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We begin gardening outside mid-March, around St. Patrick's
Day. The first week we plant
these cool weather tolerant vegetable seeds directly in the gardens. The
second week,
we plant seed
potatoes.
Plant seeds
whenever you can. Sometimes it makes sense to use transplants
because of the conditions and length of your growing season, but have students
start with seeds whenever you can. Seeds are the first step in
understanding a plant's life cycle and the basis for observing and discussing
the relationship between soil, plants, and animals throughout the garden season.
Plant with a
purpose. When we select seeds students will plant, we have in
mind how we will integrate them into the garden cycle. We harvest in May
from seeds planted in mid-March. We welcome classes back to school with a
potato harvest and treat. We harvest for soup in late summer from spring
plantings.
Plant different
varieties of the same food. We plant colors. Our goal is
to have students eager to eat fresh foods. Planting their own food helps.
Planting different colors of carrots, radishes, lettuce, or beets challenges
students to distinguish flavor differences and preferences.
Tips for planting
seeds with a
class
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We provide a planting map that
shows coordinators where to have students plant.
A planting map makes
it easy for the teacher or classroom volunteer to help you pass out seeds to
students.
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In advance, prepare your beds to visually
show planting areas in your beds. We use flour to line sections
according to the planting map. We add one
plant marker that names the seed that will be planted in the section.
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Rather than give each class a
collection of seed packets, we repackage seeds using coin envelopes.
This insures that we have the right amount of seeds for planting. Each
packet contains enough seeds for one or two students (depending on what the
planting map calls for), and is labeled with the type of seed, days to
germination, and planting depth. Our seeds are prepackaged by the special
needs class at the high school.
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If you can't repackage seeds and
must distribute seeds individually to students,
have students hold out the hand they do
not
write with to receive the seeds. This eliminates the need to switch the seeds
between hands to pick up seeds.
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Wood chips can be used to make a small hole
or shallow furrows for seed planting.
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Fingers are excellent tools to estimate
length. For the proper depth, model for the students how to use fingertips to
estimate the proper planting depth. For example, use
the pinky finger nail bed to estimate 1/4 to 1/2 inch, use two fingers side
by side to estimate 1 inch wide.
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Gather several students
closely together to model that
overcrowding makes it hard for them to move
without getting tangled with their neighbors. Likewise, plants need
enough space for their parts to develop to be sure they don't need to
compete for resources like water or light.
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Remind students to pat the soil gently after
covering the planted seeds to be sure that seeds and soil make contact.
For more information:
Early spring
planting - what to plant in early spring
Potato patch - planting potatoes in early spring for a late summer
harvest
Late
spring planting - what to plant after your frost free date
Sweet potato patch - planting sweet potato slips for a late summer harvest
Fall planting
- planting in fall for spring |
