Q&A: Seed Starting For Young Children Question: Do you have any hints for helping very young children plant seeds indoors?
Answer: Tiny fingers may have an easier time with small seeds than an adult might expect. A small child's "pinch" of fine seeds can actually be quite small! Many times children will delight in carefully counting out two or three seeds and putting them in each little pot or cell. Some children, however, simply do better with the larger seeds, such as bean, melon, squash, or marigold. To space the seeds, use a physical measure easily accessible to the child. This will depend on the spacing you need. For starting seeds in a pan, draw a light line in the potting soil with a pencil or stick and then space the seeds along that line "as far apart as your thumb is wide," or "as far apart as this spoon is wide," or, if you have a small pot, "put one at the top, one at the bottom, one on the left, one on the right, and one in the middle for luck." All children love decorating labels for their own little pot of seeds, but you can add their (legible) initials, too! |
Q&A: Growing Decorative Gourds Question: I would like to plant gourds for craft projects. Can you give me some of the basics, such as how to prepare the soil, what time of year to plant, and what varieties are best suited for this purpose?
Answer: Gourds are both fun and practical to grow. Gourds are divided into two categories--hard-shelled and thin-shelled varieties. Hard-shelled fruits are produced by white-flowered plants (Lagenaria siceraria). Thin-shelled gourds are produced by yellow-flowered Cucurbita pepo cultivars.
Provide a deeply worked, well drained soil to which you've added one heaping shovelful of compost per plant. Large gourds can take up to 140 days to mature. You may have to start the seeds indoors so they're ready to plant when the weather warms. Direct seed the smaller types. Place about 5 seeds in each hill and thin to one strong plant. Gourds will flatten on the side in contact with the ground; avoid this by training the plants up a fence or trellis.
To harvest, let the gourds ripen on the vine until the stems turn brown. Then allow them to dry fully on a rack with good air circulation. You can wax, varnish, or shellac them when they're completely dry. |
