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children gardening

Kids Post: Fun Ways to Support Your Plants!

May 11, 2022

Creating play areas or constructing garden structures that kids can help build is an easy way to make gardening fun all summer long.

Make or purchase strawberry towers for a fun way to grow your own.

Strawberry Tower
Building a planting platform for growing strawberries is a quick, easy, and attractive way to grow strawberries in a small space, keep the fruits clean and easy to pick.

Detailed instructions for building your own: How to build a strawberry tower – Master Gardeners of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties (ucanr.edu)

In Western North Carolina choose June-bearing varieties—Apollo, Bish, Cardinal, Chandler, Earliglow, Galleta, Sunrise and Tennessee Beauty are some recommended varieties. Set the tower up in a sunny area, add recommended amounts of a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) to potting medium (NOT garden soil), tuck strawberry plants in the openings, water, and watch for the flowers to turn into fruit. You can also purchase strawberry towers online or at hardware or big box home improvement stores.

A homemade bean teepee makes a special garden spot.

Runner Bean Teepee
A simple 6- or 8-legged teepee frame, wound with twine and planted with runner beans can become the perfect place for children to play in the garden. Once the vines start racing up the poles, the structure will be shady, and as beans start to ripen, they can provide an instant snack.

To build bean teepees, there are many online sources including How to Make a Teepee for Your Climbing Beans (growveg.com)

Plant pole beans in WNC from May 1 to June 1 in a sunny spot where they won’t shade other plants that need sun. Kentucky Wonder and Greasy beans are two favorite varieties for the mountains. Test garden soil for fertilizer and lime recommendations and water weekly if it doesn’t rain.

Straw bale gardens can serve as formidable fortresses.

Straw Bale Gardening
A single bale of straw (not hay!) can grow flowers or vegetables with nothing more than plant seeds, a little potting soil, some fertilizer, and water. Form several bales into a fort or a passage from one portion of the garden to another. Aged bales—covered in black plastic and left in the sun for a few weeks—work best, but if you don’t mind some grain sprouts, any straw bale will do!

For small seeds, such as carrots, lettuce, or radishes, cover the entire top of the bale with potting soil before sowing. Tall crops, such as corn or tomatoes, require firmly anchoring the bales into the ground. As plants grow, the bale fort can become a great hideout, with fresh carrots, radishes, or flowers an added bonus.

More instructions can be found at Step by step of creating a straw bale garden |(uada.edu).  Or by reviewing the Wood Pallet and Straw Bale gardening video on this website: Wood Pallet and Straw Bale Gardening, (beginning at the 16:49 mark in the video.)

Article written by Anne Spruance, Extension Master GardenerSM Intern.

For more information:
Strawberries: https://macon.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/03/starting-your-strawberry-patch/
Beans: https://wilkes.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/05/grow-your-best-series-snap-beans/
Straw bale gardening: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2071/2013/12/Straw-Bale-Gardening.pdf
North Carolina Vegetable Planting calendar: https://extensiongardener.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NC-Vegetable-Planting-Guide.pdf?fwd=no

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Categories Gardening for Children, General Gardening Tags bean teepee, children gardening, plant supports, straw bale gardening, strawberry tower

Kids Post: Good bugs!

May 19, 2020

Do you like bugs? Getting to know bugs can be a fun—and important—part of enjoying gardening. There are almost 1,000 different types of bugs that live in North Carolina—most of them won’t damage our gardens, and some actually help us!

What ARE bugs?
• Scientists call them “arthropods.”

From “Good Bugs and Bad Bugs”

• Most are insects with 6 legs and 3 main body parts: a head, a thorax, and an abdomen.

From “University of Kentucky, Spider Anatomy”

• Spiders and daddylonglegs are not insects—they are part of a special group of arthropods called “arachnids.” They have 8 legs and 2 main body parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen.

Daddylonglegs are arachnids that prey on insects, but don’t spin webs like spiders.

What makes good bugs good?

• They live off of bad bugs!

Wheel bug preying on a bee. Sometimes good bugs eat any bug they can find.

o Some prey on insects: lady beetles (you may call them lady bugs), wheel bugs, soldier bugs, and spiders may eat other insects—young and adult—as well as their eggs.

Braconid wasp eggs laid on tomato hornworm.

o Some parasitize insects: braconid wasps, for example, lay their eggs on tomato hornworms so the new hatchlings will have a meal waiting for them!

Black Swallowtail_John Flannery_CC BY-ND 2.0_Flickr
Black swallowtail pollinating a zinnia flower.

• They pollinate plants: bees, butterflies, and moths that feed on pollen and/or nectar move pollen from flower to flower, helping pollinate plants.
Where to look for bugs:
• You can find bugs on many garden plants. IMPORTANT: look, but don’t touch! Many bugs can bite (such as wheel bugs) or sting—even touching the “hair” on some caterpillars can hurt! Also, you may injure or kill a helpful bug if you try to catch it!

• Look for insect eggs, young (larvae), and adults:

o On branches

Lady beetle laying eggs on branch.

o On flowers


o On the leaves—look underneath the leaves, too!

Wheel bug larva.
Green lynx spider feeding on wasp.

o In the soil
Identifying bugs:
• One place to start is to have an adult help you look on the internet: For example,https://www.insectidentification.org/bugfinder-start.asp is a page that shows the shape of each type of bug and then helps you decide if the bug you’ve seen is that type of insect or arachnid.
• Identify our native bees here: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/the-bees-of-north-carolina-identification-guide
Protecting good bugs:
If you want good bugs that help control bad bugs in your garden, you need to let them be and be careful about using pesticides!
Make sure that your plants are healthy—plant them in the right amount of sunlight and give them the right amount of water and fertilizer—and that you have some native plants in your garden; healthy plants make good homes for good bugs.

Learning more:
“Lady bugs” for kids: https://www.clemson.edu/public/scbg/education/ladybug1.pdf

Beneficial insects:https://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-beneficials/

North Carolina insects:https://www.insectidentification.org/insects-by-state.asp?thisState=North%20Carolina

Insect identification:https://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

Bug facts site:https://www.bugfacts.net/

Has a printable bug checklist:https://www.bugfacts.net/images/checklist-z.pdf

Where to find bugs:http://www.bugpeople.org/pubs/pdf/10SurePlaces.pdf

EMG Blog: https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/beneficial-insects-attracting-good-voracious-ugly-garden/

Good Bugs and Bad Bugs: Student Booklet: http://entomology.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Good_Bugs.pdf

Spider Anatomy: https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/spiders/anatomy/spideranatomy.htm#palps

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Categories Gardening for Children Tags beneficial insects, bugs, children gardening, children's project, insects, pollinators

Kids Post: Planning your garden!

January 28, 2020

 

Do you have a vegetable garden? Do you know what you want to grow in your garden this year? Now is this time to choose! What do you like to eat? What would you like to try? Some crops are early, and you’ll get to eat them soon—like peas and radishes. Others will take more time, like tomatoes and pumpkins. Choose crops carefully and you’ll have food to eat all summer long!

Where to find ideas:

  • Seed catalogs (paper copies you may receive in the mail or online catalogs) are a great place to start—look at the pictures and find your favorites and maybe something new to try. Think about including some flowers to attract pollinators!
  • Black Mountain Library Sowing Circle is one community resource that has information and a seed-saving library you can visit during regular library hours.

How to decide!

Check on how much space your plants will take: how big is your garden plot or how much space do you have for container gardening? If you are gardening for the first time, pick a sunny spot that is easy to water. Test the soil now and fertilize and lime as directed!

  • Look at what you’d like to grow and figure how much ground or what size container will you need to grow this crop. Many crops need more than one plant for pollination and/or to produce enough to eat. Most vining plants need a lot of space or some kind of vertical support.
  • Make a map of where you’ll put each crop or container. Outdoors you can have fun doing some quick measurements—measure your shoe with a ruler or yardstick and then walk around your garden area to figure how may “feet” your garden area measures!
  • Make a map of your garden

Planning to plant

Can you put seeds directly in the garden? When? If you need to set out plants, do you have time and space to grow the plants to set out, or will you buy transplants?

  • If you want to start your own plants, read the seed-growing instructions and count back from the last frost date (you can use May 10 as a rough date for Buncombe County) to know when to plant for indoor starts.
  • Make a calendar and include when to plant your seeds both indoors (if you are starting your own plants) or outdoors.

Get ready, get set:

If you’ll be planting seeds, get them now! Many popular and new varieties sell out quickly and your seeds will be fine for the few weeks or months before you’ll plant them.

With transplants, though, be careful not to buy them too soon! Use your calendar to decide when to buy, not when you see plants for sale. You may end up with spindly, sickly, or overgrown plants if you buy them too early.

GROW!

Get an adult to help you figure out how to prepare your garden plot and/or containers. You may need to have your soil tested or buy potting soil. Make sure you follow directions on how close to plant seeds or plants and any other information about watering and fertilizing to be sure your crops will grow!

Look what we grew!

Article by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more on the Black Mountain Sowing Circle programs (FOR ADULTS):

Feb. 1, 10 to 11:30 AM, Free Gardening Workshops on Starting Seeds Indoors and How to Sharpen Pruning Tools. Black Mountain Library, Education Room

The seed library will provide free materials to get you started: seed starter soil, containers, and seeds to take home (limited quantities).  Bring your small pruning tools for sharpening. Presentations are in partnership with Black Mountain Blooms Seed Lending Library and Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers.

Vegetable gardening planting times: https://extensiongardener.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NC-Vegetable-Planting-Guide-1.pdf?fwd=no

**Note: Planting times for Western North Carolina Mountains are in purple and times to harvest from seed are indicated in the left-hand column. Those with an “*” should be started indoors rather direct seeded in the garden.**

For more on kids measuring in the garden:

http://www.njagsociety.org/uploads/1/7/0/5/17057112/you_are_the_ruler_lesson_plan_wbs.pdf

 

 

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Categories Gardening for Children Tags children gardening, children's project, garden planning, starting seeds indoors, vegetable gardens

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