Grow your own food: Seed sowing

Spring is the time of year to start thinking about… FOOD. Early vegetable and herb seeds can be sown in a greenhouse or even in a warm, sunny spot in a window.

You don’t need a lot of space or special materials to get growing, and it’s so much fun to eat the food that you’ve grown yourself.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Little pots or empty toilet roll tubes
• Potting compost or top soil
• Seeds of your choice – think about this carefully. If you only have a small growing space then courgettes and pumpkins might not be your thing. Instead a tomato plant or strawberry could be perfect.

STEP BY STEP

1. Set up your pots

If you’ve got some little pots, arrange them on watertight tray. You could recycle a mushroom container for this. Empty toilet roll tubes make great seedling pots because they’re free, recyclable, compostable (they can be planted straight into the ground) and we all have a few kicking around.

2. Add some soil

Fill your pots to just over half way with potting compost or top soil dug up from your garden.

3. Plant your seeds

Each plant will have slightly different requirements so check on the back of your seed packet before you get started. You might need to poke you finger into the soil to make a little hole for your seed to sit in, then cover it over with more soil. Or your seed might just lay on top and be covered over with a sprinkling of soil.

4. Water your seeds

Your little seed now needs water to kick-start the germination process. Be careful though – too much water too quickly could make your seed float to the surface, which it won’t like at all. If you’ve got a clean spray bottle, try using this for the first few waters; if not, just use a few drops of water at a time.

5. Find a sunny spot

 Now you need to find a warm, sunny spot for your seed. A south-facing window is perfect. A north-facing window won’t get enough light and warmth.

6. A bit more water

As your seed becomes a seedling it’s going to need its water topping up, but not too much. The best way to tell if your young plant is thirsty is to poke your finger gently into the soil. If it feels dry add some water, if not leave it for a few more days.

7. Give it some space to grow

When your tiny seed has grown into a seedling it is ready for potting on. Find out more about this in the next activity – coming soon….

8. Share your progress

Take pictures of your garden and share your progress. To share your pictures, post on CAT’s facebook page or tag @centreforalternativetechnology on instagram. #CATatHome