Young gardeners' greener thumbs... pondering principles, policies and practises for edible-gardening

Abstract

Young gardeners' greener thumbs begin with principles and policies that can help educators be leaders of children's 'double-green-thumbs edible-gardening'. Within a caring and respectful approach, professionals can explore and reflect upon principles and policies that intertwine children and adults, edible plants and local settings. They can brainstorm ones most relevant for their workplaces. Professionals may then build upon principles and policies by discussing and creating children's gardening opportunities that are: au naturale, wise and wild, slow and seasonal. Such learning opportunities encompass children understanding (head), believing (heart) and doing (hands); and, they involve growing a variety of plant foods: leafy vegetables, root vegetables, salad greens, fruit vegetables, berries, herbs. Professionals can share planning ideas that might emerge from children's everyday lives but also extend beyond them. This paper focuses on organic gardening that makes minimal ecological footprints and links to place, space, time and eating what is grown. The value and relevance of children's edible-gardening is explored by comparing and contrasting it with contemporary influences -- personal sensory awareness, family-cultural experiences and a consumer-focused society.