Gardening with children is an excellent way to promote good health in many ways. Your children (and you) will get exercise as they weed and water the garden, and your family will have delicious vegetables to eat throughout the season.

The first couple weeks of May are a good time to plant leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach, carrots, and potatoes. The last weeks in May are best for beans, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Lettuce will be the first "crop" you will harvest.

Through gardening, children learn many skills beyond nutrition and fitness. They learn about cooperation and working with others.

For more tips, see "Gardening With Children" (available from www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hortcrop/fn1372.pdf).

Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Featured in Food Wise May 2016 newsletter (PDF)