Encouraging children to grow their own
Annabelle Padwick, Life at No. 27 founder, has combined her horticultural, teaching and writing skills to create a children’s gardening book.
The book is part of the new You Can series from Collins. Called You Can Grow Your Own Food, it is a how-to book for kids curious about gardening. With space to scribble and draw, kids can keep track of their new garden and make this book their own. It’s packed with fun gardening projects and tips on how to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs outside and indoors.
Gardening and therapy from Annabelle Padwick
Annabelle founded the social enterprise, Life at No.27, in 2019. It provides gardening and wellbeing-based therapy for children and adults struggling with low confidence, isolation and mental health illness. She is creating a bespoke allotment-based support network to help change lives across the country. It is accessible through self-referral, GPs, psychiatrists and local councils.
Annabelle is also delivering wellbeing and national curriculum-based gardening programmes into schools. The aim is to support students of all ages struggling with social and emotional circumstances.
‘Written and designed for children’
She said: “YOU CAN grow your own food is my dream childhood book, so writing it has been incredibly exciting! This is a book written and designed for children that has all my favourite activities, as well as lots of pages to make it their own. Get colouring in, design your own garden, and complete the word search. Grow your first veggies, track your height, start cooking, record all your growing adventures and believe in yourself.
“I have put so much care into this book, making sure that children can read it themselves and that all the images are realistic. My nine-year-old niece, Summer, got involved in checking the text and her favourite wonky, ‘monster’ like carrots I grew at the allotment are featured too.
‘Simple gardening guide’
“If you are an adult and want a really simple guide on how to grow your own food with some added colouring in and play, then this book is perfect for you too.”
You Can Grow Your Own Food, by Annabelle Padwick, is available to order now via Amazon, Waterstones and all other major bookshops. Annabelle is an Ambassador for Thrive, the UK National Charity which changes lives through gardening. She is also the founder of the National Growing for Wellbeing Week. For more information, visit www.lifeatno27.com.
Read more horticultural book reviews you might like – The Thoughtful Gardener and Good Soil; Urban Flowers; The Salad Garden and The Jam Maker’s Garden.
