Spring 2022 Meet some of our Green Shoots children whose progress we will be tracking over the coming weeks and months, so please return to this page at regular intervals to see how their growing is going! We will be back with more Green Shoots news very soon! In the meantime, there are lots of lovely recycling ideas HERE to get your seed sowing underway. 15th March 2022 An egg-cellent idea for growing those little curly cress seeds! Lots of fabulous courgette seedlings - well done Poppy! Top Green Shoots Tip If you make your own plant labels, make sure they don’t touch the damp soil! (like Sara’s did below!) We now have to guess what those little green shoots below are! A sunny kitchen windowsill is the perfect place to get those little seeds popping! We grew our DG curly cress on damp kitchen roll (below) but you can grow it in little pots of soil too. Day 2 (above) Day 3 (above) Day 5 (above) and already bursting with flavour! These radish seeds are just starting to sprout. Fabulous courgettes making their way through the dark soil out into the sunlight. One very happy little Green Shoots gardener 🌱 Time for potting on... 🌱 Top Growing Tip: Keep your seed pots well watered to help them germinate. Poppy's potting on her courgettes ready to sell together with some tomato plants! #daisygarlandfundraising she's already sold 6 to some friends! x Much excitement in our house this morning as our seedlings have started to push their heads through. Tomato plants are through and about half the courgettes. Pumpkin look like they'll need a bit longer but there is a hint of something happening! She's loving it. She's been checking them every day. when I told her this morning that she needed to look at them she jumped out of bed quicker than I've ever managed to get her up! Hello Green Shooters 🌱 What a lot of smashing photos of your little seedlings. Soon your seedlings will have two sets of true leaves, this means it's time to move them into bigger pots, giving them lots of space to grow. If you need help with pricking out and potting on, the following link has lots of useful tips and hints. https://www.gardenninja.co.uk/how-to-pot-on-and-prick-out-seedlings/ Happy growing! and don't forget to keep sending us your super photos which we will add to our website on a weekly basis. In the meantime, Keep Calm and Sow On! 🌱 🌱 🌱 12th April 2022 Our Daisy Garland Green Shoots project is well and truly underway with many of our Green Shooters already harvesting their early Spring sowing. We have been so impressed with the photos of crispy cut-and-come-again salad leaves, tangy cress and glorious bunches of fat ruby red radishes. Please keep those fabulous pics coming!! We will soon be launching our Tallest Sunflower and Plumpest Pumpkin competition. Don’t miss it! Happy growing everyone! 20th May 2022 Emily told us: “We just wanted to send you a few pictures of Poppy and Teddy enjoying their amazing Green Shoots project box. Both have really engaged in the project so far and check their plants each day to see how they are doing. As you can see, they are growing really well! Thank you so much once again for including Teddy and Poppy in this project - they are getting a huge amount from it, learning loads and having fun! We will send you more pictures soon!” One month later... Xander and Esme are very excited about their plants in their bright colourful pots! Maddie and has been having lots of fun sowing seeds with the help of her lovely mum, Kayleigh. Jacob's mum, Sarah, sent us these fab pic of Jacob with his grandad Tony. She told us: "Just getting started with the Green Shoots project. Jacob says a BIG thank you for his grow box." Grandma Lynn tells us: "Jacob with his plants. Growing good " Marguerite told us: “On Saturday, my children were all together busy planting the amazing seeds you sent with all the equipment too. George was in his element having everyone involved, sharing out the T Shirts and seeds. It has meant more to him than I realised. He is a people person and loves team work. It was wonderful and sunny and we managed to get to 31 seeded pots in total. It is so exciting to be growing with The Daisy Garland!” George carefully planting courgette seeds... George and his lovely mum, Marguerite who brighten our days with their weekly homeschooling news and updates. 7 weeks later... Poppy's mum told us: "We have a very excited Poppy! I had an unexpected knock on the door earlier and it was a chap from the local garden centre, they had seen on Facebook that Poppy was raising money for The Daisy Garland by growing plants, so brought round some seeds for her! " "Poppy is very pleased to be getting closer to her target fundraising amount for her plant sales! One more push at the weekend I think and she'll be there. All the seeds from garden centre are popping up now and she was very pleased that her English teacher wanted to buy a couple of plants lots of flowers coming up in the beds now as well" Great work Zak! Be sure to keep those seedlings well watered and before long you will be seeing those little green shoots! A helping hand for Chloe, from Woody the pooch! Polly's pumpkins are peeking through the soil... A bumper crop of ruby-red radishes - well done Paige! Poppy's mum told us: “First salad leaves harvested! Radishes also looking good and a few of the flower seeds are sprouting." School packed lunches don't come fresher than this! Click here for our Daisy Garland keto Garlic Roasted Radish Recipe - a fabulous low-carb alternative to roast potatoes. It is always hugely disappointing when things go a little belly up with your seedlings (see 2 pics below), but please don’t worry. There is always help at hand! Click HERE to see if you can identify what's going on. Today is National Bee Week, bees are such important visitors to the garden. Please click here to learn more about bees and the important role they play in nature. Keep Calm and Grow on! We will be back next week with some more fabulous updates. In the meantime, please keep those pictures coming! My sunflowers came up very quickly - it's the first year I've grown them, so am super-excited to see how tall they get! Last week I potted them on into individual pots and after a week of sunshine and showers they seem to have rocketed. They've had a week to harden off outside, so it's time to get them in the ground. I think they might need some bamboo sticks for support so will scout around the shed to see if we have any spare ones that haven't already been reserved for the runner beans. We thought it would be fun to hold a 'who can grow the tallest sunflower competition', so if you are growing sunflowers tape measures at the ready! I managed to grow 3 tomato seedlings in a rinsed-out can of tomatoes which made for fun growing. I also sprinkled a few seeds in a seed tray. (The 'canned tomatoes' were the first to peek through the soil, perhaps this was because the tin captured the heat of the sunshine making for faster germination??) As you can see, the seedlings are big enough now to pot on into small individual pots where they will sit for the next few weeks until they are sturdy enough for a tomato grow bag/bucket. I find it's better to grow tomatoes in a pot or a bucket. It might be just me, but the ones I've planted directly in the ground never seem to do as well. Tomato plants like lots of sunshine and when watering, I find it's best to water them from the bottom to avoid any drops of water scorching the hairy little stalks and tender little leaves. You can get quite a big crop of tomatoes from 3 or 4 plants. I can't wait to see those little yellow flowers forming... If you are growing tomatoes, here's a reminder of what to do next. I think it's time to plant my 3 pumpkin seedlings into the ground. They've been outside for the past couple of weeks hardening off. As you can see, a couple of the outer-leaves are turning yellow, which means they tiny pots of soil they're sitting in at the moment are fast running out of nutrients. I will be heading off to the allotment later this afternoon to plant them directly into the ground, with a sparse sprinkling of organic slug pellets around each plant. Those hungry slugs are not getting a look in!!! Can't wait to see these little plants burst into flower! Once in the ground they will grow very quickly so make sure you keep them well watered. Here's a reminder of what to do next if your pumpkin seedlings are ready to pot on/plant out. The courgette is going to join the pumpkin seedlings on the allotment this afternoon too! Courgettes pay dividends when they start to fruit and before you know it you have more courgettes than you know what to do with! They are low in carbs so very keto-friendly and are great spiralized and used as a noodle substitute with a creamy sauce. They're also great when added to yummy stir fries. Here's a reminder of what to do next if you are growing courgettes. Theo's mum told us: "Theo's enjoying watering his sunflowers that have just started shooting up, good physio too as he's practicing his kneeling! " Well done Theo! Keep up the good work! Tia's mum told us: “Tia has been out in the garden today looking at her plants” "Thank you very much for our Green Shoots box Ellie has had lots of fun planting tomato and nasturtium seeds today!" Jacob's grandma sent us this lovely pic of Jacob with some of his seedlings, telling us: "Jacob's seeds are growing slowly but healthy 🌱🌿" Keep going Jacob, you are doing a terrific job! Hardening Off The last frosts tend to be over by mid-end May, so it will soon be time to ‘harden off’ your little green shoots before planting them in the ground. You do this by moving your seedlings from your windowsill or greenhouse, and popping them outside each morning, getting them used to the cooler air, the wind and the sun, before bringing them in again by the early evening. Repeat this process for 1-2 weeks. You can then plant them directly into the soil, firming the soil around each plant and watering them in well, which helps settle the soil around their roots, preventing big air pockets forming which can dry the roots out. You might also want to consider using pet friendly, organic, slug pellets, as a pest deterrent to prevent those little green shoots being gobbled up by a team of peckish snails! If you’d like more information, take a look at this: https://www.thompson-morgan.com/pricking-out-hardening-off Happy Planting! Just over a week ago, Sara hardened off her tomato plants transferring them from the warmth of her kitchen windowsill to the garden table outside. Here they sat for a week or so before they were transferred to a tomato grow-bag this weekend (see above). Fingers crossed for some lovely sunshine over the next few weeks to help these little plants grow big and strong. I always find tomato plants tend to grow better in a bucket or grow-bag rather than being planted directly into the ground. If you have potted your tomato plants outside, make sure you sit them in a sunny spot and don’t forget to keep the soil around them moist. Tomatoes like a fair bit of water - if they don’t get enough their leaves will droop and shrivel, but don’t worry if this happens, just make sure you water them quickly and they should perk up again! A few organic slug pellets sprinkled around the base of the plants might be a good idea too to keep those pesky slugs and snails at bay (slug pellets are firmly on this week's shopping list!) It won’t be long before bamboo sticks are needed to give the plants a supportive hand as they journey towards the sunshine. I will be sure to keep you posted on their progress. Sensory Tip: Have you noticed the delicate tomatoey aroma when you gently rub the leaves between your fingers? 🌱 🍅 🌱 For more top tips on growing tomatoes please click HERE Poppy (see pic below) has been very busy potting up her Green Shoots courgettes, some of which she has sold to friends and neighbours donating the proceeds to The Daisy Garland. Poppy you are a true Daisy Garland Super Star! ️ Thank you so much for your outstanding support and for raising so much epilepsy awareness in the process! Fast Forward a few weeks and those little green shoots look A-MA-ZING! 🌱 🌱 🌱 Terrific tomato! Nice nasturtiums! Last week, Poppy was given a 'Pride of Parkside Award' by her school. In a letter to Poppy’s parents the Headteacher said: “Poppy was nominated by her teacher for her amazing resilience in lessons, always trying as hard as she can every day. He would also like to recognise Poppy’s amazing charity work, raising money for epilepsy by selling home grown plants. We are very proud of her!” Well done Poppy and a big 3 cheers from The Daisy Garland - Hip, Hip, Hooray!!! Wowee!!!! Gethin’s green shoots are coming on in leaps and bounds! His tomato plants (far left) are already in flower, his courgettes are looking fabulous and he is supporting his sunflowers with little green sticks, making sure they don’t bend or snap in the breeze. Well done Gethin you are doing a great job with that plant spray. One spray for the plants... … and one spray for Gethin! Gardening can make you thirsty! Gethin's mum told us: “Gethin has really enjoyed the green shoots project. We have harvested the salad leaves and radishes, radishes were a big hit with him, we made a coleslaw xxx” “Lily's cress just planted today and her Nasturtiums have flowered! X” “Been busy day in the garden today. Courgettes definitely need their big pots! Calendula coming on nicely and tomatoes and pumpkins will be potted out as soon as we can!” Well done Thomas! Those radishes will soon be ready for munching! Lily has been busy this week planting up her courgette seeds… “Who knew slugs and snails loved radishes so much?!! From the 3 rows planted we only managed to harvest two little radishes! So it’s back to the drawing board this week planting more seeds. This time we will add a good sprinkling of organic slug pellets! Will keep you posted." Sara x” Manage Cookie Preferences