Sowing seeds

[natlou82]

What seeds are good to sow now that will grow fairly quickly to keep LOs interested in the planting, growing process?

[moggy]

Tomatoes, peas, sweetpeas...

But more important is what space you have to grow them on...

Tomatoes like warm and very sheltered (can be in pots), start them off indoors and plant out in May.
Peas and Sweetpeas need vertical supports- nets or sticks, they are destroyed by slugs so need to be kept an eye on if in open ground. They can go outdoors now.
Cucumbers are very reliable at germinating but can not go outdoors until May as very tender.
Pumpkins are enormous seedlings so really impressive, and big easy seeds to handle- but they need a clear meter square each to grow in and will trail for several meters across the ground, need very rich soil so loads of manure or good compost. Start them indoors in pots and plant out in May.

Any packets marketed as 'for children' would be suitable or ask at the garden centre for their advise.

[smurfette]

Lettuce grows quite quickly too we have planted this and tomatoes strawberries peas carrots and potatoes this year

[mumofone]

We just did sunflowers but no idea whether it's a good or bad time lol!

[Maza]

Cress never lets you down! Super quick to grow. If you want the more interesting stuff as mentioned above then you could plant cress in the meantime. Beans are also easy too. If you plant it in a clear plastic cup and use kitchen roll instead of soil then you can closely observe the roots and shoots as soon as they appear. It is then fun to transfer to a pot with soil and then the garden.

[bunyip]

Cress and any other 'windowsill' seeds (microgreens) give quick results.

Radishes are the fastest to produce a final crop in the ground. Use caution as the tops can be irritating to a lot of people.

First early potatoes in pots are good. Plant them in shallow compost just covering the tubers. The green tops emerge quite quickly, then you keep covering them as you go until the pot is full. This gives the lo's something to do whilst seeing some growth and activity over a reasonable period of time. Use varieties which grow quickly without so much leafy growth that they make the pots overbalance. I recommend 'Swift' or 'Rocket'.

[k1rstie]

Great suggestions everyone. I plant my free potatoes for school, or what ever they are called in the two smuggled bags inside a council recycling box. They fit perfectly. The varieties that I have been sent this year are rocket and Rudolph . They are fast growing, as they are supposed to be harvested before the end of term in school. Mine loved harvesting the Rudolph ones, as they were a bright pinky/purple.

I have never had a sunflower taller than 2 inches!!! Always chomped!

[Mouse]

We grow lots of cress because it's quick and easy and even I can get it fully grown before killing it off!

Last year we grew tomatoes in hanging baskets. The 3 (yes...3) tomatoes we produced were the size of grapes, but did taste delicious. Sadly not quite the vision I had of sending each mindee home with a bowl of home-grown tomatoes! The previous year we also grew tomatoes. I ended up with massive plants on the kitchen windowsill and we couldn't even see outside. Sadly we didn't get a single tomato from them.

Luckily most of my mindees' families either have allotments or grow things at home, so they don't rely on me for their gardening experiences :o

[natlou82]

My goodness :-) loads of fab ideas, thanks. Now I need to figure out which will work for me...Mmm , I'm starting to with I had a bigger garden that's for sure ;-)

[Maza]

Oh Mouse you made me laugh! I have had very similar luck to you with my tomatoes. My strawberry plant produced one strawberry - go me!
I did manage to grow a beautiful pumpkin a couple of years ago though. There is something about pumpkins that fascinates me so I was really chuffed that I managed to grow one. I didn't realise how much space they took up though - it grew from one end of my roof terrace to the next - hence lots of eye rolling from DH!

Oh yes Bunyip, I forgot about radishes. Also super quick to grow and easy to 'rear'. Go on Mouse, try radishes!

[loocyloo]

Sounds like me and courgettes! Masses of leaves and a couple of veg!
I once tried pumpkins ... I had triffid like tendrils across the garden that I would take back to the veggie patch ... the minute I turned around they would be across the lawn again! And for all of that I got 2, 2inch tall pumpkins!
We'll be doing French climbing beans (if I can find/remember the name of last year's .. had violet flowers and were delicious!) and tomatoes. Want to grow a 3rd veg ... might do lettuce but have to grow in pots as nowhere suitable to grow veg in the garden!
Oh and I'm doing the grow your own potatoes as well.

[Dragonfly]

Remember some places are still getting frosts, so if you put plants in the garden fleece them at night. Lovely days here but chilly at night and a frost last night.

[FloraDora]

Beans are always good to do with children - grow at the edge of a 2litre water bottle so that you can observe the roots and shoots growing, then plant out. Link with Jaspers Beanstalk story that also links with Jack and the Beanstalk.

Beetroot grows fairly quickly after radish ( but not many children like radish). We used the beetroot last year to colour some material we used for a den cover. I love beetroot hot as a veg or in salads and chutneys - but never in the vinegar jar scenario.

I always have a wall of sunflowers, all varieties - not sure what I do but always successful - sorry!

A good thing I have grown with children is grass- sounds silly but last year we grew grass in a gravel tray it grew super quick, we trimmed it with scissors and used it as all sorts of small world settings.

[natlou82]

I like the sound of the beans as I like the idea of it being very visual and doesn't take too long to grow. I have strawberries, they were a success last year and already looking good. We attempted sunflowers last year (I had loads of extended activities planned around this) they were a disaster, as someone else said they were munched away! I really like the idea of growing our own veggies so need to get planning :-)

[Maza]

Awesome, grass! Do you grow it on a tray of compost?

[FloraDora]

Awesome, grass! Do you grow it on a tray of compost?

Yes- mine are gravel trays 600mmx450mm ish.

[Maza]

Floradora, do you need holes in the gravel tray?

[FloraDora]

Floradora, do you need holes in the gravel tray?

Ideally, yes.