Teach children about the source of their food by letting them discover which foods in the kitchen cupboard can be grown in the garden. This will encourage them to take an interest in their food through their gardening interests, and vice versa.
Grow plants from food
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How long will it take?
About 20 to 30 minutes to set up. Sprouting time will depend on the seeds used.
What you will need
- saucers or shallow plastic trays
- moist kitchen roll
- packets of dried food from the kitchen cupboards
- vegetables from the fridge
Step-by-step guide
1 First your children need to place a double layer of moist kitchen roll in the bottom of the shallow plastic trays.
Then they can sprinkle on some food from your cupboard. They can try lentils, any dried beans, mustard seeds, poppy seeds, rice, and so on.
2 If they are very patient, they can also try to get some fruit pips to sprout!
Tell them to put some stones in the bottom of a clean jam jar and add a layer of compost.
They need to push the ripe pip from an orange or lemon about 1cm (0.4in) deep into the soil.
They should give it some water, then cover the jar with a layer of clear plastic and secure it with an elastic band. In a sunny spot it should take about four to eight weeks to grow.
Once the seedling appears, the children can remove the plastic. And when it has three or four leaves, they can repot it into a small pot of compost.
3 Next they can try slicing off the tops of carrots and parsnips and placing them in a shallow dish of water.
They should place them on a light, but not too sunny, windowsill and keep them moist over the next few days. Watch them sprout!
4 Help your children to record what the different foods do. They could stick some seed on to a piece of paper, then draw or write what each one does at the side of it.
Tips and advice
- Some of the products may not start to grow because they are heat-treated to stop them germinating (a way of extending their shelf life). If your children are keen to try growing products that you know will not grow - such as pasta - it is most important to let them. Be sure to have a good discussion with them at the end of the experiment.
- Seeds will usually happily start to sprout on moist kitchen roll. If your children wish to grow them on as plants, they will need to pot them on into compost when they are big enough to handle.
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