“Start cooking with your children - they get so much satisfaction from harvesting their plants and cooking them in the kitchen!”

This month, we are really glad to have Alvina Chan (琳琳), accomplished chef and author, and a mother of 2 adorable children aged 2 and 4 years old, share more about her journey of growing her own food.

Her children provided the motivation for her to start planting her own veggies and herbs at home a year ago. “My daughter initiated this project. She learnt at school that growing a plant requires Sun, Seed, Soil and Water and we started planting Italian Basil in our balcony because she cooked tomato sauce with basil before,” recalled Alvina.

Alvina highly recommends everyone to start planting with their children. “Expose them to different herbs and let them smell and feel the herbs.” Planting is also a very rewarding process as it has taught Alvina’s daughter the importance of patience.

Having bought Thyme, Mint, Basil and Pepper from the market to plant at home, Alvina is now experimenting with Italian basil, Thai basil, Cherry Tomatoes, Strawberries with organic seeds and soil in her 15 pots at home.

After starting with herbs in her garden, Alvina is ready to take on more challenging plants – “Simple herbs are easy to grow. I need to learn more about growing fruits.”

Thank you so much Alvina for sharing your story, we also hope more children will start to learn and experience the wonders of growing their own food!

If you have any questions about growing your own vegetables and herbs, do feel free to drop us a message. We’d love to hear from you!

Click to check out Alvina's facebook page!