Indoor Gardening Ideas
Greetings to you all. Whilst your time outside will be limited right now, we in Hanley Park want to keep in touch with you. Here are some indoor gardening ideas, that you may like to try, either on your own or with children.
Grow Plants from Food
Growing your own plants from food in the kitchen is a great way to help kids understand where the food they eat comes from.
1. Find out what seeds will sprout by putting them on moist kitchen roll at the bottom of a shallow plastic tray. You can try lentils, beans and brown rice, as well as seeds you may have in the kitchen such as poppy seeds, mustard seeds or pumpkin seeds.
2. Once the seeds start to germinate, you can transfer them into a jam jar or small pot to allow them to grow. Make sure the roots are well covered in soil and kept moist.
3. Encourage the kids to check back on them every day and water them if the soil feels dry.
4. Another great one to do at home is to cut the tops off carrots and parsnips and place them in a shallow dish of water. Keep them on a windowsill and they should sprout after a few days.
Plant People
Make your own plant person from a pair of old ladies’ tights, a little bit of soil and some grass seed!
1. Cut a 6 to 8 inch long / 15-20cm piece of ladies tights (any colour will work). If your piece does not include a toe, then knot one end of the hose and turn it inside out. It will end up looking like a little tights bag.
2. Next scoop 2 to 3 teaspoons of grass seed into the closed end. Fill the rest of the tights bag with potting mix and tie the hose closed. Use your hands to gently shape the ball into a head shape.
3. Place the head in a shallow dish with the grass seed side on top. Use craft pieces such as wiggle eyes, buttons, pompom balls, felt and chenille sticks to make eyes, a nose, mouth and arms. Attach with craft glue or a glue gun.
4. After glue has dried/cooled, carefully water your new plant person until the soil is thoroughly moist and place in a warm location.
5. Check on it daily to make sure soil stays moist (if it seems to dry out quickly you can keep a reservoir of water in your dish), and within 3 to 5 days your new plant person will begin to grow “hair.”
6. Once the hair is established, you can give him/her a hair cut or just let it grow and see how long it will get. If you have time and supplies, make more than one to create a whole family of plant people.
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