I have to admit something rather embarrassing. My youngest son isn't exactly a fan of gardening. It's not that he hates it, it's just that it plays a very poor second to Peppa Pig... and cars... and trampolining... and the playground... and, well, pretty much everything.
This is particularly tricky as I run the gardening club at his pre-school. This has, in general, been a great hit with the children and most will come and do some planting, sowing or harvesting.
And then there's Archie.
He wouldn't plant bulbs, or sow carrots, or plant nasturtiums, or show the remotest interest in anything - not only at pre-school but also in our own garden.
But he is nothing if not surprising because this week, after months of indifference, when I asked if he wanted to stay on and have his packed lunch at pre-school he said "No, I want to do gardening with Mummy".
"Really? Are you sure? Well that's... er... Did you actually say 'gardening'?" It's fair to say I was quite surprised.
But thankfully, I had a few bedding plants to hand, plus some new planters I had found. These were actually cutlery holders from Wilkinsons but in perfect child-friendly shades and at £2 a pop, pretty good value containers.
You need to line the sides, but this is easily done with sections of old compost bags, and the holes on the bottom are perfect for drainage. Then Archie simply added a few stones to the bottom to stop the holes clogging up, added compost, planted up and watered in (or more accurately, flooded).
When we'd finished, I was starting to feel quite excited by his new-found love of horticulture.
"So, shall we plant something else?"
At which point, he gave me a look that said "Nice try" and wandered in to watch Peppa Pig.
Ah I know the feeling PP is on a perpetual loop in our house. And now you can go out with the family for the day and visit PP world, what joy!
Posted by: Damo | May 24, 2011 at 06:27 PM