How to Make a Kids Veggie Garden in India

Nothing like watching your kids grow their own fresh veggies! Here’s all you need to know about making a Kids Veggie Garden.

The concept of making a kid’s veggie garden is to help them connect with nature. It also makes them self-reliant as they will nurture the plants with a feeling of ‘growing our own food.’ If you too want to make your children grow their own vegetables, then here’s all you need to know about making a Kids Veggie Garden!

Check out our article on growing vegetables from seeds here

How to Start a Veggie Garden from Scratch

1. Gardening Tools for Kids

Bring small pairs of gardening gloves, hoes, trowels, and spades that are easy to handle by kids. Make sure not to give them sharp tools that might hurt them accidentally, and always keep an eye whenever they are working in the garden.

2. Choosing a Spot

Tell your children to choose a spot that has abundant sunlight with a water supply nearby. Most vegetables need full sunlight, but some do well in the partial sun too.

Full Sunlight Vegetables– Cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes, ladyfinger, pumpkin corn, pepper, squash

Partial Sunlight Vegetables– Beets, carrots, spinach, cabbage, potatoes

3. Layout for the Garden

Help your children in making a layout of the garden or let them decide on their own. It can be rectangular, square, or of any other shape. Make sure to keep ample distance between beds. You can even suggest them to use container gardening.

Note: For container gardening, go for an 18-20 inches pot for veggies.

4. Amending the Soil

The soil should be free of weeds and debris. Plow it nicely to make it compact-free. Then, ask your kids to amend the soil using manure to enrich its fertility.

For container gardening, the best soil for the veggie garden is the potting mix. You can also DIY by mixing equal amounts of peat moss, potting soil, perlite, and vermiculture.

5. Planting

According to the sowing season, ask your kid to sow the seeds in the garden directly, or in a tray and then transplant into the garden once they sprout. As a thumb rule, bury the seed in the soil twice as deep as their diameter. 

Choosing the Right Veggies

Always start with the vegetables that are easy to grow, have a short growing period, and quick to harvest in kid’s veggie garden. Here are some veggies to grow in the garden easily.

• Cherry Tomato: Require minimum space and harvest quickly.
• Cabbage: Fun to grow and matures in a short span of time.
• Cucumber: Fertile soil, warm spot, and full sunlight nurturing are essential for its best yield.
• Radish: Germinates within 3-10 days while ready to harvest within one to two months.
• Peas: Needs fertile soil with plenty of sun and gets ready within 60-80 days.
• Beans: It helps in fixing nitrogen in the soil, and your kids will learn a lot more about science.
• Garlic: May take 4-5 months to get ready but are worth the wait.

Note: Have a look at this Indian vegetable growing season chart to know which vegetables to grow in which season according to your region.

Vegetable Care Tips

• Always check the consistency of water by poking fingers an inch or two in the topsoil.  If it feels dry, water deeply.
• When using pots, pay more attention to watering as the water dries out quicker in the container than garden soil.
• Mulch the soil with leaf molds or grass clippings to prevent water loss.
• Use vertical supports for veggies that grow on the vine, like gourds, cucumber, or tomatoes.
• Feed the plants with organic compost or cow dung manure according to the instructions.
• Use neem oil or cake, if the plant is attacked by aphids or other pests.