Make sure you bring your camera so you can capture the event!
Start with a treasure hunt to find real vegetables.
Read a story, like Tops and Bottoms or Making Minestrone to get everyone in the mood.
Bring a gardening resource book, such as Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.
Bring tools to display (gloves, hat, spade).
Display a gardening box (I had 4 boards that connected these corners).
Divide your garden box into squares to easily organize plants, rotate crops,
efficiently use space, and avoid disease and pests.
Put different plants in each square
(a box of tomatoes doesn't touch another one with tomatoes).
Before you plant your seeds, you need a garden plan.
Make sure you plant vegetables that like cold weather when it is cold.
Learn which plants are tall (top row) and which are short
(position the tall ones so they won't shade or block the small ones).
Practice planting seeds 1, 4, 9, or 16 per box, depending on the sizes of the plants.
Match pieces to the grid templates.
Hold up examples of what goes into the compost (plant matter)
and what doesn't (dairy, bread, meat, weeds). Practice sorting the items.
Your compost pile needs at least 5 different ingredients,
and each ingredient should be 1/5 or less of the pile.
Mix, mash, moisten, and move the compost (see props).
Match the pictures (one small, one large, and sorted by color).
Introduce the names of vegetables, and provide written labels (optional).
Mix up the pairs (in the pockets) and play a memory game.
This set could almost be a color matching work, too.
Practice chopping (real or pretend) vegetables.
Wash your hands, match the shapes, and eat as you go.
Create new pictures, too.
Provide some healthy, yummy garden-grown snacks.
Plant some seeds in advance, and give plants as a favor at the end.
Cook up the leftovers, and serve them for dinner.
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