Just For Fun...

I once entered a different category at the produce show I was talking about in one of my previous posts; which was to make a monster out of fruit and vegetables (I was about eight years old at the time). I used a melon for the body, carrot chunks for the legs, carrot tops for hair, carrot ends for eyes, a carrot for a tail, a pepper cut in to a jagged shape for the mouth, the eyebrows and stalk for a nose, beans for arms, and baby sweetcorn sticks for horns! I was highly commended for it, but I wasn't bothered where I placed as it was a lot of fun to make and allowed me to be creative with produce.

I would recommend having a go, looking back it could be a way to encourage children to eat their fruit and vegetables as they may see them as being 'fun'. If this is the case, it definitely worked for me!

As I have got older, I can certainly say that I like more fruit and vegetables now, than I did in the picture below. (Plus they are good for you too).

Me and my Monster!

-Emma-

Going Back To My Roots

When I was nine years old I received a propagator as a birthday present from my parents following a visit to our local garden centre. It came with little seed trays and various packets of seeds; such as varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, cornflower (Centaurea cyanus),other wildflowers, daisies (Bellis perennis) and sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). Each year I used to try and grow one that was taller than the previous year.

Every morning I would get up to see if any of the seeds had started to grow and became very excited if seedlings were germinating. I have recently come across Perlite, which is good for seeds as it encourages them to germinate quicker. Other benefits are that it holds moisture without becoming soggy, thus improving drainage, plus it improves aeration. When the seedlings became too big for the propagator, they were potted up into larger pots. You get a great sense of satisfaction nurturing a plant from a seed to a mature plant.

On our front patio, we also had a polythene greenhouse for the mature plants from the propagator. Another friend of the family used to give me various varieties of tomato plants, which I used to grow on from a small plant; being young, I was shown how to care for the plants in order to produce a good crop. 

                      

Tips: Remove side shoots from tall varieties while small, otherwise it will leave a scar on the stem, which could lead to pests and diseases getting into the plant. But be careful not to pinch out the growing tip at the top of the tomato plant.

My mum used to call me 'green fingers' as she thought I was good at taking cuttings. One being a Flowering Currant (Ribes) which is still growing well in our garden today!

 

Here it is in flower!

-Emma-