with small children are the larger ones, such as peas, beans and spinach. Onion and garlic sets are perfect. The other main criterion is that seeds should be cheap and plentiful – if you get an expensive variety with only 4 seeds in the pack, that just creates too much pressure for the nerves…
Tools: Garden supply stores encourage you to buy a whole shed full of tools, but a bare minimum will do, especially for container gardeners who will need nothing but a trowel and a watering can. You can get children’s tools and gloves, but purchase good-quality scaled-down versions that work well and make children feel like serious gardeners, rather than fragile plastic ones.
Safety hints: In the garden and the kitchen, children need to be aware of any hazards. They should realize they are there to work, and not to fool around. Keep sessions focused on the tasks and not too long, so their (and your) attention remains sharp.
Be careful of the pointy tips and sharp edges. Garden utensils — especially rakes and shovels — should always be laid on the ground with points facing downward. If you are working with more than one child, keep the children slightly apart — they can be like magnets and are irresistibly drawn together. Once in the kitchen, cooking the fruits — and vegetables — of their labors, children should be taught to use knives and other kitchen equipment safely and appropriately and always under supervision.
Strawberry Granita
Ingredients
- •5 tablespoons sugar
- •5 tablespoons lemon juice
- •400 grams (3-4 cups) best-quality red ripe strawberries
Preparation
Mix the sugar, lemon juice, and 200 ml (1 scant cup) water in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Continue to simmer until the mixture has reduced to a syrupy consistency, 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Gently wash the ripe strawberries and pat them dry with a kitchen towel before hulling them (removing the leaves and stem).
Now puree the strawberries in a food processor until very smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in a little sugar syrup at a time until you reach the sweetness you like. The amount of syrup will vary depending on the sweetness of your berries and your personal taste.
Pour the fruit mixture into a container ready for the freezer. The mixture may also be frozen in individual ice pop molds or ice cube trays, but this will give it a solid texture instead of grainy. If you are using a container, it should be large enough so that the fruit mixture doesn’t fill the container completely, allowing room for stirring later on.
After the mixture has been in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours, remove the container and, with a fork, break up the ice crystals by giving the mixture a good stir. Place the container back into the freezer and repeat this step approximately three times until the granita is smooth. If you are making ice pops, no stirring is necessary; just let the mixture freeze until solid.
Before serving, place the granita in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Serve in chilled glasses or cups. Serve fruit pops straight from the freezer, and add frozen fruit ice cubes to seltzer, sparkling mineral water, or fruit punch.
Homemade Ketchup
There are two versions, the second of which is closer to a barbecue sauce. The cooking method is the same for both.
Recipe taken from The Family Kitchen Garden: How to Plant, Grow, and Cook Together by Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner, and Annette Wendland (Timber Press, 2009).
Ingredients
Version 1
- •1 red onion
- •2 garlic cloves
- •500g/18oz tomatoes
- •1 carrot
- •1 celery stalk
- •1 handful of basil
- •1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- •½ handful of parsley
- •1 teaspoon salt
- •1 teaspoon soy sauce
- •½ teaspoon allspice
- •4 tablespoons brown sugar (½ cup)
- •5 tablespoons vinegar (⅓ cup)
- •Freshly ground pepper
Version 2
- •½ red onion
- •2 garlic cloves
- •500g/18oz tomatoes
- •1 carrot
- •1 red pepper
- •1 chilli pepper (see below)
- •1 handful of basil
- •1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- •1 teaspoon salt
- •1 teaspoon allspice
- •5 tablespoons sugar (⅓ cup)
- •2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- •2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- •Freshly ground pepper
For version two, choose a moderately hot chilli pepper — if you grow your own chillies you will know which ones are hot and which are mild — as a very hot one will overpower the rest of the ingredients. Dice the carrots and celery or, for version 2, chilli pepper and add them to the pan, followed by the basil, ginger and, for version 1, parsley, then salt, soy sauce and all spice.
Preparation
Combine all ingredients, except for brown sugar and vinegar, in a pot. Cover and cook at a medium to low heat for about 30 minutes until the ingredients are tender. Puree the sauce in a mixer or with a hand-held blender and strain through a sieve. This takes a bit of patience but is worth it for the extra smoothness. Return the mixture to the stove, adding the sugar and vinegar, and reduce it, stirring from time to time, until a heavy flowing liquid consistency is achieved. Adjust the seasoning and put the ketchup in sterilized jars. Keep in a dark cold place and use within 3 months.