kinderGARDENS Week 4 Update

It's been almost a week since the kids planted their seeds for the Green Roof, and we have liftoff! The speedy germination is thanks to the fact that most of what they planted are pumpkins & gourds, the few other flowering and climbing plants I expect will be germinating over the next week.

Above: Moonflower, random pumpkin/gourd?

I did have them sprinkle some straw in the planter box since it is high up in the air in the full, hot sun. I do think it helped keep the seeds moist for good germination.

Next week hopefully some will be large enough to grab on to the trellis and start climbing the roof!

Visit The Inadvertent Farmer here and scroll to the bottom to view other participant's progress on their kinderGarden projects as well as read a great post by a guest author for Week 4.

Happy Mother's Day to all my gardening mama's!

Dogs are no fun for turtles

It started with a child yelling "Mom! Sprocket's got something!"... well, I didn't immediately run and check it out since she's a puppy and she's always "got something". After listening to the most annoying repetitive noise in the other room of what sounded like rocks being dropped on the floor, I decided to check it out. Here is what transpired:

1. Take one "Outback Jack" (Australian Shepherd/Jack Russell mix!) who constantly brings things in from outside.

2. Insert shocking/horrified realization here of what I found on the floor... poor thing was being tossed like a rag doll in the kids room. I picked it up and other than being pulled in tighter than I'd ever seen a turtle, he seemed okay, no turtle blood or goo...

3. Little turtle was immediately relocated to a nicer environment much to Sprocket's dismay!

Later that afternoon I found this ferocious guy... maybe I'll sick him on the dog to teach her a lesson! The kids named him "Beetle-Dude", original, huh?!

Who needs Dora the Explorer when mommy can come to the rescue? You're welcome, little turtle-dude...

kinderGARDENS Week 3: Seed Selection & Planting!

On this 3rd week of the kinderGARDENS Contest, my kids chose their seeds for the "Green Roof" project and planted them. We also constructed a trellis over the top of the fort for the plants to grab on to (mommy helped with this job!).

Here's what went on this past weekend:

Kids picked climbing plants from my stash. They chose 2 types of Nasturtium, Malabar Spinach, Snake Gourds, Pole Beans and 2 types of miniature pumpkins (I had to talk them out Jack o-Lantern's for obvious weight issues!), I think we may have to reinforce the trellising as the season goes on depending on how many pumpkins and gourds the vines are carrying, but I promised the kids they could grow what they wanted, grrrr!!

Getting ready to plant

They also planted a couple of my Amaranth seedlings on my suggestion that they might look cool spilling red flowers over the non-climbing side of the planter box. "Oh, cool! Like a waterfall of BLOOD" was the reply I got... some day I will get used to the way boys' minds work!

Watering the seeds - the lugging of a watering can up to the top of the fort wasn't taken into consideration at the planning stage, LOL!

We used some roll fencing for the plants to begin their ascent up the roof!

Now we wait... watch Week 4 for a germination update!

It has been fun checking out everyone else's blogs, I showed my oldest how to get to the sidebar to check out the other kids' projects, he loves it! My youngest asked if he could stay home from school and "watch the plants grow". Hmmm, is that like watching paint dry? I think he better go to school, LOL!

Our Previous Week kinderGarden Updates:

Week 1: What's it about?

Week 2: Sharing Plans: The Green Roof

For a link to everyone participating and their updates, link here to visit The Inadvertent Gardener and page down to the participants' update buttons. Fun stuff! And thanks Kim, for profiling my blog there, it's nice to know that others can relate to me - as a blogger sometimes I feel like maybe I'm just off in space talking to myself, LOL!