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Growing Family

UK home and garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for busy family life, written by Catherine Hughes

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Easy ways to improve your garden in winter

February 5, 2021 by Catherine 2 Comments

tree branches with snow and berries

A quick glance out of my kitchen window confirms that winter is definitely in residence in the garden.  The light is low, the tree branches are the only real structure in sight, most plants are dormant, and the lawn is blanketed in yet another carpet of fallen leaves (note to self: make more leaf mould). This all sounds more than a little bleak, but actually it’s not that hard to add interest to your garden in ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Birds, Containers, Family, Garden, Plants, Top Tips, Wildlife, Winter

Easy crafts for kids: fun winter nature crafts and activities

January 5, 2021 by Catherine 31 Comments

winter nature craft collecting sticks to make a winter forest twig picture

Are you managing to get the kids playing outdoors this winter? These fun winter nature crafts will help you tempt them off the sofa! We don’t really see winter as ideal for spending time outdoors with our children, do we?  The days are shorter, the weather is often less than inviting, and it’s hard to motivate ourselves to leave the comfort of a cosy house.  But in my experience, children just don’t think this way. As far as my ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Birds, Children, craft, Family, gardening, Homegrown, Nature, Outdoors, Planting, Salad, Seeds, Wildlife, Winter

Easy DIY bird feeder for kids to make

January 4, 2021 by Catherine 3 Comments

How to make your own homemade bird feeders - a simple and fun nature activity for children which will encourage wild birds to visit your garden!

Are you looking for ideas for a DIY bird feeder for kids to make? This simple bird feeder craft is easy and fun, and will have the birds flocking to your garden! Homemade bird feeders are one of our favourite crafts. I've lost count of the number of times we've made them, and they're always a big hit with our local wild birds. Whenever we put them out in the garden they vanish within a couple of days. We usually use empty paper cups or ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Bird feeder, Birds, Children, craft, Family, Garden, Homemade, naturally crafty, Nature, Nature Craft, Outdoors

Homemade bird feeders: easy step-by-step guide

November 23, 2020 by Catherine 59 Comments

These homemade bird feeders are a great way to give your local wild birds a real treat. You can make them at any time of year, but it's particularly important to support wild birds in winter. Why homemade bird feeders are great for feeding wild birds in winter Winter is a tough time of year for wild birds, as natural food sources such as insects and berries are scarce. Also, birds need lots of energy-rich food to maintain fat reserves, ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Bird feeder, Birds, Children, craft, Family, Garden, Homemade, naturally crafty, Nature, Nature Craft, Outdoors, Winter

Growing sunflowers in pots: easy step-by-step guide

May 12, 2020 by Catherine 5 Comments

If you're looking for easy seeds to grow with children, it's hard to beat growing sunflowers in pots. If you're not gardening with children sunflowers are still fantastic plants to grow, and they make wonderful cut flowers too. This step-by-step guide shows you how to grow sunflowers in pots, covering which seeds to choose, planting and care instructions, and fun sunflower activities for kids. Growing sunflowers in pots As well as ...

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Filed Under: Gardening with Children Tagged With: Activity, Birds, Children, Family, Flowering plants, Flowers, Garden, Garden tips, Garden tools, gardening, gardening equipment, Gardening with children, growing from seed, Minibeasts, Nature, Outdoors, Planting, Plants, Seedlings, Seeds, Spring, Sunflower, Sunflowers, Top Tips, Wildlife

7. The 10 minute gardener: quick summer gardening jobs

June 27, 2019 by Catherine 18 Comments

hampton court flower show 2016 zoflora outstanding natural beauty show garden

Welcome to the latest post in this series, looking at quick gardening jobs you can fit into a busy schedule.  This time I'm looking at ways to stay on top of your summer garden. Things have certainly warmed up in the last couple of weeks, and I’m really enjoying my garden now the summer plants are bursting into life.  I think the ‘little and often’ approach is best for gardening at this time of year; keeping on top of the garden through little ...

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Filed Under: Garden jobs this month Tagged With: 10 minute gardener, Bedding plants, Birds, Flowers, Garden, Garden tips, July, June, Maintenance, Pests, Plants, Summer, Top Tips, watering, Wildlife

Taking the RSPB Wild Challenge: spotting signs of spring and sowing sunflowers

March 26, 2019 by Catherine Leave a Comment

RSPB signs of spring

Last year we had a great time partnering with RSPB on family-friendly activities that would help to give nature a home in our garden.  You might remember that we planted wildflower seeds, grew flowers for butterflies, made a frog and toad abode, grew plants for moths, and made a bird bath.  It was a busy year! We’re thrilled to be working with RSPB again on some fun new projects.  Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you more ...

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Filed Under: Exploring Nature Tagged With: Activity, Birds, Children, Family, Flowers, Garden, gardening, Minibeasts, Nature, Outdoors, Planting, Plants, RSPB, Seeds, Spring, Sunflowers, Wildlife

Tips for feeding garden birds in winter

November 30, 2018 by Catherine Leave a Comment

feeding garden birds in winter infographic

Are you providing food for the wild birds who visit your garden this winter? We usually spend less time in our gardens during winter, but wild birds are often still visiting just as much as in the warmer months.  Garden birds will be searching for food, and also water when temperatures drop low enough to freeze their usual supplies. Providing a winter food source for wild birds is a great way to support your local wildlife, and you'll also ...

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Filed Under: Exploring Nature Tagged With: Bird feed, Bird feeder, Birds, Garden, Nature, Outdoors, Top Tips, Wild birds, Wildlife, Winter

Giving nature a home in our garden: sowing wildflowers

March 27, 2018 by Catherine 20 Comments

sowing wildflowers on an unused patch of land

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll be aware that we’re joining forces with the RSPB 'Give nature a home in your garden' campaign.  With 60% of the UK’s wildlife species seeing decline over the last fifty years, the campaign aims to encourage us all to take small, achievable steps to help nature in our own green spaces. We’re going to be sharing our experiences as we try out lots of fun family activities to make a home for nature in our own ...

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Filed Under: Exploring Nature Tagged With: Activity, Allotment, Birds, Children, Containers, Family, Garden, gardening, Nature, Outdoors, Planting, RSPB, Seeds, Top Tips, Wildflowers

Review: Vine House Farm super suet fat ball bird feed

January 25, 2018 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Hanging fat ball feeder

Our garden has been a hive of activity in the last couple of weeks.  We’ve been reviewing some high energy bird feed from Vine House Farm, and it’s safe to say it’s been a big hit! We always make an extra effort to feed our local wild birds in winter, because this season is really tough for them.  The cold weather causes wild birds to use more energy keeping warm, and also natural food sources are thin on the ground.  Providing a source of ...

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Bird feed, Birds, Children, Garden, Nature, Outdoors, Reviews, The Wildlife Trusts, Vine House Farm, Wildlife, Winter

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Hi, I’m Catherine. Welcome to Growing Family, a top UK home & garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
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Catherine Hughes is a home & garden blogger sharing ideas, inspiration & tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
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