We imagine that if you find yourself on the Studio Cultivate Resource page it is because your child has returned from school with a mysterious small pot full of soil, vermiculite (small stones), water and most importantly, a seed. You may well be asking yourself/ child, “what should we do with this little pot? What might this seed become?”
Below you will find our useful growing guides to help your family continue growing an edible garden at home.
Please note: all seed pots are compostable and all seeds are organic.
If you are an Early Years Practitioner, please also scroll down to access our free-to-download seasonal resources.
Kindergarden Spring Growing Guides
Growing Guide 1: SUNFLOWER
Top tips for your sunflower seeds to bloom into a 2 metre flower!
Growing Guide 2: CALENDULA
It’s growing time!!! Watch our Calendula film, download the Calendula Growing Guide and buy your very own organic Calendula seeds and discover why we love this fabulous plants so much.
Growing Guide 3:
CLIMBING PEA SEEDS
Need advice on germinating your pea seeds? Want to know what to do with your pea seeds once they’ve woken? Look no further than our Pea Plant Growing Guide. And please do share any photos of your growing garden.
TOMATOES
Jimmy and the Tomato Seeds Pots 1 + 2
Watch our two part Kindergarden at Home films, following Jimmy the Weasel’s nocturnal adventures, and discover how to germinate your own tomato seeds.
Growing Guide 4
Has a small pot full of soil and labelled ‘Tomato’ been brought home by your little one? Read on to discover your family’s journey to a bountiful tomato harvest.
Kindergarden Autumn Growing Guides
Growing Guide 5
SWEET PEAS:
Has your child just brought home a pot containing a tiny Sweet Pea seed? At a loss for what to do with it? Here’s the plan!
Sweet Peas are climbing plants that produce wonderfully scented flowers (see right). They’re great for creating flower arrangements with your little ones when they begin blooming in May. Follow these steps to grow a riot of scent and colour this summer.
Place your child’s seed pot in a warm indoor space that receives lots of sunlight. Remove pot’s lid and recycle/ compost.
Check the soil within the pot daily to ensure that it remains moist. Within 2 weeks you will see the plant’s first stem and roots.
Once the seedling is about 5cm high, transplant to a self watering pot. (See Vanessa’s tutorial for this below).
The seedling should now be kept either outdoors or inside (in a cool place), but ensure it still receives lots of sunlight. To encourage the seedling to grow bushy, cut off the top leaf pair once the stem has grown at least 3 leaf pairs.
Once your seedling has grown a number of stems and formed its first tendrils (little fingers for climbing) plant out in a sunny part of your garden (a deep pot will also work).
Finally, you will need to create a frame, up which your Sweet Pea plant can climb. For inspiration, check out our Climbing Pea Seed video above (@10min 30secs)
Growing Guide 6
BROAD BEANS:
We love Broad Beans for lots of reasons! Here’s the top two! 1. Their seeds are a great source of protein and 2. They can be sown in the Autumn…. their seedlings are super tough, allowing them to withstand our chilly UK winters. Growing plants in the Autumn has the added benefits of holding otherwise exposed soils in place (roots secure soil particles, preventing valuable nutrients from washing away) and a plant that establishes itself over the Winter, is ready to motor come the Spring, meaning an early harvest for us (see the Broad Bean Pesto recipe below). Here’s what to do with your Broad Bean seed.
Place your child’s seed pot in a warm indoor space that receives lots of sunlight. Remove pot’s lid and recycle/ compost.
Check the soil within the pot daily to ensure that it remains moist. Within 2 weeks you will see the plant’s first stem and roots.
Once the seedling is about 5cm high, transplant to a self watering pot. (See Vanessa’s tutorial for this below).
The seedling should now be kept either outdoors or inside (in a cool place), but ensure it still receives lots of sunlight.
Once your seedling is aproximately 10cm tall, plant out in a sunny part of your garden.
Broad Beans want to grow vertically, but need support in doing so. If you have space, grow a number of Broad Bean plants, growing in a grid with spacing of 20cm. The plants will support each other as they grow. If just growing one plant, tie it in gently to a bamboo can as it grows.
Expect flowering to begin in April and your first fruit to form in May.
Recipe:
BROAD BEAN PESTO:
This is very much a ‘to-taste’ thing so we will refrain from putting quantities in, but follow these steps to create a delicious and nutritious (packed with vitamins and protein) dip for your little ones.
Remove seeds from their pod and compost pods.
Place Broad Bean seeds (don’t bother removing the skin) into a blender.
Match this volume with garden peas.
Squeeze in some lemon juice.
Add some raw garlic (go easy here - less is more!!)
Consider a few leaves of mint.
Add some nice olive oil.
Begin blending. As you blend, gradually add more olive oil until everything begins to loosely bind together.
We like to serve this ‘pesto’ up with carrot sticks, or raw pepper ‘spoons’. Whatever your preference.
Enjoy and please do share your results.
Self Watering Pots:
Watch Vanessa’s tutorial to create your very own self-watering pot, or download instructions below.
Resources for Early Years Practitioners
We believe it hugely important that engagement with nature does not stop when we leave your school! We’ve thrilled to provide these free-to-download resources that can be used by teachers and pupils through the seasons.
First off, our ‘Discover Your Trees’ series. Click the buttons below to get your hands on our range of Tree Collection Envelopes, designed to get your pupils interacting with the trees around them.
Please print double sided on A4, selecting the long-edge-binding option in your Layout menu.
Don’t forget to share your progress online! We love hearing from young growers and answering any questions you might have, so tag us in your latest grow pic!