Use time at home to garden with children

One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is the love of gardening. Spending time in the garden is good for mental and physical health and anyone — from 2 to 92 can do it.

Use this time at home with your children to plant a vegetable garden. It is not surprising that children who grow vegetables eat more vegetables. All you need is a bare patch of soil in the yard or containers filled with soilless potting mix and a few packets of easy-to-grow seeds.

Find a spot in the yard that gets lots of sun and has good, well-drained soil. If the soil is full of clay, mix in liberal amounts of compost to improve it. If the soil is really bad, consider building a raised bed, and if the only available sunny space is on a patio or deck, growing in containers is the best option.

Decide with your children what to grow. Encourage very young children to try vegetables with large seeds that their small fingers can manage.

Bush beans are easy to grow. They germinate in just a week and are ready to pick in 40 to 65 days. Bush beans don't need poles or trellises for support. If you have the space and your children want a bean teepee, choose pole beans that are just as easy to grow.

Carrots are underground treasures that kids love to harvest. Dwarf varieties are easier to grow and mature more quickly. Of course, there are traditional orange varieties, but children will delight in purple types, too. Carrots seeds are slower to germinate so patience is required.

Several varieties of leaf lettuce can be planted together in a colorful salad garden. They grow very quickly and are ready to eat in just 45 days.

If you have a lot of space, pumpkins are an obvious choice. Seeds germinate in just a week and vines begin to grow shortly after. Pumpkins take a long time to mature, but wouldn't it be fun for children to carve their homegrown pumpkins for Halloween? You could also bake a pumpkin pie together and roast the seeds for a delicious snack.

Radishes may not be one of your child's favorite vegetables to eat, but for young or very impatient gardeners, the almost instant gratification received from planting radishes may be an ideal choice. Radishes are easy to grow and ready to eat in just 25 days.

Garden peas are sweet and crunchy. Fifty-five days after planting, children can pick them and pop them into their mouths right in the garden. Choose bush types for planting in containers; either bush or taller varieties that grow up to 3 feet tall are suitable for planting in the garden.

Head outside while sheltering in place with your children. Teach your children about how food grows and give them two great gifts — time spent together and the love of gardening.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist, garden writer and speaker. She blogs at gardenwithdiana.com.