National Gardening Week SUNDAY

Deck Chair – a word we all know!  Do you have one?  Today’s word is easy to remember but important none the less!  It allows us to slow down, take a minute, rest and reflect.  We can use it to relax between jobs or just sit out to read a book, skype with a friend, or listen to the birds and other sounds in our garden.  Just like other tools, we keep some deckchairs in the shed at school.  We look after them by putting them away out of the weather and then they look after us when we sit and get rested in them.  We have several so folk can chat with a snack too!

Did you know:
John Cham submitted a patent design in 1855 for simple, wooden folding chairs with comfortable woven backs.  They soon became a regular fixture on decks of cruise liners, and so were given the name 'deck chairs'

Click here to watch how NOT to use a deckchair!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you next week in our TEAMs meeting!

National Gardening Week SATURDAY

Prick Out Seedlings – Today’s phrase is something we do to the seedlings once they have developed “true leaves”.  They might get crowded and run out of nutrients in the seed tray or pot where they germinated.  If we left them there, they would eventually die so we need to pot them up.

The seedlings are very delicate and it is quite a tricky process to prick them out.  If we grab the stem, we might damage it and kill the plant.  Instead we hold them by the seed leaves (remember these?).  The seed leaves will soon die back anyway so we can lift the seedling out by the seed leaves without worrying about killing the plant.  

Once holding the seedling, we drop it gently into a hole in the compost and firm it around the roots and hypocotyl.  A little water, sunlight and time, and the seedling will settle into its new environment so that growth can take off again.  Once it has grown, it will get potted on into a bigger pot and later go into its final growing spot – be it a container or in the ground.

I can’t talk about pricking out seedlings without mentioning the two handy tools that help us!  You have used these and know their name so this is revision!  There are:

 1) A Dibber – helps to make a hole in the compost or ground so will vary in size depending how big the hole needs to be.  A dibber can be like the on in the picture, but if you don’t have one, a pencil, short piece of cane or even your finger will do the trick!

2) A Widger – “wid-jer” – helps to tease out the seedling from all the others in the seed tray.  As I mentioned before, the seedlings are very delicate at this stage.  Our fingers can feel clumsy and big when trying to pull out the seedling especially when the roots have got tangled with the other seedling roots in the tray!  We hold the seed leaves, pull gently and use the widger to wiggle between the tangled roots until the seedling comes out.   Not a lot of people have these, but the are very useful if you are working with lots of seedlings!

This is Saturday today so no school work needed!  I hope the sun shines a little for you so you can check on your seedlings and give them some love and attention.  Please continue to stay home, stay safe and return tomorrow for our final “Word du Jour” for National Gardening Week!

National Gardening Weed FRIDAY

Striking Board – Okay yes, it’s more than one word but hey, who’s counting! 😊 You may have spotted a theme this week seeing as it’s spring.  Sowing seeds is keeping gardeners busy right now and a striking board is here to help.  Many people may say “it’s a stick!” but we horticulturalists know it’s a tool LOL

When we sow seeds in a pot or tray, we want to get the equivalent of Monday’s words (a “fine tilth”).  We also need the surface of the compost to be flat and uniform so that our seeds can germinate well.  

The striking board is used to “saw off” the top of an over-filled seed tray or pot.  We don’t push the compost down hard as we want it to have air in it.  Instead, we then gently pick up and “drop” the pot or tray 3 times to allow the compost to settle.  It is then ready for seeds to be sprinkled on top.

So there you have it – a striking board – can you name any other tools in the pictures?

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another word or phrase!