THE STIR

FRESH - PICKED FUN!

How does your garden grow? With help from the kids, we hope! Planting vegetables has been shown to help ward off picky eating and give kids an appreciation for nature, and it’s also a good time. “To me, working in the garden has always meant going outside and having a blast,” explains 12-yearold Emma Biggs. “I get to plant vegetables, water flowers, collect bugs, and get muddy!” It’s no wonder she feels this way: Her dad, Steve, is a horticulturist and loves to create opportunities for Emma to enjoy his passion for plants. (The two are even writing a kid-to-kid gardening guide due out next year.) Here, their ideas for getting your crew in on the action too:

CHOOSE A THEME For an easy way to get started, group your plants around something your family already enjoys. You can do a mini garden for snack-size picnic foods, with plants such as cherry tomatoes, snap peas, or even mouse melons, which look like tiny watermelons. Or choose a recipe and plant all the fixings, like tomatoes, onions, and cilantro for a salsa. Favorite-color gardens are also fun: “A purple garden could have purple carrots, peas, beans, tomatoes, kale, and, of course, purple flowers,” says Emma.

TRY SOMETHING QUIRKY “I also love growing unusual things,” Emma says. “Stuff that I won’t see in the supermarket.” Go for anything with a weird color, shape, or size, such as white carrots or Mexican sour gherkins, which are a little like a mini cucumber but also look like a watermelon. You can even grow no-heat jalapeños! “I like to take these in my lunch to show my friends at school,” she adds.

CONSIDER A PROJECT “The garden should be a space where everyone can hang out together,” says dad Steve. Especially with kids, it’s not always about harvesting the crop. Build tepees out of climbing bean plants, or bring in a few bales of hay that kids can use as giant blocks. Some plants can even double as art supplies: Magenta spreen is a purple herb that will leave a pink pigment when rubbed on the skin or on paper. “We never even got around to eating that one, because we were so busy playing with it!” Emma says.

S t a r t S m a l l

Not ready to tackle a whole bed? These products offer an easy introduction to growing food as a family.

PLANT A PIZZA GARDEN This kit includes a special container and the seeds to grow basil, peppers, oregano, and tomatoes. A learning booklet helps you care for your crops and eventually transplant them outside. $22; fabercastell.com

ABBY’S GARDEN PLANTING ACTIVITY SET Favorite Sesame Street characters help the littlest growers bloom. Includes seeds, pots, soil markers, and more to help you plant crops like carrots and basil. $20; barnesandnoble.com

GROW YOUR OWN AVOCADO TREE Did you know that you can actually produce an avocado plant from an old pit? This kit includes a special tool for doing this, plus a book to explain to kids how it works. $15; avoseedo.com

adventures in eating

L E T ’ S T RY B E E TS

Use the “magic formula” of the three E’s—expose, explore, and expand—to introduce your kids to this root vegetable.

These bright-red veggies are supernutritious and surprisingly sweet. Here, Melanie Potock, a pediatric feeding specialist and author of Adventures in Veggieland: Help Your Kids Learn to Love Vegetables With 100 Easy Activities and Recipes, gives you three ways to help your kids learn to love ’em!

EXPOSE Make a beet tattoo. Food play helps kids build confidence to try something new. In this case, you can use beets to make temporary tattoos! Slice off the root and place it stem side up in an inch of boiling water. Cook 4 to 6 minutes, until tender. Once cool, press a mini cookie cutter into the bottom and cut away around the shape. Let kids lick the stamp, press it onto their skin and hold for a minute. Voilà! They’ll have a pretty, light-pink tattoo.

EXPLORE Have a taste. A dip is a great way to start. Blend 2 small cooked beets, 1 banana, 2 Tbs. plain yogurt, and 1 Tbs. honey until smooth. Serve with apples. EXPAND Be bold with a sauté. Chop 3 large bunches of beetgreen stems into 1-in. pieces, and tear the leaves into bite-size ones. Sauté the stems in 1 Tbs. olive oil and 2 Tbs. chopped crystallized ginger. Add the leaves and toss with 1 Tbs. apple-cider vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 2 to 4 minutes, until wilted.

E R A S E S TA I N S Stuck with pink fingers? Rub them with a piece of raw potato under running water. Works like magic!

let’s grill Taco Tuesday Remix

Switch up your summer barbecue with a hot-dog taco bar! Yup, hot dogs and tacos are even more delicious when you combine them. Simply grill up dogs, and warm corn or flour tortillas in foil (we like Reynolds Wrap Grill Foil) right on the grates. Ser ve them with an array of toppings—black beans, corn, shredded cabbage, cheese, cilantro, salsa, and guacamole. Ever yone can customize his own!