For the grown-ups

Grow it. Color it. Eat it!

Thanks for coloring with Garden Veggies. Every page has a QR code that brings you here, with a fun fact and a conversation starter for each veggie, plus simple ways to turn coloring time into garden time.

Get the printable Companion Edition, $4.99 →

Page by page

1 · Carrot

crunchy · orange · grows underground

Carrots grow upside down! The part we eat is the root, hiding under the soil while the leafy tops soak up sun.

Ask together: What else grows hidden underground? (Potatoes, beets, radishes and garlic are all in this book.)

2 · Tomato

juicy · red · heat-loving

Tomatoes start out green and turn red as they ripen in the summer sun. Scientists call them a fruit because they have seeds inside.

Ask together: Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? (Both answers are fun to argue about at dinner.)

3 · Peas

crunchy · green · climbing vines

Pea plants hold on with curly tendrils, like tiny green springs, to climb up toward the sun.

Ask together: Can you find the curly tendrils on your page? How many peas are in the pod?

4 · Pumpkin

round · orange · autumn harvest

Pumpkins grow on long, twisty vines that can stretch across a whole garden.

Ask together: What would you carve or bake with a pumpkin this size?

5 · Corn

sweet · golden · tall stalks

Each strand of corn silk connects to one kernel. Corn plants can grow taller than a grown-up!

Ask together: How tall do you think corn can grow? Stand up and reach as high as you can.

6 · Broccoli

green · bushy · tiny trees

Broccoli is actually a bunch of flower buds picked before they bloom. If you wait, it turns into little yellow flowers!

Ask together: Does broccoli look like a tiny tree to you? What else does it look like?

7 · Radishes

peppery · pink · super speedy

Radishes are the speediest veggie: some are ready to eat about four weeks after planting.

Ask together: What could you grow before your next birthday? (Radishes are a great first pick.)

8 · Potatoes

earthy · hidden · hearty

One potato plant can grow lots of potatoes underground. Digging them up feels like a treasure hunt.

Ask together: How many ways can you name to eat a potato?

9 · Cucumber

cool · crisp · climbing

Cucumbers climb with tendrils just like peas, and pickles start out as cucumbers!

Ask together: Have you ever tried a pickle? Did you know it used to be a cucumber?

10 · Bell Pepper

crunchy · colorful · sweet

Green peppers turn yellow, orange or red if you leave them on the plant longer to ripen.

Ask together: Which color pepper would you color yours? Do they taste different?

11 · Eggplant

purple · glossy · sun-loving

Eggplants got their name because early ones were small, white and shaped like eggs.

Ask together: What color would you make your eggplant?

12 · Beet

sweet · deep red · earthy

Beets can turn your fingers pink when you cut them. People even use beet juice as natural dye.

Ask together: What could you paint with beet juice?

13 · Garlic

bold · papery · planted in fall

One garlic clove planted in fall grows into a whole new bulb by summer.

Ask together: Count the cloves on your page. Each one could grow a new garlic plant!

14 · Zucchini

green · speedy · summer squash

Zucchini grow so fast that gardeners joke about finding one the size of a baseball bat.

Ask together: How big do you think the biggest zucchini ever was?

Try it at home

Grow a cup garden. Radishes and peas sprout fast in a cup of potting soil on a sunny windowsill.
Host a taste test. Pick three veggies from the book, try them together, and let your kid color the winner.
Regrow from scraps. Set the root end of green onions in a little water and watch them grow back within days.
Grow one together. Plan a tiny garden with Plotline, our free planner. It shows what you can still plant this season where you live.

Printing tips

Print on bright white 8.5x11 paper and choose "Fit to page." Crayons, markers and colored pencils all work. Print a favorite page as many times as you like for home or classroom use.

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