As the naughty magpies and crows swoop low over the garden, the snails are waking up after their winter sleep and the daffodils bloom…we know it’s planting time! Utilising our shelter to protect against the frost, we are able to plant early. This means our vegetables and sunflowers get a head start and we have a crop before the summer holidays begin.
The first job is too gather our soil and compost from various locations around the garden. Children are ready with their barrows and spades and collaborate to shift the soil and carefully collect it in our Garden Centre planting area.
Planting tomatoes is a particularly special experience. Rather than a sachet of seeds, the children handle tomatoes from the shop. Many know there are seeds inside, we cut or squeeze the fruit and gather the seeds. The sticky seeds are then spread over the surface of pots which have been delicately filled by the children using a variety of tools. This is not an easy task and provides valuable fine motor practice and exercise. Handling the tomatoes and gathering seeds from fruit, gives first hand experience of life cycles… a theme which continues throughout the Spring and Summer term.
Beetroot, cucumber, sunflowers, pumpkins, broad beans and red hot chillies have all been planted. The children have handled the seeds and compared them. We have also been enjoying information books relating to planting and growth; learning about the role of roots and leaves and using the word, “germination”.
