Eating Healthier Encourages Our Children To Produce The Food They Eat

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Eating healthier has been the number one way our family learns to produce the food they eat. I've especially seen our children become mroe excited about making their food after they learned about the benefits of eating healthier.

Welcome to the May Carnival of Natural Parenting: Growing in the Outdoors

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared how they encourage their children to connect with nature and dig in the dirt. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Step One: Introduction

I've been just a tad bit obsessed about eating healthier for about seven years now. I started off learning about vegetables and making sure they were added to our daily diet. I put myself on a regimen of eating vegetables instead of junk food. Everyday the children would see me choose veggies instead of potato chips or candy. I got so used to it I started eating my baby spinach as if it WAS potato chips - straight out the bag! Seeing me eating healthier in such an enjoyable way intrigued the children. They wanted some too! I started giving them one little piece of baby spinach to satisfy their curiosity. To my surprise they kept coming back! I was so amused when my 2 yr. old started asking me for leaves.

Step Two: Education

After adding more veggies to our diet, I started learning about gardening. I actually have a dream to have an orchard with all sorts of fruit trees and bushes so I can make jams. I dream of just going out to pick the blueberries instead of having to go buy the blueberries from the store. Buying fruit trees was a bit out of my reach, so I decided to start with vegetable gardening.

I took our children to the library to find books on veggie gardens. It was a wonderful idea, but first we had to figure out how to garden. =) I searched online and found many different ways to garden. I decided on square foot gardening. It seemed to fit our yard and my personality perfectly. We watched videos of how to square foot garden and read books about how to set it up and what to plant.

Step Three: Preparation

One of the first things we tackled was creating our compost bin. Instead of going out to buy one, I just opted to make one from things we already had. Our children helped me poke the holes in a plastic container we found. After every meal we'd empty our edible trash in the bin. I taught them how to mix the compost to get the juices and bacteria growing. They helped maintain it until we had to give up gardening. We had a great time learning together. I loved how it enhanced our home schooling. There were things to learn in just about every subject.

Step Four: Repeat Steps 2 & 3!

Since our little foray into gardening was cut short, we all have dreams of starting back up again. Being in a slightly tropical climate, we all went out one day and the children found some coconuts. We picked them up and brought them back home. I told the children how wonderful coconut oil is. That led to discussions about the health benefits of coconuts and how to grow them. We're looking forward to researching the process of making coconut oil so we can produce our own (which we use in our diet, on our body and in our hair) instead of buying it.

We now have plans to add coconut trees to that orchard one day.

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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon May 10 with all the carnival links.)

Get Out! — Momma Jorje gives reasons she doesn't think she gets outside enough and asks for your suggestions on making time for the outdoors.

How Does Your Garden Grow? — The ArtsyMama shares her love of nature photography.

We Go Outside — Amy at Innate Wholeness describes her family's simple, experiential approach to encouraging appreciation of nature.

My Not-So-Green Thumb — Wolfmother confesses to her lack of gardening skills but expresses hope in learning alongside her son at Fabulous Mama Chronicles.

Enjoying Outdoors — Isil at Smiling like Sunshine describes how her children enjoy the nature.

Five Ideas to Encourage the Reluctant Junior Gardener — For the rare little ones who don't like to get their hands dirty, Dionna at Code Name: Mama offers tips for encouraging an early love of dirt (despite the mess).

Connecting to Nature — Mamapoekie shares how growing your own vegetable patch connects your child to nature and urges them to not take anything for granted.

The Farmer's Market Classroom — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction shares how the Farmer's Market has become her son's classroom.

Seeds — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment's hubby Ken shares his perspective on why gardening with their kiddos is so important . . . and enjoyable!

Toddlers in the Garden — Laura at A Pug in the Kitchen shares her excitement as she continues to introduce her toddler and new baby to the joys of fresh veggies, straight from the garden.

Nature's Weave — MJ at Wander Wonder Discover explains how nature weaves its way into our lives naturally, magnetically, experientially, and spiritually.

Becoming Green — Kristina at Hey Red celebrates and nurtures her daughter's blossoming love of the outdoors.

Little Gardener — Rosemary at Rosmarinus Officinalis looks forward to introducing her baby girl to gardening and exploring home grown foods for the first time.

Cultivating Abundance — You can never be poor if you have a garden! Lucy at Dreaming Aloud reflects on what she cultivates in her garden . . . and finds it's a lot more than seeds!

Growing in the Outdoors: Plants and People — Luschka at Diary of a First Child reflects on how she is growing while teaching her daughter to appreciate nature, the origins of food, and the many benefits of eating home-grown.

How Not to Grow — Anna at Wild Parenting discusses why growing vegetables fills her with fear.

A Garden Made of Straw — Kelly at Becoming Crunchy shares tips on making a straw bale garden.

The Tradition of Gardening — Carrie at Love Notes Mama reflects on the gifts that come with the tradition of gardening.

Gardening Smells Like Home — Bethy at Bounce Me to the Moon hopes that her son will associate home grown food and lovely flowers with home.

The New Normal — Patti at Jazzy Mama writes about how she hopes that growing vegetables in a big city will become totally normal for her children's generation.

Outside, With You — Amy at Anktangle writes a letter to her son, a snapshot of a moment in the garden together.

Farmer Boy — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares how her son Joshua helps to grow and raise their family's food.

Growing Kids in the Garden — Lisa at Granola Catholic shares easy ways to get your kids involved in the garden.

Growing Food Without a Garden — Don't have a garden? "You can still grow food!" says Mrs Green of Little Green Blog. Whatever the size of your plot, she shows you how.

Growing Things — Liz at Garden Variety Mama shares her reasons for gardening with her kids, even though she has no idea what she's doing.

Moments — UK Mummy Blogger explains how the great outdoors provides a backdrop for her family to reconnect.

Condo Kid Turns Composter and Plastic Police — Jessica from Cloth Diapering Mama has discovered that her young son is a true earth lover despite living in a condo with no land to call their own.

Gardening with Baby — Sheila at A Gift Universe shows us how her garden and her son are growing.

Why to Choose Your Local Farmer's Market — Naturally Nena shares why she believes it's important to teach our children the value of local farmers.

Unfolding into Nature — At Crunchy-Chewy Mama, Jessica Claire shares her desire to cultivate a reverence for nature through gardening, buying local food, and just looking out the window.

Urban Gardening with Kids — Lauren at Hobo Mama shares her strategies for urban gardening with kids — without a yard but with a whole lot of enthusiasm.

Mama Doesn't Garden — Laura at Our Messy Messy Life is glad her husband is there to instill the joys of gardening in their children, while all she has to do is sit back and eat homegrown tomato sandwiches.

Why We Make this Organic Garden Grow — Brenna at Almost All The Truth shares her reasons for gardening with her three small children.

5 Ways to Help Your Baby Develop a Love of the Natural World — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama believes it's never too early to foster a love of the natural world in your little one.

April Showers Bring May PRODUCE — Erika at NaMammaSte discusses her plans for raising a little gardener.

Growing Outside — Seonaid at The Practical Dilettante discovers how to get her kids outside after weeks of spring rain.

Eating Healthier — Chante at My Natural Motherhood Journey talks about how she learns to eat healthier and encourages her children to do the same.

The Beauty of Earth and Heavens — Inspired by Charlotte Mason, Erica at ChildOrganics discovers nature in her own front yard.

Seeing the Garden Through the Weeds — Amanda at Let's Take the Metro talks about the challenges of gardening with two small children.

Creating a Living Playhouse: Our Bean Teepee! — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings shares how her family creates a living playhouse "bean teepee" and includes tips of how to involve kids in gardening projects.

Grooming a Tree-Hugger: Introducing the Outdoors — Ana at Pandamoly shares some of her planned strategies for making this spring and summer memorable and productive for her pre-toddler in the Outdoors.

Sowing Seeds of Life and Love — Suzannah at ShoutLaughLove celebrates the simple joys of baby chicks, community gardening, and a semi-charmed country life.

Experiencing Nature and Growing Plants Outdoors Without a Garden — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares some of her favorite ways her family discovered to fully experience nature wherever they lived.

Garden Day — Melissa at The New Mommy Files is thankful to be part of community of families, some of whom can even garden!

Teaching Garden Ettiquette to the Locusts — Tashmica from Mother Flippin' (guest posting at Natural Parents Network) allows her children to ravage her garden every year in the hopes of teaching them a greater lesson about how to treat the world.

Like my Eating Healthier post? Read my other Carnival of Natural Parenting posts:


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