Milly Fyfe, who farms with her family in Northamptonshire, is passionate about getting families growing and cooking together. Her food blog, No Fuss Meals For Busy Parents, is perfect for those who want to cook more seasonally.
She says: "Ever since I was young, I have always been involved in growing fruit, vegetables and flowers from seed. So, when I had children, it was the most natural thing for me to pass on my knowledge and involve them in the growing, nurturing, harvesting and eating of fresh produce from our kitchen garden.
"It still amazes me when other children come to play and they are mesmerised at the fact you can pull carrots out of the ground, wash them under the garden tap and eat them straight away. The benefits of growing your own are numerous. The children eat more fresh produce because they have been involved in the process, they are exposed to lots of native wildlife in the garden, everything tastes so much fresher, and the mental health benefits to me are huge - The kitchen garden is our happy place.
"I try and grow ‘easy' things that do not need too much care, as I am often juggling lots of things on the farm; my business, the children, and life in general, and I do not want the garden to be a chore. If you have never grown your own, or have been put off getting started, I would suggest you start with a few low maintenance crops such as new potatoes, butternut squash and French beans."
New potatoes
These can be grown directly in the ground or if you are short on space, you can grow in a potato sack, placing two-three tubers in each. You can chit the potatoes beforehand to give them a head start and when they start to bare green leaves, you can continue to cover with soil to encourage a healthy crop, which also protects them from frost.
Butternut Squash
This is another firm favourite in the Fyfe household. I often make it into soup, roast on a Sunday or make wedges with a sprinkle of sea salt and chilli flakes. The seeds are easy to germinate, but the plants are not frost resilient, so you tend to put them out in the garden from mid-May onwards. In hot weather you need to give them water each day, but with the summer we have been having, the mild and wet weather has caused the plants to go bonkers. The plants will take over, with green trifid like leaves, and the squash will be ready to harvest from September.
New potatoes
These do not require canes to grow up and plants can be prolific (dependent on variety) with a bounty of beans to pick and eat that day - or freeze. Use the beans in a stir fry or boil to accompany a Sunday roast.
