Really Pants

You grow it you eat it……

My son, who is my eldest and now five, is a good eater in terms he eats a lot, however he eats a lot of the same thing.  Last year I promised him we would build a vegetable patch, and the growing season just happened to coincide with my morning sickness and thus never got off the ground, no pun intended…..

This year, being time rich and cash poor (on maternity leave…..) the patch was built.  We decided to grow a number of “new” vegetables, new in that he eats carrots or cucumber with every meal and this is about as far as is vegetable intake goes, his five a day being made up of mainly fruit, which he cannot get enough of.  We had one rule… if we grew it, he had to eat it!  Now this coincided with his little sister eating everything and anything, which goes  in grabbing distance of her.

We saw a sudden change in his eating habbits and he started to try lots of new foods.  Tomatoes and peppers seem to be a winner, and potatoe is even passing his lips in a form other than baked (imagine planning a family meal not including potatoe!).  Pea pods are a particular favourite, and trying to explain these are the same as those in the freezer has not worked (”I just fancy one pea today with my tea mammy…..”), so raw had to do, and our crop has now ran dry.  Strawberries are his favourite fruit, and  his sister’s, and our three plants could not meet their demands and soon ran dry

We are now eagerly awaiting our final crops of beetroot, spring and red onion and the good old carrot.  Eagerly in that he is frequently pulling out to see if they are ready so he can try….

Overall a success I would say and has definitely encouraged him to widen his diet.  Next year the plan is to fill our plot with peas and strawberries, both the biggest winner overall!