Q+A with Tiffani Thiessen on Gardening with Her Kids

Mother, actress, Long Beach native, and author of Pull Up a Chair: Recipes From My Family to Yours, Tiffani Thiessen chats with us about getting her kids outside and into the garden. She also shares a recipe from her book, a beautiful Nectarine Caprese Salad.

You have a lovely garden space and chicken coop. When you’re home, does your family spend a lot of time outdoors?

TT: Thank you! We feel really lucky to have the space we have. If the weather is nice you can almost always find us outside with the kiddos and our pups.

Do you find that your young kids are excited to join you and help out in the garden or is it more like a chore to them? How do you make it fun season after season?

TT: Both Harper and Holt have always naturally enjoyed being out in the garden. It fascinates them being able to watch things grow and then helping us harvest. They love to pick and eat right from the garden.

Are there specific tasks or responsibilities they love to take on?

TT: Harper loves to help pick fruit from the fig tree. She climbs to the top and tosses them down to us. Holt is all about picking the blueberries. Though we are lucky if any of them make it in the basket instead of his mouth, ha!

Do they have a say in what grows?

TT: We love to switch it up from season to season. But we always make sure to have their favorites in each!

Are your children adventurous eaters and willing to try new things that you’ve grown together?

TT: Holt is a bit more adventurous than Harper, but she is getting better about at least trying things. I would absolutely say that growing things helps with that.

What’s typically ready to pick during the summer in your garden?

TT: It truly depends on what we decided to plant that year. This year we are doing assorted tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, watermelon, squash, apples, nectarines, plums, and peaches.

What’s a favorite summer recipe you enjoy making together, with some ingredients from your garden?

TT: Nectarine Caprese Salad from [my cookbook], Pull Up A Chair, is always a good one! It is fresh and really lets the produce shine. You can also easily switch out the nectarines with a different stone fruit if you wanted to.