Yesterday morning we parked the car at Spul'u'kwuk's Elementary School. Isaac checked out the school playground (he loves exploring new places) and had a lot of fun. After we walked over to the Sharing Farm in Terra Nova Park to attend the Garlic Festival.
There were some booths set up in the front, a vegetable/garlic/plant market, garlic ice cream, some cooking demonstrations, and some music performances. Isaac made a bee-line for the garden in the sharing farm and walked to the end. Daddy and Isaac walked on through a field to watch airplanes take-off and land. There were picnic tables and benches in the "viewing area". He also had a chance to pet a grasshopper. I walked back to check out the market and picked up some bok choy plants and a gai lan.
Daddy and Isaac tried out the garlic ice cream. Isaac exclaimed that it was "Delicious", but Daddy wasn't so keen on the flavour.
Today, I picked up a couple of planters/pots for the vegetable plants. We potted the avocado seed and transplanted the vegetables into a planter and pot. Isaac helped to water the plants. I think it's too chilly for the avocado to stay outside, so we're keeping them inside, but the vegetables are staying out on our balcony. I damaged some of the bok choy roots when I was trying to transplant them, so we'll have to see if they'll survive.
Update: August 25th - One of the gai lag leaves look like it's withering. And some of the bok choy leaves are flopping over/ going limp. I have them on the balcony under the sun. I've been watering them about every other day. I don't know if they need more or less water or something else.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
A lesson about seeds
August 5th: I was eating an avocado for breakfast this morning and I popped out the pit for Isaac to touch. Then I thought... why don't we just try to germinate the seed to see what happens? Isaac was excited about the idea. I looked up a couple of websites with some suggestions and I decided to wrap up the seed in a wet paper towel and keep it covered and stored in a dark place (by Isaac's bath tub).
I guess we'll have to see what happens. Either it will get mouldy and rot or a root will grow in 2-4 weeks. This could be interesting. :) I was almost tempted to buy a little ceramic pot (with drain hole) so that we can plant it somewhere... but I'll hold off just in case this experiment fails.
I'm pretty bad at taking care of plants so the chances of this working are quite low. I just think it's a good opportunity to show Isaac how seeds grow (and the bigger picture of where some food comes from).
Update:
August 14th: We checked on the seed and it looks like it's formed a crack on one end. I think we've been trying to germinate it upside-down, so I've turned it around and put the crack side on the bottom of the container. I guess we'll have to see if a root starts growing from the crack in a few days. I wasn't really expecting too much, so we don't have a pot or soil to plant it in yet...
Update:
August 20th: I stopped by a small flower shop in Kerrisdale today looking for a cheap plastic pot. The lady was so nice, she transplanted one of her flowers and gave us the pot for free. I think there might be a root growing in the crack, so we planted the avocado seed into a pot with some potting soil.
Update:
September 11th: I kept the avocado in the washroom because it was the room with the highest humidity. I checked on it today and there was a shoot growing out from the top! We had started germinating an additional avocado seed, but I forgot to check on it and it looks like some sort of hold or fungus was starting to grow on that one, so I don't know if it'll survive or not. It had a root growing out from the bottom. I moved it out to a pot with a little bit of soil. I guess we'll see what happens.
I guess we'll have to see what happens. Either it will get mouldy and rot or a root will grow in 2-4 weeks. This could be interesting. :) I was almost tempted to buy a little ceramic pot (with drain hole) so that we can plant it somewhere... but I'll hold off just in case this experiment fails.
I'm pretty bad at taking care of plants so the chances of this working are quite low. I just think it's a good opportunity to show Isaac how seeds grow (and the bigger picture of where some food comes from).
Update:
August 14th: We checked on the seed and it looks like it's formed a crack on one end. I think we've been trying to germinate it upside-down, so I've turned it around and put the crack side on the bottom of the container. I guess we'll have to see if a root starts growing from the crack in a few days. I wasn't really expecting too much, so we don't have a pot or soil to plant it in yet...
Update:
August 20th: I stopped by a small flower shop in Kerrisdale today looking for a cheap plastic pot. The lady was so nice, she transplanted one of her flowers and gave us the pot for free. I think there might be a root growing in the crack, so we planted the avocado seed into a pot with some potting soil.
Update:
September 11th: I kept the avocado in the washroom because it was the room with the highest humidity. I checked on it today and there was a shoot growing out from the top! We had started germinating an additional avocado seed, but I forgot to check on it and it looks like some sort of hold or fungus was starting to grow on that one, so I don't know if it'll survive or not. It had a root growing out from the bottom. I moved it out to a pot with a little bit of soil. I guess we'll see what happens.
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