One boy’s quest for a greener world, one garden at a time.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown is a book based on fact. The Highline is an abandoned railway line that people began to take back over and return it back to nature and open spaces for people to enjoy.
It is a poignant book as many cities, suburbs and towns are starting to explore how they can become greener, literally.
Many homes are using patches of their backyards for veggies patches and making the most of windowsill space.
We loved reading this story, not only watching the plants grow in strange places but also watching the people come out into their city to cultivate and enjoy the green space.
So what can you do?
Keep a seed diary.
Find some easy to grow seeds that produce colourful results – plenty of different types os sunflowers and everlasting native daisies are wonderful! The Diggers club have some great heirloom seeds on offer, worth checking out! A fresh legacy is also a great website for tips on how to grow a great veggie patch with your family!
Grow your own food.
I just listened to a great podcast by Laura Trotta with special guest Jessica Donovan. It highlights the importance of trying to grow some small amount of your own food. By growing your own food it gives your child a great link to where their food comes from, how long it takes to grow and how we need to help plants to grow. You can check it out here.
Plan your dream garden.
With your children get out your tape measures and scrap paper and plan your dream garden. Would you create a small maze out of lillypilli bushes? A herb maze? A stingless bee hive? A sunflower patch? Native flower garden? A recycled water feature? The possibilities are endless and you can have so much fun doing it!
Do you work somewhere where you could plan a rooftop garden? If you do see if you can otherwise have some fun planning a rooftop garden on your apartment, townhouse or house roof or walls!
How about investigating edible weeds? I haven’t done it yet but I am keen to find out what we can eat in our own backyard. We don’t spray our grass and it’s only the chickens who peck and poo all over it so I would guess our dandelions and purslane and other weeds could be an added delicacy!
Have fun!
Part of growing your own garden is about having fun. We even planted some seeds in an old shoe as we lost the other shoe! Have fun, try something new and get outside!
Links
- Measurement – mm, cm and m.
- Explore cm2 and m2.
- Explore design with shapes
- Measure rainfall – ml & l
- Seeds per m2
- Grow your own food.
- Link the importance of sustainable food growth but growing a variety of food and sourcing local food
- Understand the importance of biodiversity and the need for different flowers and plants.
