The Beavers had a go at planting seeds this week! They planted mixed lettuce, lollo rosa lettuce, and cress.
Once they had filled their trays with soil, they divided it in two. In one half we made four lines, and they planted the mixed lettuce seeds in the first two, and the lollo rosa lettuce seeds in the remaining two. They were then covered with soil.
We then moved onto the cress, which was sprinkled over the other half, and left uncovered.
We put a piece of paper in the end of the tray with the lettuce. The trays will need to be watered each day, and left in sunlight on a windowsill or in a greenhouse.
kidsgardening.org describes (much better than I can) how to harvest the lettuce so that the plant can continue growing;
Once the leaves on the greens are a few inches tall, it’s time to start harvesting. Remember that you won’t be growing full heads of lettuce. Harvesting is easy. Using scissors simply cut the greens 1 inch above the soil line, leaving a few larger leaves in the centre to keep plants healthy. Lettuce will grow back to yield another harvest in a couple of weeks. After a few harvests the plant stems may get thick and the leaves may remain small. This indicates it’s time to compost the potting mix and roots, and start over.
Good luck, and don’t forget to send Laura any photos you take of your successful plant trays!