How to Grow a Veggie Garden Kids Will Love This Spring

What’s better than homegrown food? Homegrown food grown by little hands! As the last winter chill hangs in the air, now’s the perfect time to prep your garden for a family-friendly spring harvest. 

Starting a veggie garden with your kids at the end of July is the perfect way to celebrate the changing seasons, encourage outdoor play, and plant the roots of a lifelong love for nature (and good food).

Create a kid-friendly veggie garden

Give your little ones their very own space to dig, plant, and play. You don’t need a big garden—a corner bed, a few colourful pots, or a raised container on the patio will do just fine.

Here’s how to set your veggie garden up, step by step:

Step 1: Find the perfect spot

Your kids’ veggie garden should be close to a water source and easy for little feet to reach. Let your child help you choose a sunny spot that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily, and use the opportunity to chat about why sunlight matters. 

Step 2: Make a garden plan

Grab some paper and let your kids sketch their dream garden! Help them choose their favourite veggies to grow and plan for how much space each one needs. Include a spot for climbers like beans and peas that need a trellis. This is a fun way to teach about basic spacing, companion planting, and seasonal growing.

Step 3: Prep the soil

Remove weeds and loosen the soil with a garden fork. Mix in lots of compost and earthworm castings to enrich the veggie garden bed. If you’re using pots or containers, make sure they have drainage holes and are filled with a good-quality potting mix.

Step 4: Start planting

Sow your seeds or plant seedlings according to the packet instructions. Let your child measure spacing, dig small holes, pat down the soil, and water everything in. 

Step 5: Water, watch, and wonder

This is where the magic begins!  Assign your child the role of “chief garden inspector”. Daily watering, looking out for sprouts, and counting new leaves make the experience more engaging and educational.

Top veggies for kids to grow now

Late winter is the perfect time to prep veggie beds and start planting for a colourful spring harvest. These beginner-friendly crops are quick to sprout, easy to care for, and delicious on the plate, perfect for little gardeners.

Here’s what to plant with your kids this August:

• Carrots: Watching the tops grow while the magic happens underground is endlessly exciting (and teaches patience)
• Radishes: Grow quickly (in just a few weeks!) and come in fun colours.
• Spinach & Swiss chard: Hardy, nutritious, and perfect for school lunches.
• Peas: Easy to grow up a trellis or stake and sweet to snack on fresh.
• Lettuce: Great for ‘pick-and-eat’ moments and grows well in containers.
• Rocket & cress: Great for windowsills and little salads.
• Tomatoes: Stake or cage them and watch them climb.
• Marrows: Easy to grow and fun to pick once they appear.
• Asparagus: A long-term investment, but great for older kids to monitor.
• Beetroot: Fun to grow and great in the kitchen with their colourful roots and edible leaves.
• Bush & runner beans: Fast-growing climbers that love support and reward with loads of crunchy pods.
• Culinary herbs: Try parsley, coriander, marjoram, or chives for picking and snipping fun.

Garden tip: Add marigolds, borage, garlic or zinnias in between vegetables to naturally repel pests, attract pollinators and brighten up your kid’s veggie garden with pops of colour.

Tips for gardening with kids

Gardening with kids is a sensory, splashy, sticky experience, and that’s exactly the point. Here are some easy ways to make it meaningful (and keep it interesting):

• Let them take the lead: Kids are more invested when they get to choose what to plant and where. It might not be the most ‘productive’ patch, but it will be the most loved.
• Use child-sized tools: Spoil your little one with small watering cans, gloves, and kid-friendly tools to make tending their veggie garden easier and more fun.
• Turn crafts into garden prep: Make eco-friendly seedling pots from toilet rolls by cutting them in half, tying with string, and filling with soil and seeds. Once the seedlings sprout, plant the whole roll directly into the garden.
• Get creative with garden decorations: Let kids paint their own stone markers with the names or pictures of the veggies they planted. This fun craft builds pride and turns the veggie garden into something uniquely theirs.
• Make garden time a routine: Encourage daily check-ins to water, count leaves, or look for bugs, teaching your child responsibility and patience.
• Celebrate small wins: Make a fuss over the first sprout and every new leaf. Let kids take photos, track their progress, and help decide how to cook or serve their harvest.

Ready to dig in?

Start your kids’ veggie garden today! Shop seeds, compost, and garden gear for your kiddies online or in-store at Plantland. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more family-friendly garden tips and spring growing inspo.