Friday, March 29, 2013

10 Tips to get Kids Growing!

Advice from a Caterpillar loves to support Toronto Botanical Gardens. Getting inspired for spring, writer Ellen Farrelly has written a lovely article "10 Tips to get Kids Growing". You can visit their website at torontobotanicalgarden.ca for more gardening ideas.
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It’s easy — and fun — to get kids involved in gardening, Here are 10 ideas to get you started.
  1. “Start small,” says Zora Ignjatovic, an enthusiastic supporter of community gardens. She recommends using self-watering growing boxes as a handy way to begin.

2. A container can be a garden. Growing vegetables such as tiny tomatoes and herbs in a pot is an easy way to get kids gardening.

3. Garden in a bag. City Farmer author Lorraine Johnson came up with a unique way to grow tomatoes. On the roof of her house she grew each plant in a bag of potting soil. Now that’s a simple creative idea!

4. No dig. Want to get rid of the lawn and grow a garden in the backyard? Patricia Lanza has a great idea to help you get rid of the sod without the backbreaking task of digging out the grass. In her Lasagna Gardening book Lanza describes how to layer newspapers over the lawn. Instead of digging up the turf, this is a quick, kid-friendly method children can help with by laying the newspapers.

5. Raise the beds. In Square Foot Gardening Mel Bartholomew offers some great ideas for using raised beds. Not only does his practical advice help gardeners use every inch of space and incorporate good soil but a raised bed is self-contained garden that kids can reach easily.

6. Grow near water. Fruit and vegetable gardens need constant watering. Think about where the water source is located and how the garden will be watered. At GTGK, for example, kids use small watering cans. They dip their cans into large tubs of water, which often results in lots of water play, too!

 7. Mulch for easy maintenance. Add a layer of mulch such as cedar or straw to the surface of the garden after planting. This preserves moisture and prevents the soil from drying out too quickly. Mulching makes garden maintenance easier for kids: they don’t have to water as frequently or worry about keeping up with the weeds.

  8. Grow in sun and shade. Although most fruit and vegetables need at least six hours of sunshine a day, GTGK’s Sunday Harrison says that “red currants, leafy greens and lots of herbs will grow in a bit of shade.” Plants such as sorrel, chard and parsley grow well in shady gardens.

9. Get the soil right. Fruit and vegetables need good soil to grow. One of the best ways to improve your soil is to add compost. If you don’t have a compost bin in the backyard, mushroom or sea compost is available from garden centres. Kids like nothing more than digging compost from a pile and adding it to the beds.

  10. Enjoy simple pleasures. The most important thing to remember about growing food with kids is to have fun. It’s all about exploring and connecting with nature. Kids are curious about their environment and experience joy in pleasures as simple as discovering worms in the garden or seeing butterflies or tasting that first fruit or vegetable they grew themselves. Take time to celebrate those simple pleasures.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Happy Easter!

Spring time has arrived along with the Easter bunny. Hop on over for some spring inspiration.  photo IMG_2247.jpg  photo IMG_2248.jpg  photo IMG_2246.jpg  photo IMG_2245.jpg  photo IMG_2244.jpg  photo IMG_2243.jpg  photo IMG_2242.jpg

Friday, March 22, 2013

LA Trip!

We went to LA for a fun family trip and here are some pics from our adventures!  photo photo1-1-2.jpg  photo photo1-9.jpg  photo photo3_2.jpg  photo photo2-12.jpg  photo photo3-11.jpg  photo photo2-1-3.jpg

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spring is here!

Spring is here, here are a few of our favourite pics from Finger in the nose and Bobo Choses for Spring!  photo BLOGENTRY.jpg

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When BOBO CHOSES was founded they launched the platform called ACTBYBOBO.ORG in order to financially assist several social related projects. One of these projects they are collaborating with is Ayitimoun Yo, a small NGO that works with street children in the South-East of Haiti, giving them a chance to live safely and healthy in an orphanage. Due to recent unforeseeable circumstances, their 38 children are currently living in a provisional shelter and they urgently need your help to raise money for building a new orphanage. Help us to keep this dream alive so the children can have a real future!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Kiko Toys!

We got some beautiful new wooden toys from Kiko!  photo Kiko-Kuruma.jpg  photo 003.jpg  photo shiomo_gatchgatcha_gumball.jpg  photo shiomo_5up.jpg

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Mini Rodini has arrived!

Mini Rodini has arrived in the shop and Gabriel came for a fun visit!  photo MINIRODINI-1.jpg  photo MINIRODINI2.jpg  photo IMG_2160-1.jpg  photo IMG_2190-1.jpg  photo IMG_2192-1.jpg

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Lucky Boy Sunday!

Our Lucky Boy Sunday knit tents are so much fun to play in!  photo 49a10b96-44de-4544-afe5-c57408f35de4.jpg  photo photo-24.jpg