29/09/2011 10:11:00
Katie's Krops - A Truly Inspirational Child
If you have moments where you think getting kids to eat, grow and cook is a mountain too high, you need a bit of inspiration, to know it is possible. Well it doesn't get much more inspiring than this.
When Katie was 9 years old she brought a tiny cabbage seedling home from school and planted it in her backyard. It grew and grew until it weighed 40lbs, and Katie donated it to a local soup kitchen where it fed 275 hungry people. Katie was hooked and now at age 13 she has helped to set up 17 gardens across the country to feed the hungry.
Everyday Health have made a show about Katie's amazing story and it will air on local ABC channels on Saturday 1st October 2011. For those of you (like me) based in the UK and unable to watch the whole show, there are some brilliant clips on the Everyday Health website.
If you want to get your kids to see what one small plant can lead to, show them the clips here.
And next time you're wondering what the point is of getting your class to grow a little bean plant to take home, or growing that one tomato seedling in a pot on your back step, remember Katie's story - great oaks really do grow from tiny acorns.
For more information on Katie's Krops, visit her website.
03/11/2010 10:18:00
Fab Pumpkin Growing
Now that Halloween is over, and the candles in the spooky pumpkins have melted away, you've trawled the internet for 101 ways to cook pumpkin that isn't pumpkin soup, and you've roasted and scoffed your seeds, you may be thinking that you could manage an even bigger pumpkin next year. And the best way to get a truly impressive pumpkin is to grow your own.
Growing your own pumpkin is not difficult. They need a fair bit of space, a little bit of knowledge (not much) and a lot of food and water (although a generous portion of manure in the soil at the start will go a long way). There are some good articles on growing pumpkins here:
BBC gardening guide to growing pumpkins
More technical guide by champion growers on how to grow giant pumpkins
Useful video on growing pumpkins
If you think growing a pumpkin might be too technical and you're not skilled enough, think again! For some inspiration, take a look at some of these photos of schools in Kent who took part in this year's pumpkin growing competition run by Victoriana Nursery. The schools receive seedling plants from the nursery and the staff then visit the schools to judge the finished pumpkins. This year's winning school was Sheldwich Primary School, where one of their students, Alistair Eiggs, managed to grow a 112cm pumpkin! This won the school gardening club a £40 voucher to spend on plants and seeds for next year.
These are the seedlings at the nursery waiting to be sent out to schools.
The judging.
Some proud growers!
Could your school or nursery work with a local garden centre or nursery to hold your own mini competition?
02/03/2010 21:27:00
Coco Pops Update
Just a quick update to say that Kelloggs appear to have accepted the fact that the campaign was unpopular and have agreed to take the ads down.
For more information see this blog entry by my brilliant twitter friend Jackie Schneider.
If you see the ads still up near you, please let Jackie know. She is totally on the case!
