🥕 My Garden Grew, Now What?
- Little Chewz
- Jul 26, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 27, 2025
Harvest Tips, Recipes ideas, and SEL Lessons from Aunty Monique Originally published July 16, 2021 - Updated for 2025 with fresh insights and Food-Based SEL connections!
Is your garden bursting with veggies and you’re not sure what to do next? Whether you're a teacher, parent, or a budding Little Chewz Ranger, this updated post is packed with practical harvesting tips, tasty ideas, and simple ways to connect food, wellness, and social-emotional learning (SEL) in everyday life.
Today, we’re catching up with Aunty Monique, our official Little Chewz Ranger, as she walks us through her summer garden, and how she turns it into learning, connection, and nourishment.
🌱 5 Simple Garden Tips Every Kid (and Grown-Up) Should Know
Let’s start with five tried-and-true gardening tips for growing a healthy garden:
Pick a sunny spot. Make sure your garden gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day.
Stay hydrated. Your plants need about 1 inch of water per week, rain counts too!
Feed the soil, not just the plants. Compost is your garden’s best friend and adds natural nutrients.
Deter pests the natural way. Try mint to repel ants, garlic for beetles, and onions to keep mice away.
Limited space? Grow up! Use vertical planters for tomatoes, peas, or beans if space is tight.
🌿 Food-Based SEL Connection: Gardening builds responsibility, mindfulness, and patience, perfect conversation starters for SEL check-ins with kids.
🧺 How and When to Harvest Your Vegetables
Timing matters when it comes to picking your produce! Here's how to get the best flavour and nutrition:
Tomatoes: Pick when they're bright red and slightly soft. Let them warm to room temperature before eating.
Spinach: Snip leaves at the base when they’re about 4 inches long.
Kale: Harvest outer leaves once they reach 8 inches. Skip overly dark leaves, they’re likely too bitter.
Asparagus: Snap or cut spears at the base once they hit 7 inches tall.
🌿 Pro Tip: Harvest in the cool morning hours for the best taste and freshness.
🧤 Little Chewz Chat: Garden Talk with Aunty Monique
Little Chewz: Hi Aunty Monique! What’s growing in your garden this year?
Aunty Monique: OMGEE! So many things! Peppers, kale, spinach, beans, carrots, herbs, tomatoes… it’s a full plate!
Little Chewz: What’s your favourite way to use all that fresh food?
Aunty Monique: Green beans are my go-to. I fry them with mushrooms or bake them in mushroom soup, super cozy and packed with vitamin K and calcium!
Little Chewz: Yum! What about kale?
Aunty Monique: I toss it into stir fries or chop it into salads.
Little Chewz: Massaging kale with olive oil makes it easier for kids to enjoy, and baking it into kale chips is always a hit!
Aunty Monique: I also adore tomato soup made from scratch. My tomatoes go straight into pasta sauce or a cozy fall soup.
Little Chewz: Tomatoes are full of vitamin C, great immune boosters!
🌶️ Favourite Ways to Use Garden Produce
Peppers: Dip fresh slices or stuff mini ones with hummus.
Herbs: Dill is Aunty Monique’s nostalgic go-to, mixed into sour cream with cucumbers and vinegar, it’s a taste of childhood summers. This is our favorite childhood recipe using dill!
Bonus Tip: Invite your kids to pick, wash, and prepare garden veggies. It’s a powerful Food-Based SEL moment, building confidence, independence, and connection through hands-on food learning.
🧠 Try this at home or school: Ask your students to describe how their garden veggies smell, feel, and taste. These mindful moments boost sensory awareness and help them tune into their emotions.
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