Gardening/School gardening thread

[morg176]

We didn't have a gardening thread so I started one.

For anyone who likes to garden
Also for teachers who like (or matbe aren't sure how) to garden with their students or set up a school garden.

I claimed an unloved planter (2 square metres) at one of my schools. I collected a few of the good kids and we got the weeds and grass out of it and sifted and broke up the soil.
The kids loved it. Being outside and no low grade secretarial work to do. Only well behaved, well mannered chilfen are invited to assist. It is their reward.

We now have over a hundred plants crammed into this garden and they are all flowering plants, snapdragons, pansies and the like. It looks good, and yet is hidden behind a classroom so most teachers don't even know its there.

It's small, but its the best garden in school, and the most fun ive had all year.
But we need to expand for next year, and most of my young gardeners are yr 6ers. So, begin again next year.

[Thurmus]

My daughter's school has a lunch time garden club on Friday's. It is run by a couple of parents.

Toyota sponsored tree planting day this year and donated free saplings with sticks and plastic circles to put around them.

Also if you put the call out a parent will have a contact for free mulch. They started with a small corner and have grown from there. The kids love being a part of it.

[liegeprime]

Can you post up some pics please, while the garden's in full bloom there morg176? Cheers....

I like to do some gardening every now and then, but I'm more into bromeliads.

[morg176]

Has anyone tried coconut water on sprouting seeds/seedlinds, I've heard and read that it increases growth significantly, but varies species to species

[BigTransformerTrev]

I've almost started a gardening/farming/vege & fruit growing thread a few times, then realized that makes me seem old and I'd be the only one to use it anyway

Someone made one! Yay!

I could go on about the school gardens but I'd like to show off my own first

I'll go into more detail later (I'll be all over this thread like a rash! ) but I'll start off with a couple of older pics of my vege patches :


Vege Patch 1 & 2




Vege Patch 3

[morg176]

Nice

[5FDP]

I'd really love to re-do our backyard and turn it into a garden of zen, but having a staffy makes it a futile task. It will be a future project for when I retire.

[Thurmus]

I misread that and thought you had something that would stop you being able to bend over to garden.

[morg176]

Also for next year, I would like to be able to have more seedlings ready to plant on a week by week basis. Seedlings are the most expensive part of the flower box program. I'm trying a poor mans in vitro as an experiment to see if I can grow them faster from seed, than trying to find affordable bulk seedlings. Seeds take forever to grow and die real easy. Maybe tissue culture/cuttings might be quicker

Ideas, suggestions

[gamblor916]

African violets and begonias are ridiculously easy to propagate from leaf cuttings. Lots of succulents are easy to grow from cuttings as well. Carnivorous plants like the flytrap and some pitchers have easy to break off side shoots. May take a little time though.