In recent years, many young people have chosen indoor activities over those undertaken outdoors, with increasing numbers of children unable to identify common fruits and vegetables. There has never been a better time, therefore, to introduce children to gardening, or the notion of growing their own food.
Encouraging children to grow their own
When gardening with children, it is important to make it fun and start with simple projects that reap quick and easy results. The very idea of growing their own food is likely to become a game. Youngsters will enjoy the thrill of helping on the plot and the excitement associated with tending their crops and reaping the rewards. So, where should you start? Beginning with easily sown, low maintenance crops will allow you and your kids to experience the benefits of gardening in no time at all. Foods that children already like such as strawberries, carrots, and peas are all great starting points, while fruit and veg that crop up frequently during the season are also a winner. Potatoes and tomatoes, for example, will allow you to explore where foods
Enticing young people towards the agricultural sector
It’s clear that engagement from a young age is key to children developing an interest in horticulture as a career. The more they are introduced to gardening, and simple farming practices, from their early years the better. However, now is also a fantastic time to motivate teenagers and young adults, who may be particularly concerned with what they are eating and where it comes from, as well as forming ideas about who they are and the type of career path they’d like to choose. Increasing numbers of young people are being drawn towards the idea of owning their own business in order to escape the trappings of a nine to five working life, with the notion of healthy eating, growing your own, and understanding nutrition. A passion for the great outdoors and the ability to tend to plants and animals can now be built on. Rather than being a job that children are simply born into, farming is now a lifestyle many are choosing for themselves, and an abundance of courses provided by institutions such as Bolton University, are helping teenagers to turn their passions into something more. Even those with a passing interest in horticulture, agriculture, and animal husbandry are able to learn so much more and cultivate their talents towards something far more spectacular. If the agricultural sector is in need of some young blood, such students will be a welcome breath of fresh air, and innovation.
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