All of us that garden know the benefit of fertilizer in building up the soil. Without it, our gardens would be pathetic.
There are many types of fertilizers, organic and chemical. It has been proven over and over that organic types are by far the best. Manures, compost, seaweed, and others.
Some, such as seaweed can be expensive. Anything that has to be trucked for any distance is going to be very costly from now on. Probably unaffordable for most of us.
Now, animal manures are probably the best all around fertilizers. But they're not easy to get if you're not close to a source such as a farm or stable.
Besides, your neighbors may have something to say about the odour. You could lose some friends too.
Using chemicals, for most of us, is just not in the best interests of the garden, and ultimately us. Is there a way that we can safely put fertilizer on our gardens and ruin our bank account, or poison us? Yep! You bet!
On any bag of fertilizer you will three sets of numbers designating the percentage of the three most needed ingredients. They list the amount of nitrogen(N), potash(P), and phosphorus(K). If you can put those three on your garden you should have decent crop.
Chemical types most generally have only those three, nothing else. But what if you could put those on but have some trace elements too? Yet not be afraid of burning the soil, harming the earthworms, or wear protective clothing that makes you look like an alien?
Well, you can! Go to a farm store and buy a bag of dehydrated alfalfa, then go to a nursery (the farm store might have this also) and buy some bone meal. Then go to your wood-burning stove and clean out all the ashes. If you don't have a stove, go to one of your friends that does get haul his ashes away. If nothing else, burn some old tree branches to get ashes. Whatever! Get some wood ashes.
Now, the alfalfa will supply the N, the ashes will supply the P, the bone-meal will supply the K. Sprinkle this where you will plant, no need to put it over the whole garden, weeds love fertilizer too. Just sprinkle it on the part where the plants will be. Work it into soil good and sprinkle it lightly.
You may have to put more on than you think. It won't hurt to cover the ground good. You will not kill anything if you get a little too much on unlike chemical types. And it certainly won't kill your gardening partners, the earthworms.
Owen Newman
The Good Life - or - How to do Smallholding
Many people assume that, in order to live the “good life”, one has to have the mythical two acres of land in the countryside. But this is not the case. Don't, in fact, wait until you have those mythical two acres in the countryside. On the contrary. Begin where you are. In many ways you can already set up smallholding, the “good life” where you are. Many of us, who are old enough, for sure, remember the television series entitled “The Good Life” where the people attempted to make a smallholding in the subdivisions. Nothing against this, I should think, though, maybe, the keeping of pigs, goats and such might be a little bit over the top. Today there is, once again, a lot more emphasis on allotments and that is certainly a place to start. But even patio planting, and even balcony planting can give you some self-sufficiency as far as food and food production is concerned.
Like home, your smallholding, can nearly be anywhere.
OK, doing it on an allotment or in your garden at you property in suburbia may not be the smallholding dream but it (1) is a start and (2) good preparation for the time when you can actually make the move, if indeed you still want to after having started it where you are.
How big does a smallholding have to be? Well, you can start with your garden at home, with an allotment, even with patio or balcony planting. Go vertical instead of horizontal if need be. Horizontal planting, whether lack of space or not, is a good idea anyway in order to increase the area for food production. Many plants grow well in pots suspended from shelves and hanging frames on walls or trellises, and then there are vines and others that grow well on trellises. Runner beans, for instance, instead of a “beanery” in the form of a pyramid or such like, plant them along a trellis and let them climb than. Immediately you have gained some space for other crops where you would, generally, had your runner beans.
Fruit trees grow well in that way too, along a frame, similar to a trellis. Many a small orchard on the European mainland seems to be worked in that manner and they all tend to look a little like vineyards then.
No one wishing to try their hands on the smallholding dream needs to wait for the mythical two or more acres of land in the countryside. The good life can begin exactly where you are presently.
In addition to your garden and other areas at home that may be utilized for growing your own food, and then, if you have the time and all that, an allotment or two, you could do “clandestine gardening & farming” (look out for an article on this to come in due course). My family did when I was a child. Clandestine farming and gardening is, basically, growing food in the hedgerows and other “derelict land, including, as it was in my family's case, in woodland meadows and such.
When setting out beds for the growing of crops in your home and allotment smallholding my suggestion is to make that you them as raised beds, as and where possible, as this will make working them easier. The ideal width is about 3 feet, that is to say, about 1 meter. This way you can work the bed from either side without ever having to step on it, thus compacting the soil.
In addition to this, when utilizing the patio or other similar space for growing food crops work in tiers. There are some ready made solutions that you can purchase and we shall have a look at those, I hope, by way of a product review,m in the not too distant future. However, there are also solutions that you could make yourself.
One would be to use a solution that would look like the picnic table with benches attached that you can often see outside Public Houses and such. A structure like that give you more that one layer as to where to grow the food crops and you thereby can increase you growing area.
Well, now don't let me stop you starting the smallholding life by keeping you here at the computer reading my little essay. Go out there and do it.
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), March 2008
Like home, your smallholding, can nearly be anywhere.
OK, doing it on an allotment or in your garden at you property in suburbia may not be the smallholding dream but it (1) is a start and (2) good preparation for the time when you can actually make the move, if indeed you still want to after having started it where you are.
How big does a smallholding have to be? Well, you can start with your garden at home, with an allotment, even with patio or balcony planting. Go vertical instead of horizontal if need be. Horizontal planting, whether lack of space or not, is a good idea anyway in order to increase the area for food production. Many plants grow well in pots suspended from shelves and hanging frames on walls or trellises, and then there are vines and others that grow well on trellises. Runner beans, for instance, instead of a “beanery” in the form of a pyramid or such like, plant them along a trellis and let them climb than. Immediately you have gained some space for other crops where you would, generally, had your runner beans.
Fruit trees grow well in that way too, along a frame, similar to a trellis. Many a small orchard on the European mainland seems to be worked in that manner and they all tend to look a little like vineyards then.
No one wishing to try their hands on the smallholding dream needs to wait for the mythical two or more acres of land in the countryside. The good life can begin exactly where you are presently.
In addition to your garden and other areas at home that may be utilized for growing your own food, and then, if you have the time and all that, an allotment or two, you could do “clandestine gardening & farming” (look out for an article on this to come in due course). My family did when I was a child. Clandestine farming and gardening is, basically, growing food in the hedgerows and other “derelict land, including, as it was in my family's case, in woodland meadows and such.
When setting out beds for the growing of crops in your home and allotment smallholding my suggestion is to make that you them as raised beds, as and where possible, as this will make working them easier. The ideal width is about 3 feet, that is to say, about 1 meter. This way you can work the bed from either side without ever having to step on it, thus compacting the soil.
In addition to this, when utilizing the patio or other similar space for growing food crops work in tiers. There are some ready made solutions that you can purchase and we shall have a look at those, I hope, by way of a product review,m in the not too distant future. However, there are also solutions that you could make yourself.
One would be to use a solution that would look like the picnic table with benches attached that you can often see outside Public Houses and such. A structure like that give you more that one layer as to where to grow the food crops and you thereby can increase you growing area.
Well, now don't let me stop you starting the smallholding life by keeping you here at the computer reading my little essay. Go out there and do it.
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), March 2008
Bulldog Bypass Pruning Shears BD3152 – Product Review
Rollins Bulldog have been making quality tools for gardening and agriculture for well over 200 years by now and most of those tools are still forged at Bulldog's Clarington Forge in Wigan.The pair of bypass pruning shears, that I have the pleasure in reviewing here, are from the Premier Range, and came to me via a press pack from the 2008 Garden Press Event that was held at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster at the end of January 2008, are no exception here. They are a quality tool at a very reasonable price. At around GBP 13 these quality pruners certainly are not expensive.
The blades are forget from high carbon SK-5 Japaneses steel and the handles are sold aluminium into which the blades are securely bolted. The handles have green “elastomer” grips, preventing the tool slipping out of your hands.
Locking together of the handles is achieved by an old method though with modern materials, that is to say that an ABS plastic hook acts as the lock at the bottom of the handles, locking the pruners safely and secure.
The spring is of the common “caterpillar” kind which is, unfortunately, often prone to jumping out and getting lost. This problem is overcome, as it would appear, on the BD3152 pruners in that the ends of the spring has been recessed rather deep into the handles and I should think that it is nigh on impossible for the spring to jump out on its own without help.
The BD3152 pruners appear very well made and well thought out, as are all Bulldog tools, and should give years of faithful service at a great value price. The length of service obviously depends greatly on how they are used or abused and treated or mistreated during and especially also after work. This often makes or breaks a tool.
Pros:
High carbon steel blades, forged
Bladed bolted into handles
Solid aluminium handles with rubberized grips
Safe and secure locking mechanism
Value for money price
Cons:
Still trying to find any.
The BD3152 Bypass Pruning Shears from Bulldog are equally well suited, in my opinion, for the professional gardener as well as the allotment gardener or the amateur at home.
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), March 2008
The Storm Kettle – Product Review
Originally, the Storm Kettle was handmade in Ireland - often by travellers who produced them in copper - for fishermen, itinerant workers and tourists. John Grindlay, who with his wife owns and runs the Eydon Kettle Company, modified the design and implemented modern manufacturing techniques in the early 1960’s.John Grindlay borrowed an original copper kettle and took it to England during the winter. Tooling was manufactured and the first 10 kettles eventually produced. These were very quickly sold for £10 each in 1979, the assembly work being carried out by Mr Grindlay’s children who were then 8 years and 10 years old. Popular demand meant that production had to increase. Since 1979 the numbers sold have substantially increased each year.
Mainly these Kettles, whether sold in the UK, Germany, or elsewhere, are used by sportsmen, holiday makers, expedition organisers and outdoor enthusiasts. They have even accompanied the explorer John Blashford-Snell, while he was searching for signs of early civilisations on a trip to Central America.
Nowadays they can be found in the Solomon Isles helping remote islanders boil water to purify it, in remote parts of Southern Africa, where dried cattle dung is used by the Zulus as fuel, or in the Sahara Desert on expeditions.
I am always amazed though that they never seem to have found a take up by the still travelling Romani in the UK and elsewhere. The Storm Kettle does away with the need for a fire for just the purpose of brewing a cup of tea or coffee or even for the making of some other hot beverage.
Using a Storm Kettle means you can boil water easily, in the wettest and windiest of weather, both rapidly and safely. They are also environmentally friendly as you only need a sheet of newspaper and a handful of twigs as fuel. So the simplicity of the Kettle ensures that boiling water is always available, without the need to use gas, petrol or any other artificial fuel.
Storm Kettles come in two sizes, the Original and the Popular. The Original will boil up to 2.5 pints (approx. 1.5 litres) the Popular up to 2 pints (approx. one litre) – that should ensure more than enough hot water is available for you within minutes - at any time.
The water boils rather quickly and can be kept going by just adding further small sticks into the fire that is going in the burner beneath the kettle via the “chimney”.
One word of warning even though it is mentioned more than once in the literature and also on a sticker on the kettle itself: NEVER EVER use it with the cork in place. While the cork is very handy for carrying the kettle with water in it when heating the water the cork must be taken out of the spout.
The Storm Kettle & the cook set that nowadays is available for it is the ideal kit for forestry workers, countryside conservators, and other such like, such as Parks & Countryside Ranger, especially those working on maintenance tasks away from the main base.
While the Storm Kettle and accessories do not come cheap I can but recommend them.
The Prices for the kettles are: £43.00 for the Popular and £44.50 for the Original. Prices include V.A.T. and carriage.
Reviewed by Michael Smith (Veshengro), February 2008
This Blessed Plot
It could be said that the British, aside from, as often referred to, as being a nation of shopkeepers (and do we really have that many shops?), are a nation of horticulturists.
If it is not a plot at home, the garden around the house, or such, then it is an allotment and many even who have a garden at home still hanker after an allotment, especially as a place where to grow food. And some even fulfill this by having one or even two an allotments where to do just that.
I believe that in respect to the allotment only one country probably can surpass Britain and that is Germany with its “Schrebergartenkultur”, the “Allotment Culture”. Entire colonies – and they call them thus – exist in many areas of Germany with garden sheds that are often more like little log cabins and small houses, like country retreats – often in the very cities, such as in Berlin – little Dachas, where families even live for much of the summer.
An allotment garden can be, as far as I am concerned, on allotment areas proper, but it can also be a part of one's garden at home.
Aside from that one could have a clandestine allotment or two squirreled away somewhere in woods or field. This would fall under the category of “Clandestine Farming and Gardening”.
Allotments and allotment plots at home really came into their own during the “Gig For Victory” campaign in World War II when the British Isles had problems getting food in through the blockade by the German submarines.
This also showed that in these Isles we depended and once again depend too much on food from abroad, and nowadays probably even more so than then.
I mean, really, organic French beans from Kenya, flown here. Firstly, how do we know that they are “organic” and secondly, considering they get flown daily into the UK by the tons they are not at all green, despite their color, and their environmental footprint is rather enormous. This is absolutely, in my opinion, silly. Food miles and carbon footprint of the highest order. But I digressed.
With the aid of the “Gro Patio Allotment” frame a plot of your own for growing some of your greens at least can be had nearly everywhere now.
However, it is the “real” allotment (and the “allotment plot” at in a garden at home) that is the subject here.
Allotments for the people came into being in the United Kingdom in the 18th century: for example, a 1732 engraving of Birmingham, England shows the town encircled by allotments, some of which still exist to this day. Following the Inclosure Acts and the Commons Act of 1876 the land available for personal cultivation by the poor was greatly diminished. To fulfil the need for land allotment legislation was included. The law was first fully codified in the Small Holdings and Allotment Act of 1908, it was modified by the Allotments Act of 1922 and subsequent Allotments Acts up until 1950.
Under the acts a local government is required to maintain an "adequate provision" of land, usually a large allotment field which can then be subdivided into allotment gardens for individual residents at a low rent. The rent is set at what a person "may reasonably be expected to pay" (1950), in 1997 the average rent for a 10 square rods (250 m²) plot was £22 a year. Each plot cannot exceed 40 square rods (1000m²) and must be used for the production of fruit or vegetables for consumption by the plotholder and their family (1922), or of flowers for use by the plotholder and their family. The exact size and quality of the plots is not defined. The council has a duty to provide sufficient allotments to meet demand. The total income from allotments was £2.61 million and total expenditure was £8.44 million in 1997. In 2000 metrication legislation made it illegal to use square rods as a unit of pricing and allotments must now be priced in square metres.
As we can see from the provision of the various Allotment Acts the produce from such a plot, theoretically, is for consumption by the plotholder and his family only. In other words, sale of produce, theoretically, contravenes the legal provisions and, I am certain, therefore, that sale of produce would invalidate one's licence to one's plots and maybe even more than that.
However, there is allotment forestry where it would appear that allotments are used for the production of beanpoles and other small woodland items, as well as for crafts such as stick dressing, and the subsequent sale of such items produced. Such activities, when we looks at the Allotments Act would be unlawful if, I assume, carried out on land owned and provided by the local authority. On other land, and especially in one's own garden or such there is nothing that can be said against this, I should think.
Today many allotment areas have fallen prey to developers especially in the south-east of England and this is rather a sad state of affairs. The demand for ever more housing, which is not sustainable in the south-east at the rate it is going on, for ever more business parks, supermarkets, out of town, and such has caused the death of many an allotment area. Though I do also know of one allotment area in a municipal park, however, that simply was abandoned for, it would appear, lack of interest.
On the other hand the demand for allotment plots, I believe, is higher than ever and there are long waiting lists in many areas. It is many of the Asian and Afro-Caribbean families that hanker after plots where to grow their own and often rather exotic vegetables can be seen growing on plots up and down the country, such as Okra, etc.
It was his father;s allotment that instilled in Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones the wish to become a farmer and today “The Black Farmer” is a well-known brand in this country.
We need more allotments rather than fewer as we must look at food more at a local level, and to growing much of our own needs again.
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), February 2008
If it is not a plot at home, the garden around the house, or such, then it is an allotment and many even who have a garden at home still hanker after an allotment, especially as a place where to grow food. And some even fulfill this by having one or even two an allotments where to do just that.
I believe that in respect to the allotment only one country probably can surpass Britain and that is Germany with its “Schrebergartenkultur”, the “Allotment Culture”. Entire colonies – and they call them thus – exist in many areas of Germany with garden sheds that are often more like little log cabins and small houses, like country retreats – often in the very cities, such as in Berlin – little Dachas, where families even live for much of the summer.An allotment garden can be, as far as I am concerned, on allotment areas proper, but it can also be a part of one's garden at home.
Aside from that one could have a clandestine allotment or two squirreled away somewhere in woods or field. This would fall under the category of “Clandestine Farming and Gardening”.
Allotments and allotment plots at home really came into their own during the “Gig For Victory” campaign in World War II when the British Isles had problems getting food in through the blockade by the German submarines.
This also showed that in these Isles we depended and once again depend too much on food from abroad, and nowadays probably even more so than then.
I mean, really, organic French beans from Kenya, flown here. Firstly, how do we know that they are “organic” and secondly, considering they get flown daily into the UK by the tons they are not at all green, despite their color, and their environmental footprint is rather enormous. This is absolutely, in my opinion, silly. Food miles and carbon footprint of the highest order. But I digressed.
With the aid of the “Gro Patio Allotment” frame a plot of your own for growing some of your greens at least can be had nearly everywhere now.
However, it is the “real” allotment (and the “allotment plot” at in a garden at home) that is the subject here.
Allotments for the people came into being in the United Kingdom in the 18th century: for example, a 1732 engraving of Birmingham, England shows the town encircled by allotments, some of which still exist to this day. Following the Inclosure Acts and the Commons Act of 1876 the land available for personal cultivation by the poor was greatly diminished. To fulfil the need for land allotment legislation was included. The law was first fully codified in the Small Holdings and Allotment Act of 1908, it was modified by the Allotments Act of 1922 and subsequent Allotments Acts up until 1950.
Under the acts a local government is required to maintain an "adequate provision" of land, usually a large allotment field which can then be subdivided into allotment gardens for individual residents at a low rent. The rent is set at what a person "may reasonably be expected to pay" (1950), in 1997 the average rent for a 10 square rods (250 m²) plot was £22 a year. Each plot cannot exceed 40 square rods (1000m²) and must be used for the production of fruit or vegetables for consumption by the plotholder and their family (1922), or of flowers for use by the plotholder and their family. The exact size and quality of the plots is not defined. The council has a duty to provide sufficient allotments to meet demand. The total income from allotments was £2.61 million and total expenditure was £8.44 million in 1997. In 2000 metrication legislation made it illegal to use square rods as a unit of pricing and allotments must now be priced in square metres.
As we can see from the provision of the various Allotment Acts the produce from such a plot, theoretically, is for consumption by the plotholder and his family only. In other words, sale of produce, theoretically, contravenes the legal provisions and, I am certain, therefore, that sale of produce would invalidate one's licence to one's plots and maybe even more than that.
However, there is allotment forestry where it would appear that allotments are used for the production of beanpoles and other small woodland items, as well as for crafts such as stick dressing, and the subsequent sale of such items produced. Such activities, when we looks at the Allotments Act would be unlawful if, I assume, carried out on land owned and provided by the local authority. On other land, and especially in one's own garden or such there is nothing that can be said against this, I should think.
Today many allotment areas have fallen prey to developers especially in the south-east of England and this is rather a sad state of affairs. The demand for ever more housing, which is not sustainable in the south-east at the rate it is going on, for ever more business parks, supermarkets, out of town, and such has caused the death of many an allotment area. Though I do also know of one allotment area in a municipal park, however, that simply was abandoned for, it would appear, lack of interest.
On the other hand the demand for allotment plots, I believe, is higher than ever and there are long waiting lists in many areas. It is many of the Asian and Afro-Caribbean families that hanker after plots where to grow their own and often rather exotic vegetables can be seen growing on plots up and down the country, such as Okra, etc.
It was his father;s allotment that instilled in Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones the wish to become a farmer and today “The Black Farmer” is a well-known brand in this country.
We need more allotments rather than fewer as we must look at food more at a local level, and to growing much of our own needs again.
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), February 2008
GROWING ONE'S OWN STOOL
Christopher CattleA retired lecturer in furniture design, in the mid eighties I started to wonder what contribution I could make to the 'save the planet ' debate. Settling on the problem of our seemingly ever increasing demand for energy, I decided to see what one could do to reduce the amount used to make furniture. An early decision was to concentrate on the use of wood, an attractive and popular material, and biodegradable.
I was aware of the annual races for solar powered vehicles run in Australia, which attracted such elaborate and complex vehicles. Suddenly it struck me that of course tree growth is also solar powered! The energy we use to make furniture is simply that required to convert trees into the forms we use for our chairs and tables. If only the trees could be persuaded to grow into the right shapes in the first place . . . .
But people have been training and grafting trees to shape since we know not when, so no new skills are required. To grow furniture would simply involve using well known techniques for a different purpose.
To prove that it could be done however, I would have to do it myself, so I designed the simplest item of furniture I could devise, a three legged stool. I also devised a simple plywood frame or jig, on which to train the saplings as they grew. (Having practised as a designer of furniture for industrial production for the first half of my professional career, I was having to start from scratch.) In 1995 I approached the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Reading with my scheme. They rented me a suitable small plot of land and with their help, I planted and grew my first batch of stools. Five years later I harvested my first grown stool frame.
Having shown that it could be done, where was I to go from there. Should I go into business and sell them?
I decided that the outcome nearest to my original intention was rather to publicise the idea, and to enable others to grow such stools. In this way I hope to persuade people - particularly the younger generation - to change their mindset, and realise that it is possible to achieve useful and practical results simply by the intelligent use of natural processes.
Over recent years I have promoted the idea in a variety of ways. The experiment originally received wide coverage in the press both in Britain and abroad. Each year I attend several relevant public events in Britain, from exhibitions in London to environmental gatherings in Scotland. The stools were exhibited at Expo 2005 in Japan and more recently in Paris. I have been interviewed for the radio in the UK, USA and Canada.
I have a website ( www.grown-furniture.co.uk ) and anyone can buy the flat pack plywood jig and instructions. Stool growing has proved popular for young families and the kits are frequently in demand as Christmas presents for retired parents. (You can be sure they haven't got one of these!) All you need is the enthusiasm, the patience, and a local supplier of suitable 'whips' or young saplings. Nature does most of the work, and as she's been doing it for millions of years she's pretty good at it.
I recommend Sycamore as a suitable species, as it tends to grow and graft well. The whips are normally sold in bundles of twenty five, so you have a good chance to select three (or multiples of three) which are evenly matched, and slim enough to be bent and trained well. They should preferably be no thicker than a traditional wooden pencil. The kit comes with a planting guide which enables you to plant your saplings accurately, so that they fit snugly to the corners of the jig. With gentle persuasion the stems can be carefully bent to shape and secured to the jig with plant ties. If you can plant in November or December it gives the roots a chance to establish themselves before the Spring, but any time up to the end of February has proved satisfactory.
By about the third year you should be able to make the lower grafts where the stems touch. Cutting away the bark and the green cambial layer beneath it at the point of contact , you must hold them gently but firmly together for a few weeks. This can be done by binding or drilling through and inserting a rivet of some sort. If the graft bonds well, the sap will start to take the shortest route between the leaves and the roots, and each 'leg' - the lower half of which consists of one tree with the upper half of its neighbour - will start to grow as one, while the horizontal sections - joining the legs at their mid point and becoming the 'rails' - will cease to grow and remain at their existing size.
Although it will probably be about five years before the frame grows to its required size, the time you spend tending it will be minimal. I expect to spend less than five minutes on each frame every three weeks during the growing season.
Before 'harvesting' your frame, you should decide whether you prefer the 'rustic' look, by retaining the bark, or the perhaps a more elegant look by stripping it off. If you choose rustic you should harvest in the winter when the tree is dormant . If you harvest when the tree is actively growing, it is quite easy to strip off the bark. The thickness of the legs is such that any splitting as the wood dries out shouldn't be a problem, but it should be left to 'season' naturally, out of doors but under cover for about a further year. You can then give it a top of your choice and sit on it!
Greenfingers to get 100,000 children gardening – and raises £80,000
The Greenfingers Appeal is to repeat its hugely successful 'Schools Sunflower Challenge' in 2007, having broken all records last season by encouraging a stunning 100,000 children from 750 UK schools to grow sunflowers for themselves. The project also raised a tremendous £60,000 for UK Children's Hospice gardens and participating schools.Sponsored by B&Q and with seeds donated by Thompson and Morgan, the Sunflower Challenge is a combined educational and fund-raising initiative that brings gardening into the classroom and the home.
Income from the scheme is split 50:50 between the schools and the Greenfingers Appeal. Last year the Appeal was able to direct some £30,000 towards the provision of new gardens in UK Children's hospices.
Endorsed by celebrity gardener Tommy Walsh the project, now in its fourth year, provides free sunflower seeds and a comprehensive teacher's pack showing how the 'Sunflower Challenge' complements the National Curriculum 'Life Processes and Living Things' section. Children grow the sunflowers at home or at school, observing and recording their progress and learning from the experience.
Hints and tips for growing the seeds successfully, a growth chart and sponsorship forms are included, and the children are encouraged to obtain sponsors from friends and families who pledge an amount for each centimetre of the sunflowers final height when measured at the end of the summer term.
Mrs C Hopgood, Deputy Headteacher, South Norwood Primary School, commented:
'This has been the most successful class fund-raising/sponsorship activity that the school has ever done. Just four classes of 4-6 year olds took part, with one six year old boy raising the sum of £161:00 himself and several others raising well above £40:00 apiece. The Sunflower Challenge fitted in perfectly and certainly caught the children's imagination as evidenced by the magnificent response.'
The Greenfingers Appeal is the charity of the gardening industry and is currently raising funds to build much-needed gardens at children's hospices. Last year the Appeal raised more than £160,000 for the provision of new and improved gardens. Twenty-four projects have so far been completed or are underway, out of the 42 Children's Hospices in the UK running or under construction.
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