Erin FoxFill the garden with vibrant colours, juicy berries, and nutritious vegetables
Lent has begun and so this is the perfect time of the year to plant seeds. You can make summer more enjoyable to look forward to by preparing seeds to fill the garden with vibrant colours, juicy berries, and nutritious vegetables. Seed planting is a fun activity and it also teaches us about our faith. Most of us are familiar with the parable of the sower and the seed:
"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seeds fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seeds fell on good soil, where it produced a cropóa hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Keep a diary
There are many lessons to learn from this story, and one particular lesson is that we must follow Jesusí word to succeed in life. While we sometimes may think we know better, it is Jesusí plan that is truly the best for us. Plant seeds with your family at home or with your classmates in school. Keep a diary to record growth with pictures or your own personal drawings of the different stages of growth. At the beginning of the diary sketch pictures from the parable, narrating each stage.
To plant seeds you will need good quality soil, flower pot, or seedling tray, seeds for flowers and vegetables, wooden craft sticks, one watering can.
Fill the flower pot with soil. Using a pen or a pencil, make a hole in the centre of the pot and sprinkle in the seeds. Cover the seeds with the soil and then place the flower pot in a warm and sunny area such as a window sill. Write the seed names on the craft sticks and label each pot. Attach the sprinkler head to the watering can and water the seeds just a little, every day. The seeds need just enough water to keep the compost moist. The seedlings should start to develop after two weeks.
Here are some seeds you can plant between now and the month of May: sweet pea, marigold, broccoli, carrots, cosmea, nasturtium, broad beans.