Planting Lettuce With The School Gardening Club
I love little gem lettuce and have had a tray of seeds germinating in the greenhouse for some time. This week the tray of lettuce had got to the point where it desperately needed to be planted so I took the tray to school for the school gardening club to plant.
At 12.30pm on a Tuesday the Year 3 and Year 6 children gather in the courtyard of our school for our weekly gardening club. Weeks ago we planted carrots and sunflowers for the grow the tallest sunflower and longest carrot competitions. It is great to see the children come into the courtyard and head straight for the plant pots to see if their seeds have germinated. As I said last week, some of the seeds have already germinated and this week there was great excitement as we realised that some of the sunflowers and carrots are doing really well. In fact some of the sunflowers are already 10-15cms long. Next week we are on half term so we are keeping our fingers crossed that if we have sunny weather, the caretaker will water our prize plants! So in two weeks time we will be transplanting the sunflowers and carrots to sunnier locations and deeper pots! I will report back with some measurements for the sunflowers so that we can keep a track of the lengths as the weeks go by.
Anyway back to this week - I took the lettuce and we headed for the back field to try to find somewhere to plant the somewhat straggly lettuce. The children are very patient as they wait their turn to receive their plant which they then carefully carry to it’s planting position. At the moment the school does not have a specified vegetable plot, so we are trying to squeeze the vegetables into any available space we can find in the borders. Some of the plants have been planted very close to the grass verge of the back field so we might find that they become victim to the school lawn mower. Each child planted at least two lettuce so hopefully the children will end up with at least one lettuce to take home.
Children just have a way of making you feel great when they show enthusiasm for things that you are interested in. One of the boys in my class obviously enjoys gardening with his Grandad and has talked about our club to his Grandad because this morning there was a tap on the staffroom door and the Year 6 boy in question thrust a plastic carrier bag at me with lots of plant pots in. Enthusiastic children just make the job of teaching worthwhile.
In two weeks time I will report back with more news from the school gardening club.
Homegrown vegetables School Gardening Club
That sounds like so much fun! You’ll have to keep us posted on how this turns out.
Comment by Wicked Gardener — May 23, 2007 @ 2:23 am
Hi Wicked Gardener,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Yes the gardening club is good fun. The Year 3 children are very keen and eager and I have a good mix of girls and boys. The Year 6 children from my class are so helpful. It’s like having more teachers there to help me. I keep forgetting to take my camera so I will post some photographs after the half term holiday. Fingers crossed for a good harvest!
Sara @ Farming Friends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — May 23, 2007 @ 6:12 am
Hi Sara - I think I have finally tracked down your blog. Thanks for visiting mine and leaving some comments. I have added you as a link to my blogroll so that I can come back and visit often. We are originally from England so it will be great to visit via your blog.
Comment by Crafty Gardener — May 23, 2007 @ 10:24 am
Hi Crafty Gardener,
I am glad you have found me and want to add me to your links. Where did you live in England? I hope my site will bring back memories for you.
Sara @ Farming Friends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — May 23, 2007 @ 11:49 am