I was excited to receive some books from the Secret Seed Society for review.

We have very much enjoy growing vegetables in our garden, and books that link in to gardening are always going to be off to a good start with us.

The books are designed to be used as an interactive aid to introducing children to vegetables, exposing them to the benefits of vegetables, and how they actually get to the edible form they usually find them in.

“Secret Seed Society takes the whole family on a journey from plant to plate.”

In fact, I am selling them short by calling them ‘books’. They are actually supplied as ‘packs’. Each of which comes with an illustrated storybook, seeds, growing instructions and props, a recipe for your eventual produce and an invitation to join the Seed Agent Club online.

There are several titles that all centre around a character based on a vegetable, such as Rudi Radish, Carla Carrot and Mingo Mung.

The creator of Seed City, Shena Cooper, actually explains it much better. She told me: “Every vegetable has a story, and the other vegetables pop up in the other stories. The main idea is to entice very young children into the garden and kitchen, growing and preparing tasty food as they come to love their vegetables.”

They are designed for supervised play with the three-to-seven age group. My five-year-old son found the stories very enjoyable, notably as he found lots of the names given to the characters, and places in the story amusing.

The illustrations are good fun too. Drawings are colourful and play a big part in telling the stories on their own.

Each book is a handy size, ideal for children, and also for popping in a handbag (not that I have one).

We grew some mung beans, which was fun. And as they mature over a very short period – three to five days – we could return to our sprouting jar regularly to check on their progress, and to give them a rinse.

You are even encouraged to send your sprouting pictures to the Secret Seed Society, so as you can share your successes with others. But we’re only sharing ours with you.

The books make for a very pleasant read, and it is a project that deserves some attention and success.

You can find your local stockist of Secret Seed Society on their website, alternatively you can order directly from them online.

They also have a Facebook group, and you can even follow Peter Parsnip on Twitter.

As a child, I was always obsessed with the mail: boxes, letters, magazines, catalogs: the whole lot. I secretly had a crush on the postman, and loved loved loved the look of the UPS man coming in his flat brown shorts. Nothing bad ever came in the mail when I was young! As an adult, times have changed and bills fall like rain from the postbox now and I long for those carefree-mail days….

It’s not surprising given my love for the postal system that I have an online store where everything goes by post! Having said that, I am clearly a supporter of all things mail-related from online stores to catalogs. I love the idea of ordering something at 1am in my pyjamas with a glass of wine next to the computer (which can also be lethal depending on what number of glass you’re on…) and then the package arriving a few days later like a surprise you (almost) forgot about! That is what I feel like when I look at this Secret Seed Society membership. It combines two of my favorite things: postal treats and a food-ucational experience for both children and parents. Double yay! The Secret Seed Society Seed Agent Subscription works like this: you receive periodically a set of 5 seed packets and accompanying stories (which explain the seeds, how to plant them, etc) that you can plant at different times of the year. The subscriptions are recommended for children from 3-7 years, and even though my daughter is only 2.5 years, I have seen her eyes light up from seeing the cilantro grow that we planted weeks ago, so I know this would be for her (or me too). The Secret Seed Society also has other individual packages available that seem like equal learning fun – like Chrissie Cress Story & Seed Pack and Mingo Mung Story & Seed Pack. Best of all, there’s also info for us parents who weren’t born with a green thumb……a win/win postal treat!

“Its vitally important for young children to discover the joys of growing their own and these lovely story & seed packets are the perfect way to get them going.”

Rosie Boycott is a woman whose drive and passion for sustainable living is making unbelievable things happen! So we’re over-the-moon-flattered that she likes what we’re up to at the Secret Seed Society.

Londoners may have heard that last year Rosie and the Mayor of London launched the Capital Growth initiative with the aim to create 2,012 growing spaces in London by 2012 (in time for the Olympics). London is 1/3 green space, and has large amounts of roof space too that can be used for growing – we just need to use it!

Each space must be community-based so it not only improves the environment, but also provides a focal point around which people can gather and unite. By inspiring young families to get digging with their kids, Secret Seed Society hopes to help the Capital Growth team hit their 2012 target!

24 July 2009 by Jeremy Dore – Categories: gardening children family

Gardening is a great way for all ages to enjoy being outdoors and experience the fun of growing things.

There’s no doubt that gardening is a great family activity. As well as exercise, fresh air and fun there is the prospect of encouraging healthy eating for kids by growing your own fresh produce. Whether it be lending a hand on the vegetable plot or helping grandparents with the digging there are plenty of opportunities for growing together. So I thought I would round up some of the best ideas I have come across recently for encouraging adults and children to garden together…

There are lots of children’s books about gardening but most seem to present it as a series of projects for the summer holidays if you get bored rather than a regular family activity. However, well worth a look is Gardening With Kids which includes 35 projects to do together and is particularly good for children under 10. Young Gardener takes a different approach with ideas organised by season. So you can turn to the summer pages and find information on the wildlife to watch out for, ideas for what to sow and projects such as taking cuttings and collecting seeds.

For my own children one of the best ways to encourage gardening has been to enjoy picking and eating the produce! Digging up and hunting for potatoes has been an annual favourite – natures own treasure hunt. Peas almost never make it to the pot in our house as they are so sweet when picked and eaten from the pod. Then there are tomatoes which are wonderfully easy for children to gather as it is easy to tell by the colour when they are ripe. As they grow older there are many opportunities in the kitchen to turn the produce into delicious meals.

One book which captures this particularly well is Grow It, Eat It. Published by Dorling Kindersley, it is beautifully laid out with clear step by step photographs. Each vegetable gets a double page about how to grow it followed by a double page showing a great recipe to prepare. So beans are followed by beanstalk stir-fry, onions and leeks precede delicious soup and mint can be turned into Chocolate and mint mousse. The presentation is very appealing to children and there are some particularly nice touches such as baking sunflower bread in plant pots and creating layered blueberry cheesecake in glasses.

Available in the UK is the ‘Secret Seed Society’ who recently launched the first of their ‘adventure packs’. This will particularly appeal to 3 – 9 year olds who get a seed agent card, illustrated story book and packet of cress seeds, along with ideas for projects to do in the garden and kitchen. You can sign up to become a Seed Agent on their website and receive missions linked to the adventure packs with a competition for the best photograph sent in. I would recommend exploring the website with your child first as you will soon discover if this concept appeals to them.

For older children who like a more high-tech approach or are interested in science and technology, a product to watch out for is PlantCam. Due to launch this autumn in the U.S. with a cost of around $80 this is a simple to use time-lapse photography camera that can literally bring plant growth to life, as shown on this video. It is produced by the company who have developed the popular BirdCam for watching wildlife and it automatically creates the video from the photographs so that it can be viewed on any computer without needing special software.

There are plenty of old-fashioned ways to enjoy a garden together as well. Hunting for worms, making homes for wildlife and even just digging up dirt all have great appeal. One of my favourites is to prepare a special picnic and just eat outdoors together. By choosing a different spot each time you can naturally interact with the things that are going on from watching butterflies to picking daisies. Just remember to get kids to wash their hands before eating as many plants and berries can be poisonous.

So there we have it, some great resources to turn gardening into a family activity and enjoy getting out together. For more information, take a look at our previous articles on Gardening With Children and Fun in the Garden. There are millions of cool ideas for gardening together, so if you have found one that works particularly well, please add a comment below so that we can share the inspiration!

Mick Brooks General Secretary of National Association of Head Teachers

“This is a lovely book. In their search for eggs, the characters introduce young readers to a farm, farm animals, and the ingredients needed for successful seedings. The drawings are delightful. And the story ends with tea and cake, what more could you ask for?”

Mary Bousted General Secretary for The Association of Teachers and Lecturers

The following summary was put together by primary education consultant Dr Claire Tocher.

“Outdoor learning often provides the most memorable learning experiences, helping us to make sense of the world around us by making links between feelings and learning.” Independent review of the primary curriculum (final report April 09)

Secret Seed Society packs can:

• Improve academic achievement
• Provide a bridge to deeper (higher order) learning
• Develop skills and independence in a widening range of environments
• Make learning more engaging and relevant to young people
• Develop active citizens who make a positive contribution to society
• Nurture creativity and improve motivation levels
• Provide opportunities for informal learning through play
• Reduce behaviour problems and improve attendance
• Provide challenge and the opportunity to take acceptable levels of risk
• Improve young people’s attitudes to learning

The Secret Seed Society supports the recommendations given for effective learning by:

• Ofsted: Sustainable Schools
• Department for children, schools and families (Executive Summary and Recommendations for the Revised Primary Curriculum, Every Child Matters, Healthy School Initiative)
• Teachernet: Growing schools
• Learning for Landscapes
• BECTA’s contribution for the Rose Review

I bet you hadn’t guessed that your Seed Agent card included with our first pack starring Chrissie Cress is made out of plants!

Unlike normal plastic cards that are made from oil, your Seed Agent card will completely disappear when composted. Don’t go throwing it in the compost just yet – put it in your wallet, and make sure that everyone knows you’re a green-fingered Seed Agent for the Secret Seed Society.

If you want to know more about this magic plastic check out our friends at Eco-Card.

To encourage small children to get into gardening and to start eating their greens without complaint,  we’ve discovered a great little children’s gift kit – the Secret Seed Society.

The pack contains a storybook “No Hens in the Pen”, some cress seeds to plant and grow and membership of the Secret Seed Society as well as the recipe for the marvellously Mad Muffins that two of the characters, Chrissie Cress and Peter Parsnip are baking in the book.

Everything is printed on recycled materials and uses 100% vegetable oil based inks. The little packs make great Christmas stocking fillers or party favours.

Secret Seed Society is the brainchild of Shena Cooper. Shena is a teacher and along with an anthropologist, a filmmaker, a sustainability strategist and an illustrator she decided to independently finance, publish and distribute the packs to encourage children to eat and grow healthy sustainable food.

No Hens in the Pen is the first of many planned stories set on City Farm, each featuring anthropomorphic vegetable characters.

>> Order your Secret Seed Society pack

Learn more tips about gardening from Make It and Mend It website

Dig in with Seed City Characters by Sean Dagan Wood Sep 7, 2009. Positive News Issue 61