herb garden – Tracie's Treasures

childminding, Garden Classroom, Seedlings, Uncategorized

Our Spring Growing Has Started

Posted on 20th Mar 2024 by Tracie Dowling

Last week we sowed our first ‘Salad Pots’

First we needed to clean the pots to get rid of any bacteria or decease from last years plants.

We then put coco disks into the pots and added the seeds.

We chose salad and herb crops because they are fast growing and we love cooking and eating them. We added water and watched as the disks filled out and firmed the seeds down.

We covered the pots with cling film to help them keep the humidity to germinate the seeds.

One Week Later….

We had a look in our salad pots to see if any of the seeds had germinated.

In Jacks pot we found a Cucumber seed had grown, it had reached over 1 inch tall.

Tracie very carefully picked up the seedlings in the coco disk and showed us the roots coming out of the disk.

Alba said ‘yuck they are long and wiggly like a worm!”

We then looked in Alba’s Salad Pot, we were surprised to see that her Cucumber had not started to grow. However she had two healthy Tomato plants growing. These were about 1/2 an inch tall.

We decided to move the Cucumber and Tomato seedlings into a bigger pot and leave the herbs in the long salad pots. This was to give them extra space to grow healthy root stock.

We recycled glass jars to cover the seedlings. This was to help them keep the plant warm and to encourage them to grow healthy and strong.

Once we had repotted the seedlings we covered the other coco disks with fresh nutrient rich soil to encourage them to start germinating.

bug hunt, childminding, family, frog Spawn, frogs, Garden Classroom, Honey Bees, Bees, Great British Bees, outdoor play, Seedlings, wanderers, wildlife

What Did We Find This Week In The Garden?

Posted on 25th Jun 20235th Jul 2023 by Tracie Dowling

George went first to find a treasure in the garden today. He ran around a few times then finally stopped at this amazing flower! He said “its a snowball!” I explained that its an Onion flower. He said “yuk I don’t like onions” then ran off to play.

Elsie chose this amazing Peony, unfortunately it had a baby spider inside one of the petals so off went Elsie in a tizzy.

Jack found this amazing Poppy he smelt it and said ‘Wow!” He loved the Ladybird crawling up the stalk and ran inside for a magnifying glass. He came back and studied the ladybird. He asked me to help him pick up the ladybird and put it in a Jar. We gave the ladybird some leaves and sticks and made him a lovely home.

Jack then went off magnifying glass in hand to find some more ladybirds to put in the jar so they could be freinds.

Jack was still on a bug hunt so Elsie decided to join in. Both of the children looked for frogs they were disappointed not to see any but overjoyed with the tadpoles.

Chloe chose this white Rose as her favourite flower of the week. Chloe also loved the pink climbing Hydrangea, it was behind the rose covering the back wall.

Tracie got excited about her water Canna which is starting to flower for the first time. The sweet-peas are coming on amazingly and have an amazing sent.

bug hunt, childminding, family, frogs, Garden Classroom, greenhouse, Honey Bees, Bees, Great British Bees, outdoor play, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers, yoga

Half Term Fun

Posted on 1st Jun 20231st Jun 2023 by Tracie Dowling

It was lovely having Emma come and help Tracie care for us, we miss her so much during term time. It was also lovely to catch up with leo and Martie who came and spent the day with us, they have grown up so much!

The weather has been so kind for us, We have spent lots of time in the garden playing, planting, hiding and relaxing.

Our Jack took advantage of the lovely summer day to play out in the front garden, he loved this hot poker flower, he pretended it was a microphone and kept us all entertained with funny rap songs.

The long flowers were an amazing yellow colour which went with his t-shirt.

Jack practiced his ball skills, we tried to have a game but the table was to small. Next time we go to the park we will take our rackets and balls as they have a tennis table there!

Jack Showing off his Ball Skills

Lottie had a lovely time playing at Sector8 in the bouncy little ones play area. The big kids Georgia, Leo, Jack and Chloe played for a whopping 2 hours in the ‘big kids’ area.

We went for numerous walks around Stanly park. We took picnics, balls and got to play in the playground as it was very quiet.

Georgia loved playing with the Ello bricks and shapes. She made a lovely flower garden. She also made lots of crafts, this one was a pre printed princess dress, hair, shoes and gloves. Georgia then had to draw the princess’s face and join the arms and legs. It was so good she wanted to display it on the wall and make another one to take home. Georgia was so clever writing her full name on the top of the picture all by herself.

While walking around the park we kept an eye out for ‘Liverpool Kindness Rocks’ we were just about to give up when Tracie found one! She screamed and had to jump high to reach it.

We finished the week off starting our ‘30 Days Wild’ campaign by putting up bee and insects houses .we made sure the wild birds have enough clean water and seeds.

childminding, Garden Classroom, greenhouse, healthy body and mind, outdoor play, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers

Little Gardeners: Spring into Summer.

Posted on 28th May 202323rd Oct 2023 by Tracie Dowling

The children have been so busy working hard sowing seeds, potting on and planting their crops.

They have been growing a vast array of fruit, veg and salad crops and we are just beginning to reap the rewards.

Last year we sowed strawberry seeds, they took a while to germinate but after a while we were so glad to see little seedlings appearing through the compost. This year they have flowered and we are so excited to eat them. We have been thinking what to have them with. Chloe wants them just the way they come, Phyllis wants afternoon tea, Tracie wants Jam and Mason wants them on pancakes! What a choice we are going to have!

This week we have potted up our tomatoes ready to take home and plant in our own gardens, in pots on our patio’s. Alba came for a visit, she took one home for her new garden.

The greenhouse is flourishing at the moment we have Loofa (to make as Christmas presents later in the year, watch out for that blog!) Our Lemon tree which we have grown from a pip has grown to about 2 feet now! We are hoping for some flowers then fruit soon.

We have summer bedding plants and Pac Choi for our stir fry’s. On the right side of the Greenhouse we are growing our baby cucumbers, We can soon have cucumber sandwiches to go with our Strawberry afternoon tea!

Behind the greenhouse we have our front garden project plants growing. We have 3 different types of Lavender plants growing ready to make a fragrant hedge later in the year.

We had a disaster last year with our cabbages. The slugs, butterflies and caterpillars decided they were going to eat them before us! We are touch wood (as Tracie says) beating them this year by growing them in a huge copper pot (apparently slugs don’t like copper) with a mesh over the top, lets hope our efforts work!

In the big veg trough we have Parsnips, Carrots, leeks, swede and Beetroot growing ready for winter vegetables. Hopefully we will produce enough to keep us in Scouse and soups all winter.

We have to be creative where we grow our vegetables and fruit as we don’t have a-lot of space. Our projects help to make our environment work for us, so we are clever and pack in fruit and veg in between the ponds, flower beds, wildlife feeding stations and play space.

We have sprouts growing in between the giant poppies, sweet peas and peas growing up netting together and our mange tout growing on wigwams.

Our lettuce is growing in rows on our decking and we have herbs in the living wall with tomatoes growing up the trellis. The only place left to play is on the washing line, even there Ive been known to hang bird feeders and hanging baskets.

Our lovely garden is packed full of planting to stimulate our five senses, smell, taste, touch, seeing and of course eating.

childminding, family, frog Spawn, frogs, Garden Classroom, hydroponics, outdoor play, rangers, Seedlings, The Theatre, wanderers

A Walk Around The Garden

Posted on 1st Apr 202321st Apr 2023 by Tracie Dowling

Today we walked around the garden to look at all the changes we made last year and to make notes on what we want to plan for this year.

The winding footpath we made last year is ideal for walking and running about avoiding the messy mud. The children love how they can run around and peep through the planting bug hunting, plant spotting and watching everything grow. They love the bug pile and saw some worms and ants.

We have sown all our bedding plants this year to save money, we also used peat free compost to help save our planet. The seeds have now grown into healthy young plants so we potted them on, ( put into bigger pots) and put them into the cold frame to wait for the last frost, we will then put them in our living wall.

This years project is to make the decking area into a nicer living ‘Outdoor Classroom’ We have chosen

Petunia, Lobelia and Fuchsia’s to have trailing, ground cover in the vertical wall garden. We will add the Herbs (growing in our greenhouse) for tasting and smelling into the wall as soon as they have matured.

We have Roses, Honeysuckle, Jasmine and Passiflora for climbing up the trelliss and giving off a floral fragrance. Our aim is to make the ‘Outdoor Classroom stimulate all our five senses. To make the decking more accessible for the babies we are going to add Astro turf so it’s safer for them to crawl and play on.

We were so excited to see our frogs while out and about, they were keeping an eye on their spawn, this will soon turn into tadpoles and frogs. Tracie taught us how to carefully remove some of the water weeds and she added some bunches of watercress to freshen up the pond to make the water less Murky so we can see the pond life without disturbing them.

Our Big Plans For This Year 2023:

We have decided in our living classroom we are going to:

Lay artificial grass to make the decking completely baby friendly.

Make a toy box storage area for outdoor equipment

Pot up the Herbs and make labels.

Make a water feature for relaxing sound and to have water play

In the Greenhouse we are going to grow:

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Loofa , Chilli and start off our Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli

Sow winter flowering plants to give out Garden all year color and edibles.

In the front garden:

We want to encourage more wildlife in, so we are thinking about making a new pond, putting in more hedging, and adding some hidden bird feeders.

So we have BIG plans, so keep watching our blogs to see how we go….

childminding, Garden Classroom, greenhouse, rangers, Seedlings, Uncategorized, wanderers

Spring Additions To Our Kitchen Garden

Posted on 24th Feb 202322nd Apr 2023 by Tracie Dowling

We’ll finally after wanting one for years we have a Green house! Whoop Whoop

However it was not easy to put together. Gemma came around to help, it took us three days of total frustration to get it together.

We had to start with the base, we soon found out we needed a wooden base for the metal one to sit on!

We tried hard to follow the instructions but they didn’t make sense! we finally got the sides up then found the window fixers wouldn’t fit!

We had to take everything apart and start again making sure the ridge was on the outside for the glass.

When we finally got it up (Chloe helped too!) we realised it wasn’t suitable for the area we had erected it, so had to take it down and then put it up AGAIN!

Finally its in place and is full of growing plants.

family, Garden Classroom

Garden Challenge 2021: Phyllis update

Posted on 20th Jun 202110th Aug 2021 by Tracie Dowling

Phyllis has been working very hard in her garden over the last few months and it’s all just starting to pay off. Below are just a few of her amazing flowers, they come in all sizes, shapes and amazing colours.

In the edible part of the garden, Phyllis’s fruit and vegetables are growing strong.

Watch out for your cherries Phyllis, I saw a cheeky blackbird flying around, eyeing them up for lunch!

The tomato vines are growing tall and strong, Phyllis is having to use canes to support the stems and cuts the side shots off to ensure the goodness goes into the growing delicious tomatoes.

Phylis has made a delicious Sunday roast using the potatoes and cabbage from her garden. They taste so much better than the ones you buy in the shops. What I want to know is where’s mine!!

This is Phyllis’ Christmas Dinner bed! She has made it in her front garden and all the vegetables will be used on Christmas day! I cant wait to see it all dished up, I had better get an invite!!!

family, Garden Classroom, Seedlings

Garden Challenge 2021: Phyllis’ May Garden

Posted on 12th May 202110th Aug 2021 by Tracie Dowling

Phyllis has been working hard in her Garden and all the plants are growing well.

The nets Phyllis has had to put up isn’t to stop the birds and pests, its to protect the crops from Hebe the cat!

What a pickle Hebe is! Everywhere Phyllis is, Hebe’s not far away causing mayhem!

All the vegetables are looking lush and growing big and strong. Phyllis has to keep mowing the grass to make it look nice and tidy.

The fruit is coming along too! There will be lovely ripe strawberries to pick and eat, they will go well with scones and cream in June! Something for us to look forward too!

Mind you that’s if they actually get to the kitchen! I know a few Treasures who like to pick and eat them before Phyllis gets a chance!!

Frank has made a Tomato planter in the greenhouse, Phyllis has planted the tomato plants the seedlings have grown for her, there are cucumbers growing too! All you need is onions and you have a salad!

Phyllis has also got lots of lovely colourful flowers around her garden to encourage the bees and butterflies. She has sent me pictures of them, below are my favourite ones. I bet they smell amazing.

family, Garden Classroom

My Dad and Rosie

Posted on 11th Mar 202111th Mar 2021 by Tracie Dowling

This is my dad Alan, he and my mum started my passion for Gardening and outdoor learning when I was young.

My dad worked in the Horticulture business for many, many years. He’s now retired, so he has all the time he needs to potter around his garden, instead of maintaining other peoples’ gardens.

Dad’s garden is amazing, he lives in Boston, England in the middle of the most amazing countryside. I think he should share his knowledge and garden with us all, so I am adding him to our Garden Classroom blog.

One of his lifetime ambitions is to have a beehive and this year he is finally making that dream come true.

This is Rosie, my step mum. She has been encouraging my dad to set up beekeeping and has been busy growing a wildflower meadow for the bees to collect pollen.

Rosie is also passionate about their garden and providing wildlife which will enhance the bee’s environment.

My brother Jonathan bought Rosie a camera to go in her bird box for her birthday a few years ago.

This year a bird has already made themselves at home! We will follow the bird over the next year to see what they do.

family

Queen Bee

Posted on 20th Feb 202125th Feb 2021 by Tracie Dowling

Today while Gemma was digging her borders she watched this cute bumble bee come out of the ground.

Gemma stopped what she was doing, so she didn’t disturb her. Gemma looked up different types of Bees and found out it was a Queen Bee.

Gemma is hoping she will build a beehive somewhere in the garden so she can watch what happens. But she will keep away from her as she doesn’t want to get stung!