Growing Kids - Grow Things & Watch Things 3

Growing Kids

This section is especially for kids who like to grow and make things.
We will have things children can make for the garden and things to make from the garden. New things are added each month so make sure you check us out each month.
Plants rule, OK?

Grow Things 3

		Adopt-A Tree
		Growing Magic Purple Beans
		Plants for Pets
		A Cyclamen Plant Pet
		Growing Pea Sprouts
		Growing Garlic

Organising an Adopt-a-Tree Scheme

Having trees around makes people feel good. Our local school decided that it needed more trees, so they introduced an Adopt-a-Tree scheme. It was very successful and lots of fun. You might like to suggest that your school does the same. Think how nice it would be to return to your school when you’re grown up and be able to say - "That’s my tree! I looked after it when it was just a little sapling!"

1. The first thing to do is to explain Adopt-a-Tree to your school community. You can list all the benefits that trees bring. Here are some ideas:

Trees are wonderful. They provide shelter from strong winds, shade, temperature control, privacy, screening, increased oxygen, beauty in the form of foliage, flowers, fruit and bark, aromatic leaves and perfumed flowers, soft sounds, a place to play for children, habitat for birds and animals and fallen leaves that return nutrients to the soil.

Explain that you are asking families to donate money to buy a tree for the school and that you want them to plant the tree and give it tender loving care by watering it and keeping weeds away until it is established. This will be at least a year. Everyone will receive an "adoption certificate" with the name of their special tree on it.

2. It’s important that the trees that are chosen are ones that are suited to your area. There are many people who would be only too willing to give your school some advice. Some of the parents may be skilled in gardening or horticulture, or you could contact Greening Australia, The Australian Plants Society, Landcare or your local parks and gardens authority.

3. Develop a list of suitable trees and where they should be planted. For example some trees do well in wet, boggy areas, some don’t mind poor gravely soils, some need really good drainage. Choosing the best spot means that the tree is less likely to die.

4. Approach a nursery and explain what you are doing. Many nurseries are happy to give a good discount to schools, especially if you agree to give them some advertising in your school newspaper in return.

5. Choose a particular day as planting day and tell everyone well in advance. Ask them to bring tools.

6. Order the plants.

7. Allocate a particular tree to every "tree parent". (Keep clear records!)

8. Prepare planting stakes with the names of the "tree parents" written on one end in permanent marker.

9. Write the tree parent’s name on their plant’s pot. (Left-over undercoat is good for this.)

10. On the day before planting, hammer the stakes in where the particular plants are to be planted, adding them to a map as you go.

11. On the day, put the plant pots in alphabetical order according to the tree parents’ names. Have the map where everyone can see it, though the children will probably already have "gone hunting" to find their stake! (Our "How to Plant a Tree" section in Garden Basics in Global Garden may be useful. Some people may need some directions.)

12. Prepare adoption certificates on a computer. Write the name of each tree parent and their "baby" tree’s name on the certificate. Include both the common name and the botanical name of the tree. Include a promise to say that the parents will look after the baby tree until it is big and strong!

13. Make sure the school keeps a copy of the map so they will have a record of the trees planted in the school grounds. What a beaut contribution to your school!

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Growing Magic Purple Beans

Climbing beans are really easy and fun to grow, though if you live in hot humid areas, the pesky bean fly can be a real nuisance. (In those areas, snake beans are fun to try instead because the bean fly doesn't attack them. Some snake beans can grow to half a metre long - a meal in one bean!!) There is one variety of climbing bean though, that does a very surprising thing!

You will need: a sunny spot in the garden, some lime, some compost, three long sticks, some twine or wire, a packet of ‘Purple King’ beans.

What to Do:

1. Dig the garden over well. Sprinkle a little lime over the top and mix it in with the top layer of the soil.

2. The best sticks to use are slim branches that have been pruned off or that have fallen from trees (or you can use tall bamboo garden stakes.) Trim off any twigs, leaving little bits of wood at the side of the sticks. You are going to use these to make a tepee.

3. Push the thickest ends of the sticks into the soil at an angle so that the tops of the sticks almost meet. Tie the tops of the sticks together tightly with twine or wire. Use more of the twine or wire to link the sticks together. Your bean plants will use these to climb on.

4. Water the soil very well until it is completely wet. Allow the soil to drain for 15 minutes or so.

5. Plant three ‘Purple King’ bean seeds around the bottom of each stick.

6. Sprinkle the area lightly with compost.

7. Don’t water the beans again until you see the first little shoots begin to break the surface of the soil (unless it is REALLY windy and dry).

8. Once your little seedlings have emerged you should water them often. You can also put some fertiliser around them when the first flowers appear.

9. Your beans will grow into long purple pods. You should pick them often. Be careful to hold the stem above the bean so that you don’t break the vine. The more you pick, the more will grow.

10. When you cook your purple beans, something surprising happens! Watch and see. (They taste great too.)

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Plants for Pets

Do you have a pet? Pets often get into trouble in the garden because they dig things up and chew up precious plants. This can be dangerous especially for dogs who tend to chew lots of things. Many plants we commonly grow in the garden are poisonous to dogs and some plants such as Wandering Jew often give dogs allergies. Cats and dogs need plants that they can safely eat, so you might like to make an area in the garden especially for them to enjoy.

Making a Pet Garden

For Cats
There are some plants that cats really like. One is called Catnip (Nepeta cataria). Catnip contains some special oils that make some cats go dreamy or silly - they love to roll in it or rub themselves on it. Not all cats are affected by it. Catnip is a pretty plant with grey-green leaves and white or lavender flowers and grows to about 1m tall. It would be a good choice to surround your sunny cat garden.

Cats also like Catmint (Nepeta mussini). This is a smaller plant which grows to about 30cm tall. It will grow in areas that are a bit shadier.

Have you ever seen your cat eating grass? Cats need to be able to have some grass to eat to keep them healthy. One that they particularly like is Cat Grass (Dactylis glomerata). It’s also sometimes called Cocksfoot. It grows to about 70cm tall and need a sunny spot.

Your cat will also love to have a nice thick pad of lawn clippings to sleep on. As lawn clippings break down they get warm, so it’s a bit like having an electric blanket on!

For Dogs

Dogs like to nibble on grass too. Lucerne is a good grass to plant for them. You can buy lucerne seed at some health food shops because many people like to sprout it to eat. Plant it in a sunny spot.

Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) is a good plant to grow because it repels fleas. You can plant it near your dog’s kennel.

Plants that are dangerous to your dog are most bulbs and lilies, chrysanthemums, azaleas, tomato leaves, hydrangeas, marigolds and many other ordinary garden plants. Make sure your pets has lots of other safe things to chew so that they are less likely to chew plants. Take them for lots of walks too so they don’t get bored. To keep your dog away from a particular area you can try growing Dog Bane (Plectranthus ornatus). Unfortunately it doesn't work on all dogs, but it might just work on yours!

For Birds

If you have a budgie or canary, you will find that it’s easy to grow some of their birdseed in a sunny spot in the garden. When the grass goes to seed you can let your pet enjoy pecking out the seed from the seed head. If you have a parrot or a cockatoo, they will love it if you grow some sunflowers for them - they adore pecking out the seeds.

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A Cyclamen Plant Pet

Winter is the time for cyclamen plants to flower. A cyclamen plant makes a great "plant pet" (you can keep it indoors) and it will give you lots of beautiful flowers over a very long period. You can even give your plant pet a name. I rather like the idea of Cybil Cyclamen or maybe yours will be Cyril instead!

Care of your plant pet

1. Cyclamen grow well in pots but they must be well-drained. This means that when you water them, the water should soak through the potting mix quite quickly and run out the bottom of the pot. Many pots have saucers under them to stop the water making a mess indoors. Don't let the saucer remain filled with water - empty it out. If the potting mix is too wet, the plant might rot off at the soil.

2. You should treat your potted cyclamen like a pet cat and put it outside on the porch at night. The plants like the cold (not frost!) and will keep on flowering for much longer if they have cold nights.

3. As each flower dies, give its stem a sharp pull at the base and it will come away. New flowers will pop up at the centre of the plant.

4. Cyclamen have very fleshy, succulent stems and leaves. Some of the leaves have wonderful marbled patterns.

5. Cyclamen flowers have "reflexed" petals. This means that the petals are folded backwards. The flowers look like they have coloured hair blowing back in the wind. You can get many shades of pink, red, white, lavender, mauve and purple. Some varieties have fancy, frilly petals.

6. Cyclamen grow from a big, flat "corms" (they're like bulbs). In early times in Europe, the corms of little forest cyclamen used to be fed to pigs so they called the plant Sowbread. What an ugly name for a pretty flower!

7. Cyclamen corms were also used to make love potions. (I don't think you better try that!)

8. When the plant finishes flowering, it will become dormant. (It goes to sleep for the summer.) Put the pot under a shaded tree somewhere and leave it until next March. You can then repot the corm into fresh potting mix with compost added and fertilise with some blood and bone. When the weather gets cool, it will begin to shoot again.

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Growing Pea Sprouts

Winter is a good time for growing peas, but do you know that you can grow really delicious pea sprouts indoors any time of the year? They taste great and are full of vitamins to make us strong and healthy. Use only the pea seed that I recommend. Pea seed used for growing peas in the garden cannot be used for sprouts because they have been treated with fungicide that will make you sick if you eat it.

You Will Need: a packet of dried Blue Boilers peas (not Surprise Peas or Split Peas) from the supermarket, paper towels, a small plastic container.

What to Do:

1. Tear off some paper towels - about five sheets.

2. Fold 4 of the paper towels in half lengthwise and then in half again to make "pockets".

3. Fold the fifth paper towel to fit the bottom of the plastic container.

4. Wet the paper towels and squeeze out excess water. They should be wet but not dripping.

5. Line the container with the folded wet paper towel.

6. Place the peas inside and about half way up the "pocket" formed by one of the folded wet paper towels. Put the peas close together in a single line.

7. Roll the "pocket" up loosely, starting from one of the short ends.

8. Stand the roll upright in the plastic container.

9. Do the same thing with the other three sheets.

10. Place the container on a window ledge.

11. The paper must be kept moist, but not wet. If it starts to dry out, add a little water to the bottom of the container and the paper will absorb it. Don’t put water directly on the peas.

12. After about 7 days you will see, by looking down from above the rolls, that the peas have begun to sprout. After 10-14 days the green sprouts will be emerging from the top of the paper.

13. Unroll the paper gently and remove the sprouts. Using some clean scissors, snip off what’s left of the seeds and throw that away. Wash the sprouts and they are ready to eat. Nibble them as they are, or put them in egg sandwiches for lunch, add them to cheese omelettes or to stir fries. You can have your own supply of fresh green vegetables year round.

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Growing Garlic

In wintertime nasty colds and flu are always about to make us feel miserable, but there are some things we can grow in the garden that can be a real help. Lemons and other citrus fruits are a good source of Vitamin C and hot lemon drinks are always a comforting treatment when you have a cold. However it seems that the very best thing you can plant and use to ward off colds is garlic. The great thing is that it is very easy to grow and it tastes so yummy. If only all medicine tasted as good as garlic bread!

What to Do:

1. Winter is a good time to plant garlic. You can buy a knob of garlic from the greengrocer or supermarket. A knob of garlic is made up of a lot of cloves of garlic surrounded by a papery covering. Each clove of garlic is really a little bulb, and each one can grow into a plant and produce a new knob of cloves.

2. Choose a sunny spot and dig some compost into the soil. (You can also plant garlic in a pot if you like.)

3. Plant the cloves of garlic about 5cm deep and about 10cm apart.

4. The cloves will send up a clump of green grassy leaves. These can actually be eaten too, but if you eat too many, the plant won’t have enough energy to grow nice fat cloves under the ground.

5. The clump will grow all through spring and summer and then the leaves will begin to yellow and die off.

6. When the leaves have yellowed, you can carefully pull up the knob of garlic.

7. Place the knobs of garlic in a shady, breezy, dry place to dry for a week or so and then store them.

8. If you leave the grassy stems attached you can plait the knobs together and hang them up until you are ready to use them.

Here’s a good tip: To peel a clove of garlic, press down very hard on the side of the clove with the flat side of a knife (careful!) until you hear it crack. The shell will then peel off very easily.

9. Use garlic in pizzas, garlic bread, salsa, spaghetti sauce - all your favourite stuff - and keep the winter bugs away. (Save a few cloves to plant for your next crop.)

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