little green fingers

Growing pea shoots with children

When you work in the world of horticulture people assume you can grow anything.

Well people are wrong.

One of my many personal failings is in pea growing; it never goes well. 

As a result, I had all but given up on sowing any more peas, until I discovered pea shoots.  If you're not aware of their work, these early-harvested shoots are the ultimate 'posh veg' and are showing up in hoity-toity restaurants all over the land.  They are also as cheap and easy to grow as anything out there which makes them ideal for a gardening - or in my case pre-school gardening - activity.

In terms of the seeds, I have been using up my existing packets from the garden centre, but there is a far cheaper way of doing things: just buy a packet of dried peas from the supermarket.  As long as these aren't split, you should be able to soak them in water for about 24 hours and plant away with no problem - great if you're running a gardening club and need seeds enough for a whole load of children.

When I did this activity with the pre-schoolers they filled up pots with compost and then used their planting fingers (AKA their index fingers) to make half a dozen holes before dropping a seed into each. They then covered them over with more compost, gave them a water and took them home to place on a sunny windowsill.

If you are doing this with slightly older children though they should have the dexterity to grow seeds 'on show'.  For this, stuff a jar with kitchen roll or paper napkins, give these a water until the paper is damp all over, and then carefully slot peas, at 2cm intervals, around the side.  This way children can watch the germination of the seed take place rather than just seeing the shoot above ground.

The shoots appear within a week and are ready to harvest 2-3 weeks from sowing - which is useful because kids aren't renowned for their patience.  You cut them when there are about 15cm above ground, snipping them off about 3cm above the soil level.  Oh and don't throw the peas away yet because you'll find you'll get another crop - albeit slightly smaller - about 3 weeks later. 

Of course, in the warmer weather you can do this activity outside in the garden, but in colder months these are the ideal windowsill crop - plus this means they are close to hand for all those hoity-toity recipes - or just to munch on there and then (possibly in a hoity-toity manner).

 

How to make ice mobiles

Having just looked at the weather forecast for half term I can safely say 'pyjama days' are going to feature quite a lot in the next week.  Of course there's not reason I can't be a 'do as I say, not as I do' mother so I will be getting the children to go outside. As always, it's good to bribe them with something so I may let them to make some of these: ice mobiles. They're a doddle to create and, in this weather, you don't even need to rely on a freezer (which is good because that needs to be crammed full of ice for the G&Ts (I did mention it's half term right?).

1. Line up some silicon cupcake cases in a container and then ask the children to find some garden treasure to put in the mobiles - berries are always good, or small leaves or fronds - even the odd flower 

2. Pop something in each cupcake mould and then add some glitter (if you want a bit of sparkle) before draping a length of ribbon across each - leaving plenty at one end to tie the mobile onto something

3. Top up each mould with water and leave in the freezer (or, in this weather, overnight outside)

 

4. When the water has frozen, take the mobile out of the moulds and hang it up somewhere outside for the children to see

5. Race inside, serve up ice cream, and reward yourself with a G&T

Happy half term!

 

How to make a plant pot bird feeder (with added bling)

They dress up in feathers, show off with mid air stunts and screech at the top of their voices in the early hours of every morning - so don't try and tell me birds aren't total divas.

And divas, as we know, like nothing more than a bit of show off bling which is why they'll love this bird feeder (probably). It might also pull in few extra visitors this weekend for you to record on the RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch (it only takes an hour and is a great way to get the kids watching, identifying and recording birds).

1. Ask the children to wash out some small garden pots (you could use plastic ones, but terracotta look a wee bit classier) - preferably outside in an old bucket or basin.

2. When they have dried, use acrylic paint to add colour to the rim of the pot.

3. Thread a long piece of ribbon twice through the hole at the base of the pot and round again, leaving plenty at both ends to tie it to a branch or bracket. If you're not a fan of 'bling' you could go for twine or string instead.

4. Make up your bird food mix: in a bowl add a block of lard to two cups of porridge oats, one of flour and one of bird seed mix.  Provided the lard is at room temperature, the children can mix it all together by squishing with their hands and you don't need to heat anything on the stove.

5. Squish the bird food mix into the pot until it reaches the top (you should have enough mix for 2-3 pots depending on their size).

6. For added decoration (and treats) you can also tie some clusters of berries to the ribbon above the pot - or even some painted pinecones.

7. Hang your feeder from a branch or wall bracket and wait for the birds to visit. This fat-based snack is particularly popular with tits, thrushes and wrens but they are often wary of new objects so may take a day before they start to visit this new feeder. Then again, they may simply shun it because it doesn't have enough sequins. Sheesh - divas!

 

How to get free stuff for your school gardening club!

 

I know - it's not exactly a classy headline, but at least it got your attention - and that's good because school gardening clubs can do with as much support as possible.

On a freebie search, your first port of call should probably be the RHS - Campaign for School Gardening. It costs nothing to sign up and you get a free starter kit including seeds, soil testing kit, plant labels and posters.  You also get excellent support on an ongoing basis including benchmarking, lesson plans and access to regional advisors

There are also plenty of other schemes out there that will give you free plants, seeds and even tools.  Here are some it's worth taking a look at:

• Woodland Trust - free native trees or hedgerow plants for schools
• Tree Appeal - free native trees for school
• UK Oak Doors - free trees for school, colleges and universities
• Potato Council - free potato growing kit for schools
• Grow Wild - free wildflower seed kits
• The Conservation Foundation - offers yews to plant and refurbished tools (you can apply if in Cornwall, Devon, Edinburgh, Lincolnshire, London and Oxfordshire)

Plus, although not free, some companies offer discount to school buying seeds or school gardening equipment:

• Harrod Horticultural - up to 15% discount for schools on Budding Gardeners site
• Victoriana Nursery - 20% discount on seeds and 10% on equipment for schools 

If anyone knows of any other schemes or offers, do let me know in the comments below.

How to fund a school or community garden

Rather than rabbiting on about some nonsense, I thought I'd actually write a useful post for once. I know - no-one is more shocked than me.  

One of the hardest parts of setting up a school or community garden is finding financial or hands on help to get things off the ground.  Thankfully, there are lots of places you can go for help - it's often just a matter of knowing where to start.

So I've put together a list of organisations that offer assistance.  If I've missed any, or you are aware of any others, do let me know in the comments section and I'll add them on.  This list also forms part of my 'Gardening Club - setting up on a shoestring' page

Sponsorship

You can try approaching local businesses, particularly nurseries, landscape suppliers or garden centres, to see if they can offer any sort of discount, sponsorship or donation to your gardening club.  It's worth clearing this with the school in advance and checking if they have any existing corporate sponsors who could be contacted.

If you are writing to any companies, make sure you call and check the correct person you should address your request to and be prepared to follow up with a phone call. Even better, you could ask children to write the letters as part of a KS2 literacy lesson.

It is also worth letting potential sponsors know how their support will be acknowledged - for example in a newsletter distributed to all parents - and that you will be contacting the local media to publicise the donation.

Hands on Help

Setting up an initial garden area can require a lot of hard work. There are various organisations that you can appeal to for volunteer help for this:

Business in the Community
http://www.bitc.org.uk
You can contact BITC office (Business in the Community) to see if your project can attract volunteers to help as part of Give & Gain Day.

Employee Volunteering
http://employeevolunteering.co.uk/service
Offers volunteering across the UK for a broad range of community, conservation or environmental causes - including work with schools.

The Conservation Volunteers 
http://www.tcv.org.uk/community/community-support
If you need extra help with a project you can give your local Conservation Volunteers office call and they can usually provide a team from their regular volunteers.

Community Payback
Community Payback is a punishment for offenders involving tough, physical work on projects that benefit the community and you can request a project for consideration usually via your local probation service. 

Grants

Awards For All
http://www.awardsforall.org.uk
A lottery grants scheme for grants from £300-£10,000 - for local organisations including schools.

B&Q Community Reuse
http://www.diy.com/corporate/community/waste-donation/
B&Q donates unsellable products and materials for re-use by local schools, other educational institutions and community groups, for the benefit of the local community and the environment. For more information contact your local store directly and speak to a duty manager.

BBC Children In Need
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1N4ddmFHns8VPKjyp3PMYwn/apply-for-a-grant
Provides grants to benefit disadvantaged children and young people - small grants up to £10k for one year only or large grants of over £10k/year for up to three years.

Biffaward
http://www.biffa-award.org/apply
Awards projects which help rebuild biodiversity and provide places for outdoor recreation (which can include such things as community gardens or woodland walks). The Small Grants Scheme (SGS) offers grants between £250 and £10,000; the Main Grant Scheme (MGS) offers grants between £10,000 and £50,000. Your project must also be based within 15 miles of a Biffa Operation and 10 miles of a licenced landfill site.

Big Lottery Fund Community Programme
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/index/funding-uk/communities/community_programmes.htm
Community based programmes to bring the local community together and improve the lives of the people that live within it.  There are particular categories for local communities and community wildlife.

DM Thomas Foundation for Young People
https://dmthomasfoundation.org/what-we-do/grants/
Funding is for the most effective projects helping disadvantaged young people in the UK and Ireland.

Ernest Cook Trust
http://www.ernestcooktrust.org.uk
Provides grants of between £100 and £4000 (in small grants category) for the education of young people about the environment and countryside. 

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
http://esmeefairbairn.org.uk
Aimed at improving the quality of life in the UK, including grants for environmental projects and those involving children and young people. 

Ford
http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/AboutFord/CorporateSocialResponsibility/FordBritainTrust/HowToApply
Grants of up to £3000 for state schools and local groups in the areas near Ford plants in Essex (including East London), St Albans, Bridgend (South Wales), Southampton, Daventry, Manchester as well as initiatives in which Ford Motor Company Limited employees and retirees are involved

Funding Central
http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk
A free resource which lists thousands of funding and finance opportunities.

Grow Wild
https://www.growwilduk.com/content/community-project-funding
Grow Wild is awarding funding of £1,000 to £4,000 to community groups that want to bring people together to transform a communal space by sowing and growing UK native plants.

Postcode Trust
http://www.postcodetrust.org.uk/applying-for-a-grant.htm
Registered charities* in England, Scotland & Wales can apply from £500 - £20,000 (£10,000 in Wales) for projects including those supporting healthy living initiatives.

Sita Trust - England
http://www.sitatrust.org.uk/england
Funding awards up to £50,000 for not for profit organisations wishing to improve access for nature or leisure and recreation facilities for the benefit of the general public. Project must be within a three mile radius of a qualifying SITA UK waste processing location (check here).

Sita Trust - Scotland
http://www.sitatrust.org.uk/scotland Funding awards up to £50,000 for not for profit organisations in the areas of land reclamation, community recycling, public amenities and biodiversity. Project must be within a qualifying radius of a SITA waste processing location (check here).

Tesco Community Champions
http://www.tescoplc.com
Each Tesco UK store holds a community donation budget to help support with requests from their community for local fundraising events. To be considered for a donation please write to the Community Champion at your nearest store (Find your local store).

Tesco Local Community Grants
http://www.groundwork.org.uk/Sites/tescocommunityscheme/Pages/grants-tes
Administered by Groundwork, the money raised by Tesco customers in plastic bag tax will be used for grants to improve green spaces in communities across England, Wales and Scotland. Projects that will get the green light as a result of the funding will include creating pocket parks, sports facilities, woodland walks, school grounds, hospice grounds and community gardens.

The Conservation Foundation
http://www.conservationfoundation.co.uk
Offers yews to plant, refurbished tools (you can apply if in Cornwall, Devon, Edinburgh, Lincolnshire, London and Oxfordshire) and Wessex Watermark funding which can give a school, parish council or community organisation a grant of £100-£1500 for an environmental project located within the Wessex Water region - you can check if you are by viewing the map.

The National Gardens Scheme Elspeth Thomspon Bursary
http://www.ngs.org.uk/what-we-do/our-partners/elspeth-thompson-bursary.aspx
An annual bursary fund is available to provide financial assistance to amateur gardeners, either individuals or community groups, to enable them to create a garden or horticultural based project for the benefit of the community, or to enable them to acquire horticultural knowledge and skills and to develop and share their love of gardening. Grants would not normally exceed £5000.

Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
http://www.trusthousecharitablefoundation.org.uk
Foundation provides grants for a range of projects addressing rural issues and urban deprivation with a focus on healthcare and disability, community support & education and the arts. 

Waitrose Community Matters
http://www.waitrose.com/branches/index.aspx
Waitrose's Community Matters initiative supports a wide range of charities and community groups. Each branch of Waitrose has £1,000 to share out between three local good causes each month.  The scheme will consider supporting welfare organisations, community groups, schools or local divisions of national charities.  To find out more about the scheme visit your local store, which you can find by clicking on the link above.

How to grow a garden from scraps

(Photo: Kyle Books/Rachel Warne)

Today on the blog, I give you number 55 from my 101 Things For Kids To Do On A Rainy Day (available at all good bookstores... obviously) - Grow a garden from scraps.

You Will Need

Sunny windowsill

Food scraps

Saucers, bowls and small plant pots

Compost

Water

Jug or small watering can

Grown-ups have a habit of throwing away useful stuff - especially in the kitchen. In fact almost any time they go near fruit and vegetables something goes to waste. Well now you can teach them some better habits by showing how to grow new plants from their scraps.

Find a nice sunny windowsill where you can house your garden - sunshine is completely essential to plants (very much like sweets are to children).

You should then hover over your parents' shoulders every time they are preparing something to eat. They will of course find this spectacularly annoying but that's nothing new.

If they're chopping up celery, ask to keep the bottom section when they have cut it off. Pop this in a shallow dish of water and in a few days it will start to regrow from the centre. Also if you save the ends of spring onions you can stack these in a small glass, with the roots at the bottom, give them some water, and you'll have more leaves to snip off in a couple of weeks. Plus any cut off tops of root vegetables like carrots, beetroots, turnips, radishes can be put on a saucer in some water and they will start to regrow.

And when your mum or dad say "Oh dear" as they pull out the vegetable basket, that's your cue to grab things. Onions that have started to sprout or garlic cloves past their best can be planted in a pot of stones. Just water up to the base of these 'bulbs' and they'll start producing leaves which will taste of - well onion and garlic not surprisingly, and which you can snip with scissors to add to your cooking.

And don't forget, any leftover seeds and pips from fruit can be put into a small plant pot of compost to see if they'll grow. Just make a hole with your finger, pop in the seed, cover it over and give it a water.

Tip: Remember to keep your scrap garden watered - this is the other essential thing for plants (very much like ice cream is for children...)

How to make colour changing drinks

Picture copyright: Kyle Books/Rachel Warne

Today on the blog, I have the most exciting thing you can do with a cabbage.  It's also a project taken from my new book - 101 Things For Kids To Do On A Rainy Day.  

You Will Need:

Red cabbage

Bowls

Boiling water (grown ups to use)

Sieve

Clear jug

Clear glasses

Lemonade

This is a great trick to freak out your friends and family - plus you can have lots of fizzy drinks because they will ask you to show you this trick again and again.  And if that's not enough to make you love science I don't know what will. 

First you need to make some coloured cabbage water. Rip up a couple of red cabbage leaves into small pieces, put these in a bowl and ask a grown up to pour on some boiling water so the leaves are just covered.  Leave it to cool for 20 minutes then drain off the juice by pouring it through a sieve into another bowl.

Now put the liquid into a clear jug and stir in a level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda - this should make the liquid a bright blue colour.  If it still looks a little purple, add more bicarbonate of soda and stir again.  Finally place it in the fridge to chill for half an hour or so.

Now, to freak out your friends...

All you need to do is pour them some lemonade into a clear glass before offering to top it up with your 'magic colour changer'.  Now with as much dramatic flair as you can muster, pour just a very small amount of your blue liquid into the fizzy drink and watch it turn... pink!

Picture copyright: Kyle Books/Rachel Warne

If you want to reveal to them how it works, explain that the cabbage has a special pigment in it (an anthocyanin) that changes colour depending on how acid or alkaline something is.  Bicarbonate of soda makes the mixture alkaline - and blue - but the acidity in the lemon or lime based drink turns it pink.

Then again you could explain nothing... and keep freaking them out.  That sounds like a much better plan if you ask me.

Tip: For an even stronger colour you can mix a quarter teaspoon of citric acid into the lemonade - just make sure you stir it well until it's completely dissolved.

 

I even have a video if you want to see the magic 'in action'.

 

 

 

101 Things For Kids To Do On A Rainy Day

I'm not awfully good at this self promotion lark.  It just doesn't seem terribly...well...'polite' does it?

However, I am overcoming my English reserve to say this:

I have a new book out!

Was that too much?  I'm thinking the exclamation mark looks a bit brash. What do you think?

Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

It's called 101 Things For Kids To Do On A Rainy Day and it's the follow up to 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside which did... um... rather well.. you know, for that sort of book.  I mean, JK Rowling has nothing to worry about.  Not that I'm in anyway comparing myself to JK Rowling.  I'm very much the opposite.  This isn't even fiction.  In fact forget I even mentioned her name. Sorry.

If I can bear it, I will try to put up a few projects over the next days and weeks on the blog so you can get a flavour for it.

And if you're interested (but really, it totally might not be your sort of thing so please feel no obligation whatsoever to waste your time even looking at this) here's what it includes:

1. Play 'Who am I?'

2. Concoct bath bombs

3. Create crossword cards

4. Mix up a dip fest

5. Play balloon stomp

6. Grow an eggcup micro garden

7. Make a play dough ice-cream parlour

8. Wrap the mummy

9. Craft pom-poms

10. Weave a multi-braided bracelet

11. Pour colour-changing drinks

12. Hold a junk fashion show

13. Hold a dress-up race

14. Conjure up ice cream in a bag

15. Pitch an indoor camp

16. Teach yourself a card game

17. Set up a school

18. Remodel your bedroom

19. Compete in hands-free ping pong

20. Learn some dice games

21. Watch water walk

22. Construct a parachute

23. Make your own jigsaw puzzle

24. Construct a card tower

25. Learn to finger knit

26. Play patience

27. Fashion some spoon dolls

28. Create a boredom buster

29. Take and lift fingerprints

30. Craft stained glass lanterns

31. Try out hairstyles

32. Learn to paper patchwork and decoupage

33. Mix bath paints

34. Create your own bingo game

35. Set up a cafe

36. Build a shoebox house

37. Have an indoor snowball fight

38. Create a kaleidoscope

39. Make a flipbook

40. Set up a spa

41. See how low you can go

42. Construct a no-sew shoulder bag

43. Hunt the thingy

44. Model with salt dough

45. Make green gloop

46. Race around the world

47. Make an I-spy jar

48. Become a mind reader

49. Craft paper flowers

50. Construct a picture frame

51. Freeze fruity ice lollies

52. Create a magic shape shifter

53. Make a heart garland

54. Draw optical illusions

55. Grow a garden from scraps

56. Catapult marshmallows

57. Make wind instruments

58. Design your own board game

59. Make an organiser

60. Hold a butter-making race

61. Hold an indoor treasure hunt

62. Make corner bookmarks

63. Wrap a yarn tin vase

64. Make fifteens

65. Prepare a fruity melon basket

66. Booby trap your bedroom

67. Play flap the fish

68. Create a word search

69. Construct a lava lamp

70. Prepare fresh strawberry tiramisu

71. Fold an origami fortune-teller

72. Build a marble run

73. Set up an indoor obstacle course

74. Launch a Magnus glider

75. Build a solar system mobile

76. Make a no-sew pencil case

77. Create pinwheel sandwiches

78. Play shadow charades

79. Create silhouette portraits

80. Make rainbow fruit kebabs

81. Play the glasses

82. Craft with papier-mâché 

83. Run your own library

84. Erupt a volcano

85. Learn a magic trick

86. Decorate a tablecloth

87. Create a jellyfish in a bottle

88. Play wink murder

89. Give your room a view

90. Plant a terrarium

91. Try salt painting

92. Fold a mini book

93. Make string block prints

94. Master 3D drawing

95. Play sticky note scramble

96. Make egg-shaped sculptures

97. Make a severed finger box

98. Catapult a paper plane

99. Set upa  juice bar

100. Roll paper beads

101. Have a backwards day

 

How to plant an alpine wheelbarrow

Wheelbarrows ROCK! I should say this more often (although perhaps not at social events - people are surprisingly bored by my wheelbarrow-based small talk). But in terms of children's gardening, they are pretty much the perfect container.  

Over the years I have planted various edible gardens in old wheelbarrows with kids.  If you choose things like parmex carrots, radishes, tom thumb lettuces and dwarf beans, one barrow can give a child space to grow half a dozen crops.  We also created a mobile herb garden from one in 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside which was perfect for housing thyme, chives, marjoram and sage.

And this summer, we made another type of garden - behold the alpine wheelbarrow!

Alpines are great for this sort of of planting because they are generally small and low growing so they won't swamp the space, plus many of them are relatively drought tolerant which means they're happy with the free-draining nature of the barrow.

And of course, being containerised plants, you can work with them all year round so there's nothing to stop you planting up a wheelbarrow in autumn too.

First you'll need a wheelbarrow. You can ask around in case someone has an old one going begging, or try posting up a message on Freecycle.

It'll need drainage holes adding, which is easily done by just knocking through a very large nail every 10-15cm to puncture the base.

Now get the children to give it a good brush out before filling it with potting compost to within 5cm of the top.  

Let them place out the alpines until they are happy with the look and then they can carefully take them out of their pots, dig a planting hole with hands or a trowel, place in the plant and firm the compost back around them.

I like to top dress the wheelbarrow with gravel - this keeps the compost from splattering the leaves when you're watering or it rains, and also makes the plants themselves stand out.

We also added some larger stones and various decorations because... well, why not?

In the summer this garden offers a huge advantage because, if you're going away for a few days and you're worried about the barrow during out, you can wheel it into the shade. And all year round its mobile nature means you can position your garden wherever you want, whenever you want,  However be warned: it will be heavy so this is best left to grown ups - although obviously under the direction of your head gardener.

Fire pits, pre-teens and tattoos

This felt like a watershed summer.  It marked the end of my having three 'young children' because, like it or not, one of them is now definitely entering 'pre-teenhood' and from all accounts things are set to change.

Admittedly, we're now nearly two weeks into secondary school and my daughter is still communicating in words of more than a syllable and hasn't yet pierced or tattooed any part of her body... but it's early days.

What this has led to is a rethink of the garden.  Over the next couple of years we are likely to remove some of the play equipment which they are starting to grow out of, and replace with things more appealing to teenagers.

I started a couple of months ago by investing in a fire pit.  This is something I have often added to clients' gardens as I think it makes a great evening entertainment spot for chats with friends (some of whom may or may not have tattoos and piercings...).  

I usually specify a brick built structure - a bit like the one below - and if you make a wooden top for it, this can double as a coffee table in the day.  If you wanted to have a go at building your own there are plenty of instructions online.

However, I wanted something more flexible so that I could move it around and use it in different settings.

I settled on a Kadai fire bowl because I've seen them at gardening shows for years and always liked the rustic look.  We ordered the 70cm diameter version with the low stand and I also bought five of these Ikea HÖGSTEN chairs because I was aiming for the 'outdoor armchair' feel and needed something dark enough to work with the fire bowl's colour.

So a few weeks down the line, how's it all performed?

Well firstly it is the best barbecue I've ever owned.  It has a huge cooking surface and, because you sit around it, it makes for a far more sociable meal.  We catered for a family party of 30 with it too - and for that I invested in the higher base so that we could stand up and cook.

But my favourite part is our new Sunday night ritual of lighting the fire bowl, toasting marshmallows and telling stories.  And thankfully these usually start 'once upon a time' rather than 'yesterday, when I was down the tattoo parlour'.