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November In The Kitchen Garden
Planting Overwinter onions, garlic or shallots is a perfect activity for toddlers and preschoolers. We are just planting garlic this year. The cloves are chunky and easy for kids to hold and generally speaking they can survive most mishapscaused by tiny gardeners! Any bulbs you put down in Autumn will be ready in June or July. Prepare Your Beds Garlic, onions and shallots all like free-draining soil. As the bulbs will be in the soil until at least June you must take steps to prevent them becoming waterlogged. The kids helped me to drill drainage holes in the base of our planters. Tip for kids: garlic isn’t all that exciting…
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August in the Kitchen Garden
What’s growing, what’s wilting and jobs for toddlers this summer.
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Montessori Inspired Seed Exploration Tray
If you’ve been with us for a while you’ll know that growing vegetables is a big part of our summer rhythm. You’ll have heard all about veg patch and probably know more than you want to know about our hens. Gardening is such a long process, especially for a toddler. Alfie’s not quite 3 so a growing season one eight of his life – the equivalent of 4 years for me as a 30 year old! Planting seeds is over and done with in an afternoon or two and I wanted to draw out the process to help him recognise seeds and make the connection between seed and plant. I…
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Montessori At Home – Cooking with A Toddler
In the last few weeks Alfie has started using his Kitchen to make real meals. Needless to say I’ve been cooking up a storm as I try to make the most of this interest – for the very first time in my life I’m baking! Blackberry Picking I was delighted to stumble across a blackberry bush thriving in the hedgerow along our lane. I still can’t believe I live somewhere that has not only a lane but also a hedgerow. For me blackberries are always a bittersweet sight. Their glossy black arrival spells the end of lazy hazy summer days and the scratch of briars was quickly echoed by scratching…
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May In the Kitchen Garden
FINALLY! Spring is here and it’s time for the May update from our Kitchen Garden. Normally at this time of year I’m seeing big bursts of growth. I’d expect big bushy tops on my carrots, delicate curls and swirls around my pea frame, a thick carpet of salads and the suggestion of strong roots on most things. Well not this year! It feels like it’s only in the last few days that it’s stopped raining. In fact there was even had a frost last night so all my delicates had to be covered! Square Foot Gardening To maximise the yield from our small beds we are practicing Square Foot Gardening…
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30 Ideas for 30 Days Wild – Outdoor Play with a Toddler
30 ways for you and your toddler to make the most of 30 days wild
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Easy Vegetables to Grow with Children
Any outside space is the ultimate prepared environment, without any effort at all it provides a wealth of learning opportunities in just about every plane of development and to suit nearly every interest. Here's a quick guide on how to get started on the veg patch and how to get your toddler involved too!
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March in the Kitchen Garden
In the third of this year’s series on the Kitchen Garden I’m sharing our planting schedule and thinking a little bit about Spring. Spring On The March As a child of the summer Winter takes an unfortunate toll on my sun seeking soul, March therefore holds a special charm for me. It is in March thankfully that Winter finally surrenders though rarely with the dignity to accept the inevitable and more years than not with a decrepit stubbornness of threadbare fog cloaks and miserly dustings of frost. In March the evening is once again returned to us, ours are the dawn chorus and the evensong, ours are the fresh eggs…
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Deciding What and When to Plant – February in the Kitchen Garden
The second in our series on Square Foot Gardening in our Potager Garden, this month looking at what seeds to sow and when to sow them to ensure a steady supply of home grown veg so you can Grow Your Own without a Glut.
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Planning a Square Foot Garden – January in the Kitchen Garden
The first in our series on Square Foot Garden, this month looking at how to to plan a SFG and layout your veg in each bed.
