Thanks to everyone who gave me advice about my apple and pear trees. I have two small boys aged 3 and 5 and would like to start a vegetable patch for them. are there any particular vegetables that are easy for kids to grow and look after? My soil is acidic - will this be a problem for vegetables?

Well I have good luck with green onions and chives and basil. They come up quick. The basil isn't really a veggie it's a herb but they have all kinds and they smell good in the garden. Bush beans are fun but they can't be watered until after they sprout. They grow and produce beans quickly. I'm sure you'll get all kinds of good ideas for this project that the kids will love.

Radishes are very easy to grow but the best thing is that they germinate very quickly and grow like blazes. They don't require too much fertiliser either so are easy to look after. Kids love to grow sunflowers too. Not veges but still good to eat. Peas are good kiddycrops because they can eat the pods when they're not fully developed. It's hard to get some to the table as the kids pinch them off the plants all the time. It's the kids not me OK. I never ever pinch the peas. Never ever. Beans are good too for the same reasons and you can make a teepee out of old tomato stakes and grow the beans up them. Peas and beans don't like acid soil so the dolomite is a must for them.

When you say your soil is acidic, how acidic? Ideally a Ph of about 6-7 which is slightly acid will suit a broad range of common veges.(7 is neutral)
Add some dolomite lime to sweeten the soil, about a handful to the square yard if you need to.

You could always plant a crop of spuds too. Then have a treasure hunt gathering the potatoes at the end of the season as well as sneaking a few here and there while they're growing.

Strewth! I just read you're from Nth Ireland and i'm tellin you to grow spuds. Any eskimos out there wanna buy some ice while i'm at it. Probably forget the sunflowers bit too OK. I'll just go to bed now and pretend i'm not an idiot

the best time I had planting with kids was when my neice and nephew were small. they wanted to plant. so they planted the radishes, green onions, leaf lettuce, they wanted corn, knowing they didn't like it, I got some popcorn and they thought that was great.
I also constructed a tee-pee out of really long dowel rods, thick ones, then we planted pole beans on them, the kids would get in the middle of it and pick the beans. Worked out great, they had a little hiding place and they had a great time picking the beans. It is easy, just get the dowel rods, form them like a tee-pee tie off the top really well and don't forget to leave an opening so they can get in and out.
I still giggle when I think of that one,lol.