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Sometimes it's not just about growing veg and eating it, sometimes we can have a bit of fun along the way...

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What's that coming over the hill? It's a potato monster!
If your potatoes are past their best, don't chuck them onto the compost heap - have some fun and turn them into monsters!
Follow our instructions here. All you need is:

A potato

A paper bag

Some permanent markers

A dark place

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Have a competition to see who can make the best creature from the fruit & veg in your house or garden. Here are our instructions.
(you can always eat them afterwards!)

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Are you brave enough to try?!
Challenge your class, group or family to see who can grow the chilli plant with the most chillies on it. You could go one step further and then cook with your chillies!
Click here to find out more.

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Make a pea head person
(and grow your own pea shoots)
You can find our instructions on how to make your own pea head person here. All you need is:

A container to grow your seeds in and decorate (e.g. a paper cup)

Compost

Pea seeds or dried peas from the cupboard

Coloured pens, pencils, stickers

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Make a cress-head family
Follow our instructions here (or watch the video in the card below). All you need is:

The foot end of a pair of tights

A cup

Cress seeds

Compost

Rubber bands or string

Decorations, (e.g. 🤬 cleaners, felt, acorns)

PVA glue or cool melt glue gun

If you don't have any cress seeds but have some grass seeds, why not try making a growing grassy creature instead?

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Here's a short video on howto make cressheads - it's such a great activity for children and perfect for a rainy day.

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Another lock down project you can do easily with children that gives quick results. Cress heads

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Most seed packets should have information on the back to tell you how to sow them but here are a few of our top tips!

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Sometimes seed packets can be confusing, especially if you're new to growing. Get to grips with sowing with our jargon buster!

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To Sow - to place a seed in soil or compost.

Well-prepared soil - soil that has been dug over, weeds removed, compost added, raked and levelled.

Germinate/Germination - the process of a seed starting to grow, developing a small root and seedling leaves.

To Plant - to dig a small hole and place a plant into the hole, bringing soil back around the plant.

Seed drill - a channel or groove made into the soil, to sow the seeds along. The depth of the drill is determined by the size of the seed. Small seeds like carrots and lettuce are sown in drill about 13mm deep ( length of finger nail). Whereas large seeds like a broad bean are sown in deeper drills 5cms deep ( length of second knuckle of index finger).

Wide bottomed drill - a channel that is wide as a hand (usually at least 10cms wide), and flat bottomed - not V shaped. Peas are sown in flat-bottomed drills, in a zigzag pattern.

Sow direct - to sow seeds into the soil, usually outside in beds or large containers.

Sow thinly - small seeds are sown by sprinkling the seeds sparingly, so that there is visible space between each seed. Remember each seed will grow into a plant so if you sow seeds too closely together they will be crowded and will not thrive.

Row - seeds are sown in drills to form a row or a line of vegetables or flowers; seeds are sown in a row to help distinguish the sown seedlings from weeds. Also it allows you to give the correct amount of space for the crops to grow well. It is important to know the distance between rows.

Spacing - The distance between seeds along the drill and also distance between adjacent rows. This is determined by the size of the seed and size of the plant it will grow into. So large plants will need wider spacing between seeds along the drill and between adjacent rows. Smaller seeds may need closer spacing along the seed drill.

Seedling - a tiny plant, usually only with its first leaves growing.

Thin out seedlings - to carefully remove seedlings that are growing too close together - often the result of sowing too many small seeds and so too many grow up together. Water the row of seedlings well and then simply pull out the excess seedlings, leaving a row of single healthy seedlings at the correct spacing from one another. Sometimes you can re-plant the thinned seedlings somewhere else in the garden.

Prick out - the careful moving of a very young seedling from the pot it germinated in to a larger pot or module of its own, to grow on into a bigger plant.

Transplant - the planting of a small plant, usually from a pot into the final position in the garden, where it will grow on to flower or harvest.

Sow under heat or under glass or in a propagator

Seeds must be sown indoors in pots and given some heat to grow. For example tomatoes need 18 - 21 ⁰ C until germination. The heat can then be reduced to a cooler temperature but seedlings must be kept out of harmful low temperatures.

Preparing to plant out..

Harden off
Young plants sown in pots indoors have soft delicate leaves and stems. They need to acclimatise to the outside conditions over a period of time before planting them out. So seedlings are put in a half-way house for a couple of weeks - this could be a sheltered sunny spot outside, or in a cold frame (an unheated greenhouse), but brought inside at night if frost is forecast.

Frost risk has passed
This is the time of year - usually late May to early June - when night time temperatures no longer fall below 0 ⁰ C and so frost is no longer likely. Frost can damage and kill young plants that have either not been 'hardened off' properly, or that are not able to withstand such low temperatures because they come from warmer climates.

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To Sow - to place a seed in soil or compost. Well-prepared soil - soil that has been dug over, weeds removed, compost added, raked and levelled. Germinate/Germination - the process of a seed starting to grow, developing a small root and seedling leaves.

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Click here for how to sow seeds such as peas, beans, pumpkins, courgettes and sunflowers (great for little hands!)

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Click here for our guide on how to sow into pots, including smaller seeds or check out the card below for a video!

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Sometimes it's easier when you can watch someone else do it so here's our friend Seonaid from Sprout Up to demonstrate using rocket and lettuce seeds!

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How to sow rocket seeds directly outside. Gardening with children during lock down.

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You can actually start off lots of veg seeds or beans just by using some kitchen roll and water, and a plastic bag or jar.
Here's how...

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Perfect lock down educational home gardening challenge with children. Bean growing race.

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You may have more seeds than you think! Have a look in your cupboards and spice racks for the following:

Dry chickpeas

Dried peas (e.g. marrowfat)

Coriander seed

Cumin seed

Fennel seed

Star anise

These make good microsalads or can be grown as herbs or vegetables. Most spices are grown in warmer countries so may need a bit more heat to germinate.

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Did you know you can regrow some veg from the bits you would normally throw away?

You can try this with celery, leeks and spring onions. Follow our instructions here.

Although you can't grow new carrots or parsnips in this way, you can still try this and they may grow new leaves and even flower!

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There are lots of places where you can find materials if you know where to look!

For pots you can make your own (check our column on pots) or you many garden centres have pot recycling stations.

For seeds, plants, compost and tools you may often find help from people in your local community. Check local Facebook groups, Gumtree, or local newsletters to see if anyone has anything they can share. Local garden centres and bigger hardware stores such as B&Q or Homebase may also often be able to offer equipment for schools and community groups.

And often it is worth just asking friends, family, parents of you pupils, colleagues etc. Maybe you could organise a swap shop where you swap things with others - this could even be organised digitally if needed.

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Think you're ready to pick your crops? Here are our guides on when and who to harvest:

How to harvest veg

When to harvest veg

When to harvest fruit

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Teach young people more than just how to grow but also what they can do with the food they've grown.

Have a go at some of these:

Design a lunch menu

Make some fruity recipes

Become a pomologist (aka a fruit expert)

Try some of the fun activities in the next column!

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Here are links to our guides on fruit growing:

Raspberries

Strawberries

Other soft fruits

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Short on space? You can still grow lots of yummy fruit! Try these on for size.

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Have a go at growing the pips or seeds from oranges, apples, lemons and avocados.
This is a fun activity for children and they can chart progress using graphs or photos.
Read how here!

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Before you can do anything, you need to decide what you're going to grow. Here are some tips to help!

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A planning activity to choose vegetables to grow in the school garden. Learn what vegetables can be grown in the different seasons and during the school year.

Estimated time: 30 minutes

Location: Outdoors & Indoors

School term: All year round

Level of experience: No experience needed

Subject(s): English, Maths, Art&DT

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A planning activity to choose vegetables to grow in the school garden. Learn what vegetables can be grown in the different seasons and during the school year. Estimated time: 30 minutes Location: Outdoors & Indoors School term: All year round Level of experience: No experience needed Subject(s): English, Maths, Art&DT

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Check out our seasonal planning guides to show you what to sow & harvest when (these are largely aimed at schools but can be used by anyone!):

Spring planner

Summer planner

Autumn planner

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Here are some things to think about when planning to grow fruit:

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General Advice

Harvest time: Choose varieties that will harvest in term time.

Pollination and Pollination groups: Fruit trees need to have pollen from other tree cultivars that flower at the same time for successful pollination. This is called cross pollination. Fruit trees are grouped into pollination groups according to when they flower. When choosing fruit trees make sure there are other fruit cultivars from the same pollination group so that cross pollination can take place.

Soft fruit is self-fertile. This means the pollen of one cultivar will fertilise the flowers of the same cultivar. Soft fruit is dependent on bees & insects to carry the pollen for flower to flower. For successful pollination of all fruit it is important to encourage bees into the garden by planting flowers and herbs that attract pollinating insects.

Space: Most fruit needs space to grow so check the planting distances (see fruit spacing details below). Different rootstocks determine different final sizes for fruit trees.

Limited space: Choose varieties that can be grown in containers or trained against walls or fences (for example trained top fruit into espalier or cordon shapes).

Soil: Know your soil. Fruit trees like a weed free, deep fertile organic rich soil. All fruit prefer a slightly acid soil, so check your pH. If the soil is chalky (alkaline) it is a good idea to add a dressing of flowers of sulphur.

Temperature: Install a wind break to create a warmer climate to prevent frost damage to blossoms and allow bees to pollinate.

Aspect: Fruit likes a sunny sheltered position - frost pockets will damage early blossom and windy sites will be damaging and lead to poor pollination. Plot the position of the sun across the day. Identify the direction each bed or wall is facing.

Fruit groups

Fruit tends to be divided, for convenience, into several groups according to how it grows.

Top fruit is fruit that grows on trees, including apples, pears and plums.

Soft fruit includes all the berries, plus grapes.

Bush fruit includes blueberries, currants and gooseberries which grow on compact, shrubby plants.

Cane fruit includes blackberries, hybrid berries and raspberries which grow and fruit on long narrow shoots.

Hybrid berries are crosses between blackberries and raspberries. There are various types, but the best known are loganberries and tayberries.

Bare-rooted plants are grown in open ground, then dug up for sale. They can only be moved between late autumn and early spring, when the plants are dormant. Bare-rooted plants are available from mail-order specialists. They are usually cheaper and available in more varieties, than container-grown plants.

Container-grown plants can in theory be planted any time of year, as the roots receive little disturbance. Like any plants grown in pots remember to water them during drier months.

Trained fruit means trees or bushes grown in restricted shapes such as cordons, espaliers and fans. These need to be pruned twice a year, in summer and in winter.

Fruit spacing

Here is the height, spread and planting distances for various types of fruit

Pears

Apples

Planting distances for soft fruit

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Harvest time: Choose varieties that will harvest in term time. Pollination and Pollination groups: Fruit trees need to have pollen from other tree cultivars that flower at the same time for successful pollination. This is called cross pollination. Fruit trees are grouped into pollination groups according to when they flower.

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For those with a bit more space, this is an awesome tool for plotting your veg beds or allotment

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We want you to triumph and deliver your most organised plot ever! That's why we built VegPlotter.

No more forgetting what you wanted to plant, when or where. You can design your plot in minutes, using our simple drag and drop interface. Then, plan out your planting calendar as far into the future as you want.

I hope you enjoy it.

Richard
VegPlotter Founder

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VegPlotter | Free Kitchen Garden & Allotment Planner

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Whether you are a beginner or seasoned fruit and vegetable grower, have a small kitchen garden or run multiple full size allotment plots. VegPlotter's online garden planning software will help you get on top of it and ensure you have a productive and stress free vegetable garden / allotment plot.

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When it's warmer, you can sow many seeds directly into the ground. Click here to find out how...

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Did you know you can make pots from almost anything? Below are some of our favourites!

A few key things to remember:

always remove or cover any sharp edges

ensure there's a way for water drain out of the bottom

think about how you're going to move them when they're full of compost

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Here's a super simple and eco-friendly way to make pots from paper!

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Have a go at some origami to make square pots that can stack together...

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Here's our lovely friend Seonaid with her brilliant toilet roll tip! :)

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Punnets from your strawberries, grapes and raspberries make great containers, especially because they have drainage holes already! You could also try turning milk cartons into containers (just pop some holes in first!)

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This Padlet is a collection of our favourite tips and activities to help you grow food.

Each column focuses on a different theme with videos and links to help you and we'll be adding more over time.

While our resources are aimed at schools, they are easily adaptable to use in your group and at home with your family.

You can add comments to let us know what you think or if you've tried it!

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Why not challenge people in your school, group or home to see who can plant up the weirdest or wackiest container?

Share your crazy pots with us via Facebook or Twitter!

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Here are links to all of our guides on how to grow veg
(those with * are easy to grow if you're a beginner or have limited space):

Beetroot

Broad beans

Brussels sprouts

Carrots

Chillies

Courgettes

French beans

Garlic

Kale

Leeks

Onions

Peas

Potatoes * (more info below)

Pumpkins

Radishes *

Rocket *

Salad leaves *

Spinach *

Tomatoes

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Don't forget to let us know whenever you've completed an activity. Leave a comment on the acitvities you've done or share your photos with us on Facebook and Twitter

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Potatoes: how to grow them in containers

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Potatoes: how to grow them in containers

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You don't need lots of space to grow potatoes - they really lend themselves to growing in containers. We've got a guide to growing your own potatoes in containers here.

And here's a great video from Seonaid at Sprout Up to show you just how easy it is!