I love gardening, most especially, growing my own herbs and vegetables (there’s really nothing like eating your own homegrown produce). Where young children are concerned, it’s hard to get them to eat fruit and veggies (well, maybe not all of them are that fussy), so I love the idea of them being able to create their own gardens – it’s also a great way for them to learn about how various plants grow, and develops an interest and love for gardening at a young age.
Whilst out shopping recently with Master Four, we came across Little Gardeners range of products, and I allowed Master Four to choose the ones he wanted to grow – he chose strawberries (not surprising as he loves those) and mini tomatoes (I’m hoping he’ll eat these as he’s not been overly fussed on salads and I want to encourage him to try salads for lunches).
The kit comes with everything you need, you just add water. Below is the process of “planting the seeds” – Master Four had fun doing this.
Here you can see the contents of the kit (the “greenhouse”, seeds, soil pellet and instructions). We placed the pellet inside the cup, added water, waited for it to absorb the water and grow in size. Then we stirred the soil to ensure it was evenly spread in the cup. Next step was planting the seeds, before adding the lid to create the greenhouse and then placing it in a warm sunny spot for the seeds to sprout and grow. The greenhouse provides the perfect environment for the seeds to grow in, you’ll need to watch the moisture level, adding a little water when the soil starts to dry a little.
Master Four loved watching the seeds sprout, always checking each day to see if they were growing (and impatient on the days leading up to the first shoots sprouting). Below you can see the process of the seeds sprouting.
When the seedlings start to get a bit thick in the pot, you’ll need to thin them out, keeping the strongest seedlings and removing the weaker ones. In time, they can then be replanted into the garden or a larger pot to continue growing until they’re ready for you to pick the fruit, vegetables or herbs from.
I really love the concept behind these and that they encourage children to get outside and play in the garden, teaching them how different plants grow, and gives them an interest in different fruits, vegetables and herbs, hopefully developing a love for gardening and trying different foods along the way.
We love cooking in the kitchen too, so we’ll likely create a “pizza” garden in the future (as homemade mini pizzas are one of Master Four’s favourites for us to make together).
To find out more about Little Gardeners and to see the complete range from Mr. Fothergill’s click the link here – you can purchase online, or through various stores like KMart. They have flowers in the range as well, so if your little one likes flowers, you can create a flower garden together, teaching them about different flowers along the way.
If you’re growing any plants from the Little Gardeners range with your kids, we’d love to see the photos. Email [email protected] and we’ll post your photos onto our Facebook page for all to see!
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