Seed Saving

Most schools in Wisconsin follow a traditional September to June calendar. Many of the food crops planted in gardens ripen and become ready to eat during the summer months, when students are not in school. Seeds, however, mature in late August through the fall, allowing for a curriculum to be in place when the school year resumes.

With this change in perspective, the garden is not "dead" in the fall, but full of seeds and learning opportunities that can be extended throughout the winter as well.

Harvesting seeds is done in the fall, but processing seeds, making seed packages, and packaging seeds can be done in the cold winter months when access to the garden is often limited.

So do some research on saving seeds and seed swapping with other schools! A simple google search will bring up a plethora of results! Happy saving!!

Activity: Seed Tape

Here's a simple and fun way to plant seeds in your youth garden!

Supplies:
1) Paper towels cut into strips 3in x 12in
2)White glue
3) Ruler
4) Pencil
5) Small seeds (ex. lettuce, carrot)

Directions:
1. With a ruler and a pencil draw small dots every one inch in the center of the paper towel strip.

2. Place a drop of glue in the center of the dots.

3. Place one seed on each drop of glue

4. Allow glue to dry completely before moving or storing strips.

5. Plant seed tapes 1/2 inch deep in garden. And wait for them to grow!

Seed Riddle

Want to begin a lesson on seeds and don’t know where to begin? Why not get your student’s creative juices flowing with a seed riddle to introduce the lessons they are about to learn!


I appear dead before I am alive
Although often quite small, inside my skin a tree can live
I can survive hundreds of years without food or water
I can be as small as dust or as large as a football
Humans and animals eat me
I can fly, swim and hitch a ride
I can survive freezing, fires and intense droughts
What am I?

Activities to Curb Cabin Fever

Now that winter is upon us, you may be thinking that there aren’t many plant activities that your students can participate in. However, there are lots of fun ideas to get students thinking about gardens, even when there’s snow on the ground.

Watch seeds sprout! Line a glass or plastic jar with a damp paper towel and insert several zucchini or lima bean seeds between the glass and the towel. Place a lid on the jar, leave it by a sunny spot and check the towel every day to make sure it’s still moist. Seeds should sprout in a few days.

Make your very own worm farm! Line a large cardboard box with a garbage bag. Fill it with soil, organic matter and a few warms. Keep it shady and moist, but not too wet. Add vegetable scraps to feed the worms. The worm farm will help teach students about the interdependence of plants and organisms as they watch the worms turn vegetable scraps into valuable compost.

Read a book! Telling a story about gardening to students during winter will get them excited for the growing (and eating) process later in the year.

Start a microfarm! You can grow microgreens (immature plants) for a tasty salad indoors all year long. The entire gardening process only takes about 3-4 weeks. For more information on building a microfarm, visit the Got Dirt? website at http://www.gotdirtwisconsin.org/.

Activity: Making Seed Packets

Teaching students what plants need to grow is an important lesson that can accompany any school gardening project.

Materials

• Paper
• Markers, crayons, etc.
• Seeds
• Glue or staples
• Research materials, if applicable

Activity

• To make the seed packet, have each student take a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" paper and fold it in half.  Glue the edges of the paper together expect for one edge at the top.  The unglued edge will be where you add your seeds.
• Instruct students to decorate their seed packets by drawing a picture of their fruit/vegetable and writing the name of the fruit/vegetable on one side.  Students can either invent their own fruit or vegetable or research real fruits and vegetables.
• On the other side of the packet, students should write the planting and growing instructions for their plant.  For example:
• What does the plant need to grow? 
• How/where should it be planted?
• What will it look like once it grows?
• How long will it take to grow?
• Once students are done decorating their seed packets, add seeds and seal it by gluing the remaining edge.

Resource: Free Seeds!

Are you looking for ways to save money for your school garden project?

The America the Beautiful Fund offers free seeds to community projects.  The application process couldn't be simpler!

Just go to the website and download the application.  The application requires you to

• Write a short letter describing your project
• Fill out the application form
• Enclose a check for shipping and handling
• Mail your letter and information to the address listed

You can request 100-1,000 packets of seeds to start your gardening project!

Send in an application today to make your garden a reality!

Activity: Seed Necklaces

This fun activity allows students to create seed necklaces.  Students can observe the growth of their seeds as they begin to sprout. 

Materials:

• Small re-sealable plastic bag (ex: small jewelry bag, found in craft stores)
• Yarn
• Cotton Balls
• Water in spray bottle.
• Spray bottle
• Seeds or Beans
• Scissors
• Single hole punch
• Permanent marker

Activity:

1. Punch a hole in the top of each plastic bag.
2. Using the permanent marker, write the student's name on the plastic bag.
3. Wet the cotton ball using the spray bottle.
4. Place the cotton ball in the plastic bag.
5. Place the seed/bean in the bag so that it is resting against the cotton ball.
6. String the yarn through the hole in the plastic bag to create a necklace.
7. Moisten the cotton ball as needed.  The seeds should begin to sprout within a week, depending on the type of seed used.

Winter Sowing

Last week at our Got Dirt? training in Green Bay, local teachers and child care providers shared resources and gardening tips.


One particularly intriguing winter gardening method was the idea of winter sowing. Winter sowing involves reusing plastic containers (such as take-out containers or milk jugs) to essentially create mini-greenhouses in the winter. Placing the containers outdoors, the seeds begin to grow naturally, taking hints from Mother Nature. Once spring arrives, the plants are ready to be transplanted into your garden.

Winter sowing offers an alternative to starting plants indoors under grow lights.

It also makes for a great method to try with your students. Just imagine students’ fascination with their mini-greenhouses outside in the snow. Each day they can monitor the progress of their plants during recess or before/after school.

Visit the website http://www.wintersown.org/ for detailed instructions, ideas and inspiration.

If you have used winter sowing in the past or decide to try it with your students, we would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

Activity: Sorting Seeds

In this activity, students will learn to sort and describe seeds according to various characteristics, including size, shape, color and texture.


Materials

• Four or five different types of seeds. Try to find seeds and beans that vary in size, color, texture, and shape. The more variety, the better! [Examples: Bird seed or dried beans]
  

Activity

1. Give each child an assortment of seeds. Remind students to not eat the seeds.
2. Allow the children to have a couple of minutes to play with the seeds. Tell students to examine them, make patterns, or make shapes and pictures with their seeds.
3. Have students organizeseeds or create different categories for the seeds. To start, tell them to create piles of seeds that are the same color.
4. While students are sorting, on a board or chart paper, create four columns with the headings: color, size, shape, texture.
5. Ask students to describe the piles of seeds they created. Remind students that there is not one correct answer to these questions and that students may have decided to sort their seeds differently.
   How are the groups similar and how are the groups different?
   What do each of the piles look like?
6. Write the responses under the “color” column. Examples: red, brown, dark, light
7. Repeat, asking students to sort and describe seeds according to their size, shape or texture.