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Intro seed selection for friends children

 
pollinator
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I'm sending some stuff to a friend and she knows I'm into the food gardening so I'm including a few seeds so she can start teaching her children about growing plants.
Ages are 10-4. Zone 4 and they are renting for now. Not super adventurous eaters/cooks.
I stuck to stuff I had extra of on hand. There are 4 in the lettuce mix and regular green beans along with some scarlet runners.

Does this look like too much or a decent, basic starter kit?
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pollinator
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For younger kids, I love radishes. Easter or French or any of the kinds that grow super fast and come in bright colors.
 
pollinator
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I think snap peas and cilantro are great easy gateway edible growies.
 
gardener
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Great selection! Super ideas, I know the kids will have fun with those.

I bet watermelons would be fun, too.
 
steward
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Since they were little, my kids have really like radishes. I'd go for an "Easter Egger" blend, with the purple, pink, and red radishes. It's super fun to see what color radish you pull up. Radishes also grow quickly, so there's a more instant reward for the little ones.

My climate is pretty rainy and cool for a lot of the growing season, and I have good success with peas. I get a lot of peas, and harvest them for months. I like growing a mix of green and purple snap peas. I highly recommend Purple Magnolia peas. They grow really well in my area, and the pea pods are purple! The purple peas are also a bit easier to spot than the green ones. I think there's also white and yellow peas, but I didn't have as much success growing those. My kids have always loved picking peas.

Rachel Lindsay wrote:Great selection! Super ideas, I know the kids will have fun with those.

I bet watermelons would be fun, too.



I don't know if watermelons will do well in zone 4? I've only seen a few people manage to grow them in my zone 7/8 area (granted, our zone 8 is a lot cooler and cloudier and a shorter growing season than a zone 8 in Texas. Not every zone is the same!)
 
Rachel Lindsay
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Nicole Alderman wrote: I don't know if watermelons will do well in zone 4? I've only seen a few people manage to grow them in my zone 7/8 area (granted, our zone 8 is a lot cooler and cloudier and a shorter growing season than a zone 8 in Texas. Not every zone is the same!)



Whoops, I didn't pay attention to the Zone 4 note there. Sorry! I keep trying to grow watermelon here, but I don't have enough sun in my yard. I hope somebody can!
 
pollinator
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Could you add some broad beans to the mix  (May be known as Fava beans?)   We used to get great excitement with these when we grew them between the jar and rolled up blotting paper  with a little water  - then the sprout and the root system are visible.    They don't mind colder conditions when in the garden, and also make a good "hummus" type concoction apart from the regular ways to cook 'em.   Some people prefer them with the seed coat taken off and in a salad.
 
Dian Green
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Lots of good suggestions!

I don't have any of the fun colour radishes on hand and most of the family has sensory issues so they didn't want anything hot.

I don't have any favs beans either, but I'd like to try them. At least the scarlet runners have the big seeds that are dramatic sprouters.

I would have loved to include some nasturtiums but I'm out of them too.
 
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What a great idea to send a starter pack!

Do you have strawberry plants? Could you add a few in the package, with something moist around the roots and in their own plastic bag so not to moisten the seeds?
 
pollinator
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I think those pumpkins were a good choice, among the others. Even if they don't have large fruits the vines ought to grow and sprawl, and any sense of progress is likely a good thing for brand-new gardeners.

A starter seed set is a fun, useful idea...! Oh, and I second the suggestion for radishes. They're relatively easy and quick to grow, and are hard to ignore once they're ready to pick.
 
steward
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For beginner gardeners I like to include lettuce as I feel it is easy to grow.

does your friend know how to garden?  If not maybe include a small pamphlet on how to garden?

Maybe include how to start seed with the paper towel method or using egg cartons?
 
gardener
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Hi Dian,
Most of the things I was thinking of have already been suggested. I like to give my kids one of the seed catalogs and let them pick a couple things. As long as it would grow here. They generally pick oddball items, especially colorful, especially small, especially big... those sorts of things.

My only suggest not in there would be some sort of prolific cherry tomato. They can seem to take a while to get started, but once they start producing, it's fun for them to go pick them... and to watch a small seed turn into something so big. Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes and Sun Gold spring and Yellow Pear all come to mind as ones that my kids enjoyed growing and eating.
 
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that is a GREAT starter kit!! nice mixed selection!!

all of your choices are fairy easy to grow and have a good germination potential which will be important for keeping the enthusiasm up!

i think you are good as you are to get them going... you can always send more next year!!
 
pollinator
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Nasturtiums - super easy to get started, they grow fast from seed and are pretty and edible.

We planted some beneath berry bushes in large planters by the house last year. They did really well.
 
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