Ö÷²¥´óÐã

Although my eldest children's interest has waned considerably, I'm happy their roots have had a good start, even if their love of gardening is currently lying dormant! But I reckon given time, it will eventually blossom again into a love that started in our small back garden.

Luckily you don't need much space or money to garden; it's still possible to grow a few of your favourite veg in containers. I always hesitate to ask children what they would like to grow as many don't love vegetables and unfortunately I can't magic up a chocolate tree.

Still, thanks to wonderful sounding tomatoes like chocolate cherry or jellybean, purple carrots and pink striped beetroot, it's not hard to find something that will excite them.

Allowing your child to choose what to grow is one way to ignite the passion; my four-year-old is currently desperate to sow some ornamental squash that will grow into a snake shape while my six-year-old is keen to plant some that will grow into "swans".

Finding a spot in the garden they can call their own is also important. It's best to let them have a good, sunny patch which can always be reclaimed when they've left home. That is the wonderful thing about container growing; they can plant up a fun, brightly coloured plastic trug or an old tin bath to sit in the sunniest spot.

Although I do wistfully look at it, I have divided a small bed at the allotment into three for the youngest children. One is growing herbs, another has given it over almost entirely to strawberries and the other child is going to grow his snakes.

Apart from giving them something they actually want to plant and somewhere to do it, I ensure they have metal, child-size gardening tools, gloves and watering cans to carry out the job well. But these are all sundries and while important they're not the most crucial element to getting your child gardening. It's a cliché but true - all they really want is time with you and that is perhaps the biggest investment you can make in growing gardeners.

I only have to step into my greenhouse and I'm accosted by a small voice asking to help. Like all children, mine love creating and I believe they get great satisfaction from seeing the seeds they lovingly poked into the pots turning into seedlings and hopefully something they can eventually eat.

They also love the ownership of their plot, the sunflowers they have grown (helped by a bit of healthy sibling competition) but most of all they love spending time with me just pottering about.

Debbie Webber is a garden writer and the author of the blog.