Pricking our seedlings

We germinate most of our seeds in seeds trays and transplant out into the plot as young plants. Most young seedlings need pricking out once they have germinated.

If you are new to gardening and are unsure of how to do this click here

A new section has been added to the School Vegetable Patch website. Click here

This is intended to help those new to gardening understand some techniques. If you need instructions for a gardening techniques then post a comment and I'll see what I can do to help!

Free Literacy resources now available

Sequencing or writing caption for a gardening activity :

Link to writing instruction

Provide the children with a PowerPoint showing images of a gardening activity (e.g. Sowing seeds), one image to each slide, where the sequence of events has been jumbled.

Open the presentation in Slide Sorter view and ask the children to order the sequence. Once it is ordered the children can type sentences with the pictures to provide instructions for someone else to follow the process.

Click here for information on sowing seeds

Click here to access resources on the Literacy activities web page

Share your experiences

Use the comments area in this post to share your experiences.

Classroom Resources now available

Plant families and life cycles of plants:

Now available: Peas and Beans

Now Available -The Onion Family

Price £25 + £2.50 postage and packaging within the UK (overseas postage will vary

Coming soon Root Vegetables and The Cabbage Family

These Smart Notebook and PowerPoint resources are rich in photographs showing every stage in the life cycle of the vegetables that the children may grow in their vegetable patch.

There are four separate resources each focusing on a particular plant family. Each resource is accompanied by original high quality photographs, (approximately 120 in Peas and Beans resource), that can be used when making worksheets or within children's work. Each resource is provided in three formats:
PowerPoint version 2007 - linked to a series of Smart Notebook activities
PowerPoint version 97 - 2003 - linked to a series of Smart Notebook activities
Smart Notebook - contains the content of the PowerPoint versions and activities.
Like the resources but don't have the software to run them?
Download a free viewer

Smart offer a Notebook viewer, (for Windows 2000 or later, Mac or Linux), that can be downloaded from the internet. The viewer will allow interaction with the resource but will not allow any editing. Likewise PowerPoint viewers can be downloaded.

All are fully editable using the appropriate software allowing teachers the freedom to simplify or edit the resources for younger or less able children. The PowerPoint formats are each linked to a series of Smart Notebook activities.

More details and ordering information click here

IWB Resources

Resources to support school vegetable gardening projects

Plant families and life cycles of plants:

These Smart Notebook and PowerPoint resources are rich in photographs showing every stage in the life cycle of the vegetables that the children may grow in their vegetable patch.

There are four separate resources each focusing on a particular plant family. Each resource is provided in three formats:
· PowerPoint version 2007 – linked to a series of Smart Notebook activities
· PowerPoint version 97 – 2003 - linked to a series of Smart Notebook activities
· Smart Notebook - contains the content of the PowerPoint versions and activities · Original high quality photographs, (over 120 in Peas and Beans resource), that can be used when making worksheets or within children's work
All are fully editable using the appropriate software allowing teachers the freedom to simplify or edit the resources for younger or less able children. The PowerPoint formats are each linked to a series of Smart Notebook activities.

All resources can be used freely within the purchasing organisation and by teachers at home, for the purpose of lesson planning for use within the purchasing organisation.

The vegetables are grouped into four different 'families'

1) Peas and Beans (pea, broad bean, French bean and runner bean) - available end of November 2008
2) The Onion family (onion, leek, garlic, spring onion and shallot) - available January 2009
3) Root Vegetables (potato, parsnip, carrot, beetroot, radish, swede and turnip) - available January 2009
4) The Cabbage Family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sprout and kale) - available 2009
5) The Cucumber Family (cucumber, squash, courgette, marrow, pumpkin, melon) - planned
6) Salad Crops - planned

Click here to find out more.

Visit the School Vegetable Patch Website

The main website linked to this blog can be viewed by clicking here.