Kids Go Gardening Autumn 2014

KIDS

AUTUMN 2014

GROW

your own tasty herbs BUILD

a bug hotel MAKE

go wild

outside!

FO LO R OK PU LOT IN S SI Z TO Z OF DE DO LE FU ! S N

L COOGS THINAKE TO M DO! AND

a hanging basket

! ! s u o i c i l a b r e H What’s your favourite flavour?

Peppermint? Lemon?

Pineapple? Licorice?

Did you know you can grow all these flavours in a herb garden?

Herbs are easy to grow and among the most useful plants ever. Squeeze their leaves and breathe in their awesome scents!

AUTUMN is a great time to start your

own herb garden. CHOOSE a sunny

patch of garden soil. Or your herb garden could be a group of pots. Just fill them with container mix and get planting!

START by sowing some seeds. Or, if you’re in a hurry, you’ll find lots of little herb plants at your garden centre.

Hint: If you want to grow a whole row of parsley or chives, look for ‘six-packs’ on the seedling stand.

TIP:

Herbs need…

sunshine and soil that drains easily after a rain. If your soil is wet in winter, you could plant your herbs in a raised bed filled with planting mix. Edge your bed with rocks, timber or old bricks.

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kids go gardening autumn

Soft herbs lik e parsley, mint, and basil like a bit of afternoon shade.

Parsley

Basil

Mint

Ten herbs to try: PARSLEY ~ good cooks always have this in their garden.

CHIVES ~ yum in scrambled eggs. xing LAVENDER ~ The most rela h or smell! Try some in your bat . ow pill under your

OREGANO ~ the pizza herb!

THYME ~ see how many different types you can find!

PINEAPPLE SAGE ~ smells just like pineapple!

MINT ~ Mint grows big rea lly fast and smothers little pla nts in its way, so plant it in a bed of its own, or in a pot.

LEMON BALM ~ makes a delicious calming tea.

FENNEL ~ smells and tastes like licorice.

ROSEMARY~ Delicious with roast potato wedges.

Make a green smoothie Tea party Fresh herbs make the most refreshing tea, which you can drink hot or chilled. Try mint, thyme, lemon balm, lemon verbena, or chamomile flowers (the sleepy time tea). Pick a handful of your favourite herb. Put it in a teapot and pour over boiling water. Leave it for a few minutes before pouring it through a strainer.

Blind challenge

Green smoothies are super healthy and super delicious. Design your own using your favourite combo of herbs, green leafy veges and fresh fruit.

Here’s one to try: Half a cucumber, chopped 1 ripe banana 1 cup apple juice 6 mint leaves 1 sprig of parsley 1 silverbeet leaf, chopped ½ to 1 cup cold water Blend till smooth!

Makes enough for three.

How well do you know your herbs?

Play a game with your friends to see who can name the most herbs – blind-folded!

TIP:

Freeze ripe na ba nas then chop them up for smoothies – better than ice cream!

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Do you love hunting for

bugs?

Creepy crawlies are fu n to find and are good for your garden too. Give them somew here to live and you’ll be fascinat ed by what visitors come and stay .

Insects of all descript ions are good for your garden including lad ybugs, wasps, lacewing s, and bees. Providing a safe place for the good bu gs to live is one way of keep ing your garden healt hy and balanced.

Some bugs provide foo d for other insects tha t pollinate our plants.

Some provide food for bir ds, some recycle plant ru bbish and some prey on the insects that eat our pla nts. So really, they’re good!

tel Lachie’s bug ho is now open for business!

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kids go gardening autumn

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Plants to attract beneficial insects: ALYSSUM CATMINT CORNFLOWER COSMOS FENNEL PARSLEY PHACELLIA

INSECTS THAT ARE WELCOME IN OUR GARDEN: Ladybirds , Daddy Long Legs , Spiders , Mites , Hoverflies , Ground beetles , Parasitic flies , Parasitic wasps ,

A bug hotel Building a bug hotel is a good start to attract insect visitors to your place. The best bug hotels have nooks and crannies of all shapes and sizes made from different materials.

Lachie went on a scavenger hunt and found all sorts of goodies to build his bug hotel, including pumice, sticks, pipes and wood.

You will need

• A selection of twigs, pipes, pine cones, pumice, rocks, hay, – anything really.

• Pieces of wood or bricks to make the structure of your hotel.

How to build it •

Get an adult to help you with drilling holes in the pipes and wood – bugs love to hide in them!

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Build up your hotel layer by layer like Lachie has. He even made a sign!

A bug h also be m otel can collectio ade from a n stems (li of hollow ke bamb packed in oo) to drink bo a plastic tt the end le with cut off.

Easy!

If you’d like to send us a photo of your bug hotel – we’d love to see it!!

You can email it to us at info@gogardening.co.nz and type ‘bug hotel’ in the subject line.

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Junk or n u f e r u s a e tr M

aking something useful from something old saves money. Plus – that’s one less thing to go in the rubbish. It’s called ‘upcycling’ and its good for our planet.

It’s amazing what you can make out of junk! Kacy made her lovely hanging basket out of an old pot she found at the op shop. You could also make it out of an old strainer or sieve. The important thing is that it has holes in it for the water to drain. Kacy’s pot was once a vege steamer so it already had holes in the bottom.

Otherwise, get an adult to help you drill some holes. Kacy’s dad helped her to take the handle off her pot and drilled three holes to attach the wires.

GREAT PLANTS FOR G HANGIN T E BASK S

Kacy used Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ in her basket. She loves how it sparkles in the sun, like a sliver water fall. Succulents are super drought tolerant. You could also grow herbs like thyme or oregano. Some of the best flowers for hanging baskets are petunias, lobelia, viola and alyssum.

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kids go gardening autumn

Feed me!

All plants need food to grow, but plants in hanging baskets need feeding more often because all that watering can wash the nutrients from the soil before the plant gets to use them (it’s a bit like having too much dinner on your plate!) The best way to feed basket plants is ‘little and often’.

Feed them once a week with liquid fertiliser.

You WIll need: • An old weather proof container with holes.

• Thin wire, 3 pieces about 1m long • Colourful beads, buttons, plastic straws – anything you can thread on a wire.

• Pliers and wire cutters • Potting mix • Plants

1

Attach your three wires to the sides of the pot.

Make sure they are evenly spaced. Twist them together tightly so they won’t come undone.

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More upcycling ideas: The kids at Raumati South School gave this old hanging basket a cool new look with colourful recycled plastic.

What a great way to use up unwanted shopping bags! You could also use fabric scraps, parcel ribbon – anything colourful and thread-able!

Decide where you will hang your basket so you know how long you need to make your hangers.

3 Thread 4 Twist

your beads onto each wire, leaving the last 20cm bare.

the wires together and form a loop for hanging. Make sure this is really strong so it will hold the weight of the potting mix.

5 Fill 6 Hang

your pot with potting mix and plant your plants.

your pot and water it well.

Get creative with tin cans.

Grown out of your gumboots?

Try planting them.

TIP:

Hangin fast, esp g baskets dry ou ecia t or windy lly when it’s su nny . So they waterin need lot g But if yo , every day in su s of u ch mmer! plants th oose ‘drought tolerant at can to ’ ugh it ou they get t when a bit dry , you wo have to n’t worry.

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! l u f i t u a e Be the bees Planting for

B

ees visit flowers to gather nectar to feed their families.

Each time they visit a flower they pick up a bit of pollen.

As they move from flower to flower, some of the pollen from the last flower drops onto the next flower, helping to pollinate it. Flowers need pollination so they can produce seeds, fruit and vegetables.

3 down 4 across

Unscramble each of the clue words.

Copy the letters in the numbered cells to other cells with the same number.

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Herbs to plant in autumn

PELARSY N

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MEYTH 1

REORAYSM 11

GEAS

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CEHVIS

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MTIN

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LENNEF 6 across Across 4. These flowers have a strong perfume that makes you feel relaxed.

6. This pretty blue flowered herb is easy to grow from seed.

KIDS www.gogardening.co.nz

Down 1. Oranges and lemons grow on _ _ _ _ _ trees.

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ROEGANO

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MOLEN LABM

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2. A favourite companion plant in the vege garden.

3. A herb that smells like licorice.

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5. These tall flowers come in pink, white and purple.

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