One Hour Craft

Lesson 1: How to Start a Garden (Easy and Great with Kids)

Hi, We are on holidays and it is so much fun! I am sure that there are a few mums like me out there racking their brains for something to do with their children. I love my child, but I love her more outdoors! I really can’t stand tv, computer games and internet for children. Especially living in our delicious climate. I was so glad to have gone to Kate’s house yesterday for a visit and to see her mum Pauline there. Pauline showed me a great way to grow seedlings and ignite your child’s (or your own interest in gardening). Keep in mind that this is only my first week of gardening, so learn with me.

I love this tutorial because whether you live in a little flat in London or on a station outside of Meekatharra or are a teacher in a classroom, this is really easy and uses materials which you may already have.
The first thing to do to grow a garden is to turn those little seeds that you buy into seedlings. I am inspired to use seedlings because they are cheap and also I think it is great for kids to see how a plant grows from a tiny seed… On with the tutorial…

You will need:

• A 2 or 2L Coke or Soft Drink Plastic Bottle. Leave the lid on.
• A pair of tough scissors or secateurs
• Some seeds to plant. We are planting edibles. We planted strawberries in this bottle. Make sure you read the back of the seed packet to see what time of year your plants will grow in your part of the country.
• Some potting mix or seedling mix. Available at any nursery.
• A little water
• Sunshine and a whole lot of love.

Step 1

Make sure that the adult does this part.

Take the bottle and holding it on its side cut it in half with the secateurs. It should now look like the photo below.

Step 2

Take the bottom half of the bottle and with the secateurs, cut about four slits about an inch and a half long towards the bottom of the bottle. Oh I know, I change from measurements, that’s what you get from parents who took you to the US to school when you were learning about measurement.

Step 3

You should now be able to fit the top part of the bottle easily onto the bottom. It is easy because of the slits, without them you will really struggle.

Step 4

Take the bottom part of the bottle and cut holes in the little mounds with the secateurs. This is for excess water to drain out of them.

Step 5

(This is really where the kids can get involved). Fill the bottom of the bottle with potting mix or seedling mix, just until the place where the slits begin. Then dampen the soil with a cup of water. The kids will love getting their hands dirty putting the mix in bottle.

Step 6

Sprinkle the seeds onto the dampened mix.

Step 7

Replace the lid on to the top of the bottle. Place the bottle outdoors or on a window sill. Seedlings love a warm, moist environment.

And voila….

You now have your little strawberry seedling incubator, which is apparently self watering. (Also, don’t you just love Photoshop?). The condensation builds and rewater the seeds. Even Luciano thought the whole thing was pretty interesting. We can’t wait for them to sprout into seedlings. Now, I will have to get back to Pauline and find out, ‘what next?’.

I took the packet from the seeds and my beloved hot glue gun (I still can’t believe I read one blogger dissing the hot glue gun), and glued the label along the top and stuck it to the bottle. This looks quite cute and lets me know what there is in the bottle.

I have placed an old plate under the bottle and it is on our kitchen bay window, waiting for the sunshine to do her thing…

Enjoy!

Mia

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