Our pumpkins (planted last month), backed with sunflowers, fronted by weeds.
You can still plant pumpkins in July, from seed, for a fall harvest of home grown Jack o’ Lanterns. I think this is an excellent gardening activity with children over time: the seeds come up quickly, the plants grow dramatically, and the pumpkins are then harvested and cure in September for an October carving. Continue reading “July Gardening”→
Messy kid fun can be had gardening when snow is still on the ground by planting amaryllis bulbs. Amaryllis bulbs grow fairly quickly and they generally flower less than a month from planting so it’s a great gardening experience for children.
Amaryllis one week after planting
INGREDIENTS
boxed amaryllis bulbs which come complete with plastic pot and compressed planting medium (if you have loose amaryllis bulbs, then you will need potting mix and 4-6″ diameter planting pot and a saucer to catch water). Amaryllis bulbs are seasonally available in the fall and can be found deeply discounted once Christmas has passed. I found boxed kits for about $1.00 in the clearance aisle of a local retailer after the holidays.
newspaper to cover table for easy clean up
large kid-friendly spoon or sand tool for moving mix from bowl to pot
water (I use the sink sprayer) to water the planted bulbs right after planting
BEAN & BANTAM 