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Growing Kids
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Make Things - 1 |
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Making a Garden Pond |
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Making a Bird Block | |
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Making a Miniature Secret Garden | |
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Making Seedpod Animals | |
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Making a Clove Kumquat | |
Would
you like to have your own garden pond? It is not difficult to do and you don't
really need special pumps or plumbing for a little pond, if you grow water weeds
in it. You will have to ask Mum or Dad if there is a suitable place in your
garden to build one and if there are babies and toddlers in your family you
might have to wait until they are old enough not to be in any danger of
drowning. We had a tiny pond in our garden for a couple of years until one day
our cat learned to fish and ate all the goldfish in one day! Naughty puss!
You will need: a spade, some heavy black plastic, some large flattish rocks, sand, plants, water weeds, cold water fish such as Comets.
1. Choose a low part of the garden in a shaded spot. If you choose a sunny position, the water will soon become green and murky.
2. Dig a hole the size you want the pond to be. Make it no more than 30cm deep. Clear away the soil that you have dug out. The sides of the pond should be level. You can check this by resting a straight board across the hole at different places and using a spirit level to check. Mum or Dad can show you how it works.
3. Spread the black plastic over the hole. Make sure that the sheet of plastic is MUCH BIGGER than the hole. Push the plastic down into it and smooth it against the sides so that there is no air left underneath. The plastic should cover the sides of the pond and the ground surrounding it. Trim the plastic with scissors allowing about 15cm of plastic to surround the pond.
4. Arrange some large rocks all around the edge of the pond. Big flat rocks are good because you can let them overhang the water a bit and that hides the plastic sides.
5. Use some of the soil you dug out to fill up the areas behind the rocks. Plant some plants you might find near water e.g. ferns, irises and mossy-looking plants like Baby's Tears.
6. Wash the sand and spread it on the bottom of the pond. Add some funny shaped rocks. These make good hiding places for fish. Put in some water plants and anchor them under the rocks.
7. Now for the best bit! Take the nozzle off the hose and rest it on the rocks and slowly fill the pond with water.
8. Let the pond settle for a couple of days, then you can add the fish. The pond needs fish to eat any mosquito larvae (wrigglers). You will have to feed them fish food for a while but then the pond may produce enough food for them.
9. You will have to top up the pond every few days with water from the hose - especially in summer. Don't forget! You can also keep tadpoles in the pond (but not with fish!) and a few water snails will help keep it clean.
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Making
a Bird Block 
Birds are often looking for extra food in
the winter months because there are fewer insects about. A bird block is fun to
make and you'll enjoy watching to see who comes to visit it. You could make a
book called "Birds in My Garden".
Here's What You Do:
1. You will need an empty
can and its lid. (Pet food cans or soup cans that you open with a can-opener are
ideal.) Ask the cook in your family to save fat scraps and dripping for you.
(Alternatively, you can use solidified vegetable oil.)
2. Pierce the centre of the lid twice with a nail and hammer. (Watch out for the sharp edges.)
3. Thread a long piece of
thin wire through the holes and twist firmly. Place the lid into the can so that
the wire comes up through the centre of the can. Make a hook or loop at the
other end for hanging.
4. Pack the can firmly with bread crusts, left-over cereal, oats, apple cores and fruit and vegetable peelings. Add some seeds e.g. sunflower seeds, if you wish, but no meat.
5. Ask a grown up to melt down the fat for you and pour it over the scraps in the can.
6. Refrigerate the can until
the fat is set hard, then pull gently but firmly on the wire until the bird
block slides out.
7. Hang the block on a branch surrounded by lots of small twigs for the birds to sit on. (There might be a good spot outside a window where you can watch from inside.)
8. Keep a log book of the names, descriptions, eating times and behaviour of the birds that visit.
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Making a Miniature Secret Garden
If it's too chilly where you
live to do too much gardening at the moment, remember that it's great weather
for reading. A book that you would enjoy is "The Secret Garden" by
Frances Hodgson Burnett. Maybe someone (Grandma or Grandad perhaps) can read it
to you. It will give you lots of wonderful ideas for making your own miniature
secret garden.
You will need: a shallow plastic or metal tray with holes in the bottom (The trays that nurseries use to hold their punnets of seedlings are perfect.), potting mix, small stones, pebbles, a jar lid, aluminium foil, a selection of small plants
What you do:
1. Almost fill the tray with potting mix (or make your own mixture of compost, sand and peat moss.)
2. A jar lid covered in aluminium foil makes a good pond. Make a hole in the potting mix and press the lid down so the sides cannot be seen. Put some little flat stones around the edge. (Let them poke over the sides into the "pond" a bit.)
3. Your garden will look best if it is not all flat. Mound the potting mix up in a couple of places, make little raised beds surrounded by stones, group some bigger stones to look like boulders, make a winding little path with flat pebbles, sand or fine mulch. You can use pieces of gutter-guard to make screens and trellises. Satay sticks will help to keep it upright.
4. Plants with tiny leaves will look best. Baby's Tears, Pratia, Kennilworth Ivy, thyme, moss and tiny tree or shrub seedlings will all look great. Succulents are really terrific.
5. The garden will dry out quickly, so you must water it every day. A sprayer bottle filled with water will help you keep the garden moist. Keep it in a brightly-lit place where the water can drain through easily.
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You will need: seeds, seed pods, twigs, small shells, PVA glue, eyes
What you do:
1. The kind of animals you make
will depend on the seeds and seed pods you can find in your area. Many native
plants have really interesting seed pods. (Did you know that every kind of
eucalyptus tree has a different kind of gum nut and this is an important way
that botanists tell them apart.) You can use dried beans and peas from the
pantry as well. Little shells from the beach are handy too, especially for ears
and pointy tails.
2. You will need some good glue that dries clear. PVA glue is good and it's not poisonous.
3. You will also need some little eyes. These can be bought at most drapery or craft shops.
4. We made a dog and a mouse. The dog was made from a big gumnut from a W.A. Flowering Gum (body), four acorn caps (legs), a little gumnut from an Ironbark (tail), a bell-shaped gumnut from a Tasmanian Blue Gum (head), two tiny Kelp Shells (ears) and two eyes. The mouse was made from an English Oak acorn split in half (body), two small gumnuts (ears), small twig (tail) and two eyes.
5. You can make all kinds of animals. A collection of dinosaurs would be fun.
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Having your clothes sweetly
scented is very nice. Some scents will also keep clothes moths away from your
winter woollies. One old idea is spike an orange with cloves. That takes a VERY
long time to do, but you can do the same thing with a kumquat and it is much
faster. You might like to make one for someone as a special gift.
You will need: a kumquat (or a lime), a large darning needle, some knitting cotton or embroidery cotton, a packet of whole cloves, 1 tablespoonful of orris root powder (you can purchase it at health food stores), 1 tablespoonful of cinnamon, tissue paper, an egg cup, a thin metal skewer, a small bowl.
What to do:
1. First
thread the needle with the cotton. Push the needle right through the top section
of the kumquat and out the other side, leaving plenty of thread on both sides.
Remove the needle from the cotton and tie the two ends of the cotton together so
that the kumquat can be hung up by the loop of cotton.
2. Sit the kumquat in the egg cup. Using the
skewer make a hole in the skin of the kumquat. Push one of the cloves right in
until just the "bud" end can be seen. Make another hole and push
another clove in. Continue to do this until the whole of the surface of the
kumquat is covered. You will have to turn the kumquat upside down to do the
underneath side.
3. Mix the orris root powder and the cinnamon together in a small bowl. Put the kumquat into the spice mixture and roll it around until it is well-covered.
4. Wrap the kumquat in a piece of tissue paper and place it in a cool, dry place for a couple of weeks.
5. The kumquat will dry out and become hard. It will keep its lovely smell for several years. Hang it in your cupboard with your clothes and enjoy its perfume.
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Global Garden 2000 - 2007
http://www.global-garden.com.au
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