My Tiny PlotFirst Carrot – ever!
One of the things I’m really excited about is using my vegetables to feed Jackson. He’s too young to be eating solids full-time so I have been giving him little tastes of this and that until he’s old enough to eat. He loves Banana, and Apple too. But up to now everything I have given him has been store bought. Today, however, he had his first taste of home-grown produce; he tasted his first Carrot. I wanted to give him the whole experience so I popped him in his Baby Bjorn and we went out into the garden to pick his first Carrot.
We all know how amazing fresh Carrots smell when they come out of the ground but imagine if you had never smelled that? Imagine if you were smelling Carrot for the first time ever? Wow – I wish I could do that again. Jackson seemed to like the smell and so we carried our harvest indoors and started preparing.
We chose the biggest, juiciest Carrot, peeled it and chopped it. Then boiled it until it was nice and soft (a few minutes longer than you would cook a Carrot for yourself since it needs to be really soft). Then we popped it in our new Mouli (or mini-grinder) and mashed it up good. Then the tasting began.
At first Jackson wasn’t sure – mainly about what to do with this new orange stuff that clearly wasn’t milk. Should he drink it? no, that didn’t work. Should he push it out of his mouth with his tongue? yes, that worked but it didn’t help him eat it. Should I gum the Carrot a bit and then swallow it? Ah yes, much more satisfactory. Infact, that stuff is G-O-O-D mum, give me the whole bowl, now!
Once he got going it was clear that he ‘really’ loved Carrot. Ahh! That’s my boy. So I guess I’ll be sowing more Carrots next season?
Wow that’s a big carrot, although it might be a particularly small child.
totally agree, home grown carrots are the best!
I’m on a mission to grow perfect carrots. After 3 years I’m getting closer!!
What a lucky little boy!
WONDERFUL! I absolutely love seeing a child eat fresh vegetables. It’s so much more nutritious and so much less expensive than the little jars. Good for you!
Our daughter is 8 months old and she’s eating boiled carrots, red beet, onions and potatoes straight from the garden, and she loves it too ;-) And it’s a good feeling knowing that you did your best to provide good food for your child.
My boy’s 3 years old, and he’s started to become aware that food comes from the garden, and he really enjoys eating stuff if “daddy grew it”! It’s an amazing feeling to be able to give them stuff that’s fresh and straight from the garden. Great stuff!
Yeah!!! I’m so excited that he loved it. That was my babies first veggie too, although, sadly, theirs came from a jar. What an awesome thing that Jackson got it from YOUR garden! Way to go sweetie!! xoxo
Great post! I’ve really enjoyed feeding small bits of fresh peas and green beans to my 1 year old. I never ever thought about the point you made… the first time ever! What a neat thought. To experience the taste of fresh peas for the first time….
As soon as I get home tonight, I’m pulling a carrot and letting him smell it for the first time. Fun post.. thank you.
Fantastic! he will be a brainy boy when he grows up, and he will be able to see in the dark too!
I think getting Jackson to smell and then eat veg / fruit you’ve grown is a brilliant idea. When both my boys were babies, and well before they were eating, I increased their sensory experience by getting them to smell herbs and spices. They still love to go through my spice draw (they are now 8.5 and 4), and smell all the spices and herbs, and identify them by smell. In our garden, they eat fresh herbs for fun. We just created a herb bed for the 8.5 year at the allotment – where we aim to grow more unusual herbs. We’ll see what that development brings. And the “first time” thing is a little mind blowing.