Over the last few years my kids have got involved with lots of different aspects of gardening; they've sown seeds, harvested crops, dug, planted, watered, weeded and simply played in the mud. They love all of it, but if you asked them what their favourite gardening job was, they'd say growing plants from seeds every time. I can understand why. There's just something so magical about planting a seed, watering it, and watching ...
Growing sunflowers with children
Have you planted any seeds yet this year? Now's the ideal time to get growing, and if you're looking for easy seeds to grow with children it's hard to beat sunflowers. As well as producing seriously impressive blooms, sunflower seeds are easy for little hands to deal with, and pretty low maintenance to grow. They're also brilliant for local wildlife; the flowers are great for bees and other pollinating insects, and birds love to eat ...
Fun gardening: How to grow your name in courgettes
This may sound like a rather odd title for a post, but bear with me.... If you're growing courgettes this year, right now you're likely to be inundated with them, and busy trying to find new recipes to use them in or giving them away to friends, neighbours and any random stranger who'll take them. This makes it the perfect time to grow a name in one of your courgettes; it's dead easy, takes a couple of minutes and is an absolutely brilliant, ...
#SpringBlooms fun with Dobbies Garden Centres
Well the weather has finally decided to behave like spring, hurrah! Now that things have started to warm up, you can really get cracking on some fun family gardening projects. Dobbies Garden Centres are encouraging us all to do just that with their #SpringBlooms campaign, and they asked us to get involved and hopefully inspire you to do the same. We popped into our local Dobbies store and picked up some plants, tools and accessories from ...
Gardening with children: seeds to sow in winter
We’ve started the seed planting for this year, hurrah! Sowing seeds is my kids favourite gardening job; it never fails to grab their attention and we always have a really great time doing it. Usually a messy time too, but that goes with the territory! Now, you may be thinking “But it’s still freezing outside, no way could we start growing tender little seedlings” - and yes, if you planted most seeds outdoors at this time of year you’d be asking ...
A Grow Along project with Tiger Sheds
Welcome to our latest kids gardening project! We're joining up with Tiger Sheds for their #TigerGrowAlong. They've sent us a fab kit so we can grow some lovely fresh herbs. Planting up a small herb garden in a container is a great gardening project for children. It's small enough for them to manage it all on their own, the seeds are quick to germinate so they won't lose interest, and it's a great opportunity to teach them about where ...
How to make gardening fun for children
It’s true that involving children in your garden or allotment is a fabulously rewarding experience for all taking part, but it can be a little daunting trying to make it fun. I know I’ve been guilty of encouraging the children to come outside with me, only to promptly become preachy and controlling when they try to get involved. And that’s no fun for anyone! I am a bit of a control freak, which is why gardening is so good for me - I have to ...
Seed Sowing with Kids: getting it right
There are so many reasons why kids love seed sowing: the Jack & the Beanstalk effect of planting a seed and seeing it magically turn into a plant, the outdoorsy-ness of the whole thing, the grown-up feeling such responsibility gives them, and of course the all-important getting grubby element. We’ve been making the most of the weather during the last couple of weeks and have had a couple of brilliant seed sowing sessions - which got me ...
Silent Sunday: 26 April 2015
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Top seeds to grow with kids
I have very vivid childhood memories of seed planting - down on my dad’s allotment, eagerly pushing broad beans into little pots of earth and being let loose with the watering can, then immediately asking “when will they grow?”. It was so exciting, being trusted with such an important job whilst being allowed to get grubby in the process. And I really wanted to care for those plants, because I was the one who planted them. When you think about ...