edible hanging basket
Learn to garden on a small scale . Ideal to make and look after at a school . Great for gardening in a small space .
Materials : Wire hanging basket . Moss or Sisal . Compost ( pea free) . Fertiliser .
Plants - Tumbling ( Cherry )Tomatoes , Strawberry , Herbs ( Basil , Coriander , Chives Parsley ) , Cut and come again Salad leaves . Some flower ( Petunia )
Use all the basket – plant through the sides as well as the top . Build up in stages . Like layers of a cake .
Check your basket daily . Children to treat this mini garden like a pet . Every day check – Water . Pick over dead leaves . Occasionally spray with liquid feed . Pick off dead flowers . Pruning (Pinch tips of plants).
GROW A PIZZA WHEEL
Create a circle , either in open ground or in a large container . Can use recycled materials like bricks or pebbles .
Dig over the ground thoroughly and rake the soil level , add compost if yopu have . Then tread with the feet taking out any air pockets in the soil and rake again .
Divide the circle into four or five ‘pizza slices’ using more of your recycled materials .
Pick crops for each pizza slice section , these could be Rocket , Basil , Coriander , Salad leaves , mustard leaves , Chard , Spinach or even Tomatoes / Peppers .
Pick crops that can be used as a pizza topping . It's a good idea to sow these crops in the classroom ( in a propagator ) would be ideal and the transplant out into your pizza wheel or you can buy them as plugs ( baby plants ) .
DALEK COMPOSTER
Take an old plastic compost bin or even water butt . This will be the main body of your Dalek . This project can be made from recycled materials or the price of a compost bin and some paint .
Materials to decorate your Dalek , Half tennis balls , CD’s old plastic bottles for the main body . Washing up bowl , round bowl , whisk , tongs for the head . Can use the imagination .
Will need sprays or paints to colour the Dalek.
Role out this project to schools and garden Centres and tie the project to Chelsea flowerer show .
A window of Perspex should be put into the side of the Dalek composter to show the composting .
Compost techniques , examples 50 : 50 Greens (live material – grass clippings , weeds , fruit waste ) Browns ( Dead materials – cardboard , paper , wood shavings ) . Turning and watering the compost will help it break down , make sure the top of your compost Dalek’s top can be removed .
vegetable bedding art
Grow edible plants more creatively . Use Art classes to get ideas from the kids .
Design a pattern –
Large plants – known as Dots – Planted single – Example – Courgette
Medium sized plants - many plants – known as Carpet – Example – Lettuce. Chilli , Peppers , Chard .
Small plants – known as edging – planted as a border around the edge of the other plants – Example - Basil , Rocket , Salad Leaves , Parsley .
Prepare ground by digging in compost , raking , treading ( firming) raking again Measure and mark out pattern using sand .
Plant as baby plants grown in a greenhouse or propagator .
Keep the pattern clipped and picked throughout the season .
crazy heads
A few methods – decorate a pot , could be with your own face ( photo ) or use paint and stickers to create something artistic . Fill the pot with soil , once finished decorating and sow cress or grass seed which will grow into hair , great for smaller children . remember to water
If using Cress , this can be clipped and used in a sandwich
Can use a second method using the feet of . Pour some grass seed and then add soil ,. Tie off the end of the tight , creating a firm round ball . Decorate it with a face or art of your choice . Sit the crazy head in a tray and keep watered . The Crazy head will grow grass hair which can be clipped from time to time to re grow .
potato growing sack
Use an old hesseyaon sack . Important that it ca drain and is sort completely water tight .
Use seed Potatoes as they will be disease free . You can buy these from a garden centre , they are not expensive .
Before planting they need to be ‘Chitted’ . That is you want them to grow small shoots before planting . The best way to do this is to put them in a half egg box and put them somewhere dry and not too hot .
Once your seed potatoes have small shots , fill up your Hesseyaon sack to one third full an place in your Potatoes and cover . Roll up the sack to the soil level . As your Potatoes grow , unravel the sack little by little and add more soil . This will ensure your sack will be full of Potatoes .
A good variety of Potato to grow is ‘Rocket’. A fast growing type which is good for schools as they will crop in term time .
You can use other types of containers too , just remember they need to drain .
sensory path
Decide where you want your path . Dig it out , maybe making it 5 to 7 cm deep . Using Ply wood and pegs make the edges of your path . See if you can use recycled wood . Optionally , you can line the bottom of your path with some tarpaulin . Put some holes in it for drainage .
Next divide the path into sections , using plywood as cross members . Nail into place .
Use different materials to fil the sections : Bark , Grass , water ( Use a rubber liner ) Pebbles , Gravel , Sand , Bricks , Soil , Wood .
Path is walked on bare feet for the sensory experience
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runner bean wig-wam
Find a spot in the garden or get a large container . Dig in tots of compost
Ark out a circle with sand . Create a T-pee out of Bamboo canes or coppiced Hazel . Push the canes into the soil at 10 to 20 cm’s apart , leaving a 50 cm gap as the entrance to your T-pee .
Tie the top of your canes together .
At the base of the Canes plant a Runner Bean, there are many types so have fun choosing . Put some compost or manure ( rotted ) into the planting hole .
Water regularly , Runner Beans like Water and they will grow and cover the canes forming a T-pee . Pick , cook and eat as your plants produce Beans .
Lawn furniture
Incredibly comfortable , natural furniture . Create on an existing lawn .
Make two piles of soil , one large one small . The large one you will sit with your back too , the smaller one you rest your legs over . Or make one pile and mound up the soil one side for a back rest .
Once your happy with your soil piles , purchase some strips of turf . These are inexpensive and can be got from a garden centre . Cover the soil piles in your turf and pin in place with tent pegs .
After a few weeks the turf will have rooted and you can use your lawn furniture Clip it when the grass starts to get too long with scissors or shears .
Tyre herb planter
Old tyres that have been cleaned and reconditioned can be bought cheaply over the internet .
Stack the tree or four high and o the inside secure them together with string or wire .
Line the tyres with plastic or tarpaulin , make sure it can drain .
Back fill with soil , mixed with horticultural sand 75 : 25 ( Can buy from garden centre ) .
Paint bright colours with Acrylic paints .
These tyre containers look good in threes ,
Plant a selection of herbs . Tyre one – Shrub herbs like Lavender , Rosemary . Tyre Two – Plant with fast growing herbs like Mint & Lemon Balm . Tyre Three plant with grazing herbs like Basil , Coriander , Parsley .
leaf mobile
A great way to teach children the UK’s native trees .
Collect the leaves of native trees , Oak , Beech , Birch , Hazel , Willow , Bird Cherry , Hawthorn .
Press them on blotting paper between two heavy books ,
When they are dry , seal them in sticky backed plastic sheet and cut to size .
Using Fishing line and old coat hangers or tree twigs / branches , create a mobile and attach your leaves and hang .
rainforest terrarium
Create your own mini rainforest .
Get an old fish tank and line the base with gravel , a couple of CM deep . add good compost , undulating it to create mini hills and valleys . At lowest points it should be at least 10 CM deep .
Plant in you small tropical plants – Orchids , Pipers , Begonias .
Cover the surface in moss .
Place your terrarium in a brightly lit place out of direct sunshine . Can add decorations if wanted .
Mist lightly with water in a water sprayer once a day , pick over any dead leaves or flowers . Liquid feed once every couple of months
write your name in salad
Grow and eat your name
Get a seed tray and fill it with good multi-purpose compost .
Lightly firm the compost and mark out your name with sand .
Sow Rocket seed along the sand name .
Radiating out from the name sow in lines around 5 cm apart , sow Purple salad seeds or purple basil .
Sieve fine soil over the seeds and water carefully. Important not to wash out the seeds .
Place outside on the window sill or in the back garden . Clip the name as it grows and use in sandwiches .
Customers have questions, you have answers. Display the most frequently asked questions, so everybody benefits.