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Scoil Mhuire Knockavilla / Knockavilla National School, Tipperary

Even More GIY in Rang 3 & 4

18th Mar 2020

Work did not stop with spuds, we also planned to plant peppers and cauliflower and even some flower bulbs.

To begin we needed to fill the seed trays with compost. Then, selecting our seeds, make a little dent in the compost and plant 1 or 2 seeds per pot. The most important thing, if you are doing this at home, is to plant the seeds at the correct depth, or they will not germinate (sprout). If you look at the size of the seed and plant it about twice as deep as its size you will have success. Tiny seeds (like lettuce) can be left on top of the soil and larger seeds (like peas) pushed down about 1cm deep.

The next step is to ‘hydrate’ using lots of water, then leave them on a sunny windowsill to germinate. It will take between two days - two weeks to germinate depending on the vegetable.

The flower bulbs were much the same only on a larger scale. We will have Begonias and Lily of the Valley. The begonia bulb looks like a donut and the lily of the valley bulb looks very hairy with all its little roots. They were watered and are now outside as they are tolerant of the weather, and I won’t have to remember to water them because the rain will take care of that.

I hope you will all try to grow something also. You do not need much - old yoghurt tubs with a drain hole will do as seed pots or even loo roll and/or cardboard tubes with the bottom folded in. Have fun and grow something that you like to eat or try something that you don’t eat and see if it tastes better when you grow it yourself.