Getting children to eat healthy can be challenging; however, gardening can be a fun and inexpensive way to spark children’s curiosity in trying vegetables and fruits. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is available to help and teach you about what grows best in your area and make your family’s experience a positive one. Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can use their food assistance benefits to purchase food-producing seeds and plants to grow their own food. Let us dig in to find out more!
Do your research
Before getting your children completely involved, do a little research to find the best times to plant various vegetables and fruits in your area. Consult your local county extension office for advice. Visit https://counties.agrilife.org/ to locate your local county extension office or you can learn more at https://aggie–horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/.
Involve your children in the process. Gardening creates hands-on experiences for children that create interest and to try fruits and vegetables they might not have previously been given. Include your children in the process of choosing a location, helping decide what to plant, planting the seeds in the soil, watering the seeds, and ensuring plenty of sunlight reaches the plants.
Look for a space that is mostly sunny and not directly in the shade. You can plant your seeds and transplants directly in the ground, in a raised bed, or in a container like a pot or recycled 5-gallon bucket. Make sure the soil is soft enough for your children to handle whether it is with their hands, shovel, or spade. Children can get their hands dirty by helping mix in compost! Other tasks your child can do include digging, pushing a cart while shopping, filling pots and garden bags, carrying and using a watering can or hose, picking ripe tomatoes and peppers, or tasting the produce.
Your child will be excited to watch the changes in the plant and see the vegetables or fruit develop into a tasty and nutritious food! Also, your child will have an appreciation of where their food comes from and what it takes to produce it. As you are getting started, keep it simple and start small.
Use your SNAP benefits SNAP recipients can maximize their produce purchasing power when they use their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card to buy food-producing plants and seeds to grow a garden of their favorite vegetables and fruits. To take the guess work out of finding authorized SNAP retailers, there is a SNAP Retailer locator at https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailer–locator.