The new scheme is intended to help families grow salad veg. With supermarkets struggling to stock up on tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers and peppers, the Grow Up on Salad scheme is offering free seeds to use for growing your salad veg.

Families who apply will need to have at least a few pots, a window sill or a garden space to be able to take advantage. They will be given detailed instructions on how to care for their salad vegetables as they grow, along with seed propagation kits to get their salad growing days off to a good start.

The timing of the new scheme is perfect with the clocks going forward and the feel of Spring in the air, a perfect time to start growing your own veg and best of all, you won’t worry about what you can or can’t find in the supermarket!

Benefits to kids include:

• learning to be responsible for watering plants
• calming anxieties through gardening
• posing for pictures with their knife and fork and salad bowl

Benefits to parents include:

• an extra thing to remember to look after when the kids forget
• gluts of salad vegetables when they unexpectedly thrive
• heart in mouth moments when you realise you have spotted slugs, beetles and pests munching your delicious plants.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

The Grow Up on Salad scheme is one of the Irish government’s latest projects launched to tackle supermarket shortages.

Shane Kelly, the government’s champion for the project said, “We’re really happy with the new scheme. Who doesn’t love a fresh salad?”.

To claim your free seeds and growing kit, just head over to the Irish government website www.gov.ie/freesalad, fill out your contact details and someone will be in touch with when the seeds will be sent out to you.