You will love this preschool lesson – Letter G is for Garden. It is so much fun because your little students will plant their very own garden! All it takes is a paper cup, some dirt and a dry lima bean. This lesson includes a FREE PRINTABLE tag for their gardens.

I have taught this preschool lesson several times and only once did my bean plant not sprout. That was my fault. The dry lima beans I used were old. After that failed attempt, I made a mental note to always buy a fresh bag of lima beans. Nice thing, with all those unused beans left over it gives me an excuse to make my favorite dish, Lima Beans and Pork.

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Here are your SEEDS: Large Dried Lima Beans – cook them or plant them!

Letter G is for Garden Preschool Lesson

What we learned about seeds and plants:

Stems grow up – roots grow down – this simple fact is new to many 3 year olds. Watch the joy on their faces as they learn!
Plants grow from seeds.
How to plant a garden:
1. Dirt – seeds get planted in dirt. Preparing the dirt for the seeds is the first part about making a garden. You must loosen the soil and remove roots and large debris.
2. Worms – God put worms and bugs in the earth to keep the dirt loose. Don’t be scared of worms. They are friendly and it is OK for them to be there.
3. Stones – a few small stones can also stay. They are good for gardens. They help the water to drain through.
4. Seed – plants grow from seeds. We plant seeds in the dirt and they will grow into plants someday.
5. Sun – seeds and plants need sunlight to help them grow.
6. Water – seeds need drinks of water. They get those drinks from rain or people can water them.
7. Patience – the seed that you planted will come up but it takes a few days. Watch and wait. It will come up soon.

Timing: I planted my lima beans about a week before I taught this lesson. It took 3-5 days to see the plant peek above the surface. After it did, progressive growth could be seen every hour. Lima beans grow fast! [ By the way, if you don’t have lima beans, dry kidney beans work, as well.]

Make “My Garden” Tags: To make this activity special, I made “My Garden” tags and glued them on craft sticks for the kids to put in their cups. I printed a sheet of the tags on white card-stock and laminated them first, to protect them from moisture. Next, I cut the tags out and glued them on the craft sticks using white school glue.

Laminator!

And remember to get plenty of laminating sheets, too!

Letter G is for Garden #preschool lesson Share on X

Here is a copy of the garden tags for you to print and laminate:

FREE Printable “My Garden” Tags

How to Grow a Lima Bean Plant

Supplies

Paper Cups

Dry Lima Beans

Dirt – prepared

Large Spoons

“My Garden” Tags

Directions

Using a skewer or a ballpoint pen, poke 3 – 5 holes in the bottom of each paper cup for drainage.

Dig some dirt from your garden.

Prepare the dirt by sifting through it by hand. Remove debris, roots, bugs. You may leave the worms in the dirt if you would like to.

Print, laminate and make the My Garden signs.

Bring the dirt, seeds, cups and signs to school along with 2 or 3 large serving spoons.

Have your children spoon dirt into their cups about 2/3 way full.

Have them poke their finger into the middle of the dirt and drop one lima bean in it.

Scoop one more bit of dirt on top of the seed, covering it.

Now they can put their sign into the cup.

Instruct your students and their parents to water the plant when they get home.

Remind them that they should keep it on a plate. There are holes in the bottom of the cup and the dirty water will drain out. You can have your children water their plants in school if you are going to keep the gardens there but if they are traveling home with them it may be best for them to wait.

“BYE BYE PLANT!” Eventually, someone is going to get tired of having a lima bean growing on the kitchen counter. When you and your child are ready to say “goodbye” to it, first soak the dirt with water and slowly pull the plant out so that your little one can see what the roots look like. Remember the preschool lesson: roots grow DOWN, stems grow UP!

Check out the complete ☑️ Alphabet of Preschool Crafts & Lessons A-Z

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Mulch adds a lovely finished look to your gardens! #gardening #plants #flowers #mulch Ducks 'n a Row

What is Mulch?

Mulch is a protective covering used on gardens and around the base of trees. It deters the growth of unwanted plants, such as weeds and grass, gives your garden a plush look, and keeps moisture in. Garden mulch also provides a blanket of protection guarding plants from the damage extreme weather conditions can bring.

Types of Mulch

There are two types of mulch: organic and inorganic

Organic mulch is made from ingredients found in nature that once were alive. Organic mulch adds nutrition to the soil while it protects it from erosion. The many materials that it may be comprised of include: wood chips,wood bark, grass clippings, hay, peat moss and cocoa bean shells*.

Garden safety tips for dogs! #gardens #dogsafety #yorkie Ducks 'n a Row

*Dog Owners, Beware: Cocoa bean shells can be used as mulch and emit a delicious, chocolaty scent. It makes your yard smell oh-so good however, they are very dangerous for dogs. The cocoa smell is attractive to them and dogs will eat them. The ingredient found in chocolate that is very toxic for dogs to ingest, called “theobromine“, is also found in cocoa bean shells. For this reason, skip using them unless the gardens will be in a fenced, canine-free environment.

More about the dangers of cocoa bean shell mulch for dogs: ASPCA: Pet Poison Alert

Inorganic mulch is made of materials that were never alive such as a plastic, rubber or stones.

Mulch beautifies your gardens and benefits them, too.#gardens #mulch #plants #flowers Ducks 'n a Row

How to Mulch

Mulching can be done at any time however, it is most often done in the springtime after the ground warms up or in the fall right before wintertime temperatures set in.

Here is a step-by-step of this simple process:

Prepare the ground.Remove weeds from your garden area, carefully pulling out the whole root-system. If the ground is hard and dry, it may first be necessary to water the garden. Saturating the soil with water will make it much easier to remove the weeds by their roots.
Insert plants. Your garden may have all the flowers and plants that you wish to include. If so, simply dig the ground in between them to promote good drainage and healthy growth. If you are adding new plants, dig the soil well in the location where each plant will go, –making a large, deep hole– insert the plants, and push the loosened soil back in the hole around them. Firmly press the soil in to keep the plant upright and steady.
Gently throw heaps of mulch on the surface of the garden and around your plants. Leave the center part of the plant mulch-free. This will allow the plant to “breathe”. When mulch is too tightly pressed around the base of a plant or tree, it may develop rot or mold.
Rake the mulch into place. Raking mulch will keep it even and looking fresh. Use your rake to smooth out the mulch. Generally, it should be 2 to 4 inches thick.
Lightly sprinkle a garden fertilizer on the mulch. Use a brand that has both fertilizer for plant nutrition as well as a weed-control component. This will minimize the amount of weeding that you will have to do in the future. If you keep up with it, you will find that weeding a mulched garden is easy since the weeds don’t take deep root.
Water the garden. When using colored mulch, wait a day or two before the first watering to protect its color from fading. Otherwise, you may water it immediately. Dampen your garden well enough for the moisture to get through the mulch and onto the dirt beneath.

Specialty Mulches

Colored Mulch: dyed shredded wood mulch is very popular for landscaping. It is safe for humans and pets, very durable and holds its color longer than mulch that has not been dyed. Mulch comes in golden yellow, bright red, brown, black and even bright blue!

Tip: To keep your colored mulch looking fresh,

lightly rake it from time to time.

Playground Mulch: playgrounds get a lot of foot traffic. Mulch made from recycled rubber tires is often used for this purpose, as is a coarser engineered wood-fiber version.

There are varied opinions on the safety of using rubber as mulch on playgrounds. For more about safety: EPA Tested Rubber Mulch, Natures’ Way Resources “Rubber Mulch-Beware”

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