Mark and Liz Lea have a 600-acre organic arable farm in Shropshire. Their children — Edward, 11, Isabel, 8, and Meg, 13, have their own vegetable patch.

Growing their own vegetables has, says Mark, entirely changed the way that his children view food. “Children can often tend to find fresh food a bit unappealing,” he says. “But once they start growing their own that completely changes. If they have been involved with the production of the crop at any stage, whether it is planting, harvesting, or growing, then they are much, much more enthusiastic about eating it.”

Mark’s children have a moderately sized, three metre square vegetable patch, which is, he says, “ large enough to keep them busy. I’d say it’s about the perfect size for children.” They grow a wide variety of vegetables from onions to peas.

However, according to Mark, the choice of what the children grow is governed less by horticulture than gastronomy. “If you ask the children what they like growing then what they will actually tell you is what they like eating,” he says. “So Isabel always says that she loves growing peas because these are her favourite food and Edward loves growing parsnips, as he likes to eat these with his Sunday lunch.”

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The idea of giving the children their own vegetable patch evolved out of work that Mark was doing with local schools. “I was encouraging children to grow their own food organically. My children were so taken with the idea that they started their own vegetable patch.”

There have been disappointments. Slugs have tended to take a hefty toll on the children’s lettuce. But, as Mark says: “Learning to garden also helps the children to learn to share. The slugs do eat their lettuces, so they just have to plant a few more.’ Or, as Isabel puts it. “We plant some lettuces for us, and then some more lettuces for the slugs.”

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