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What is the
interactive garden? |
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The interactive garden
is a program founded by the Mid-Atlantic Consortium, to provide
students and educators numerous resources about the food and gardening
system.
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New Things to Do: |
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Bean Pole Races |
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Build an A-frame trellis using six to eight
long
branches collected from around the neighborhood. Tie two sets of branches
together with twine to form two long-legged "X's" and sink
the legs into the ground. Use another branch as a horizontal crossbeam
and tie branches vertically from the crossbeam.
Attach names to each branch (they can personalize branches by painting
them a favorite color), then give the kids three or four pole bean
seeds to sow around each one. For color, try scarlet runner beans.
Each day the kids can check on their beans and measure new growth.
Best of all, they can harvest the "winnings." |
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Cuke in a Coke Bottle |
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Cucumbers are so productive and easy to grow that they're pretty
much tailor-made for a child's garden.
To add an interesting twist to cucumbers, try growing one in a
bottle. Take a 1- or 2-liter plastic pop bottle and poke several
ventilation holes in it.
When tiny cucumbers are just starting to develop, gently insert
them through the opening of the bottle. (Leave them attached to
the vine, though!)
Shade the bottle with some cucumber leaves so the small cukes won't
cook from too much heat. You might have to try this with several
cucumbers before you get one to grow to full size.
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Pizza Wheel Project: |
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Rather than asking children toil
in your patch, it might pay to set aside a special area just
for them. While you're at it, consider buying child-size gardening
tools, which will be less awkward for them to handle!!
Keep the garden plot small and
manageable. After all, you don't want them giving up on it
after a few weeks. Let the kids assume responsibility for
planting, weeding and watering. They can also play a role
in designing the patch and deciding what to plant.
One design kids can relate to is a pizza wheel.
It's colorful
and intriguing in shape yet small enough for a child to manage.
Create a wheel with a circle of rocks, bricks or cement blocks.
Use wooden boards or stones to dissect the wheel into equal
sections so there's room for a variety of plants. Deciding what
to plant can be fun. If you want to end up with a bed that looks
like a pizza, mix clumps of yellow and red annuals (the cheese
and sauce) throughout the plot. Small, 6-inch circles of darker
red annuals can serve as the pepperoni. Use firewood logs around
the edge as the crust. |
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PlantsDatabase.com |
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This unique and comprehensive database is the accumulation
of gardening knowledge and expertise from hundreds of gardeners
living around the world. The database currentl y
contains 36,842 plants and 4,129 photos. |
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