Eco-Activity: Windowsill garden

It may be autumn, but we’ve still got a taste for fresh local veggies. So grab your garden gear and learn how to plant tasty vegetables, right on your own windowsill! Growing your own food is not only fun, it has big environmental benefits, including reducing plastic packaging and emissions that would otherwise be used to transport products to your local grocery store and to your house. As winter approaches, countries like Canada often have to increase the amount of products they import from warmer places able to grow fruits and vegetables during our cold months. That’s why growing your veggies indoors is a great way to help the planet.

Materials:

• A place to plant your veggies – it could be a planter, a pot, or a repurposed can or container
• Potting soil
• Vegetable seeds
• Here is a list of some easy crops to grow indoors:
• Radishes
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Green onions
• Herbs (basil, rosemary, dill, cilantro and more!)
• Tomatoes
• Microgreens/sprouts
• Hot peppers
• Hand shovel (optional)
• Garden gloves (optional)
• Water

Steps:

1. Fill your pot with soil
2. Lightly drag your hand shovel or fingers through the surface of the soil to create a few shallow rows
3. Grab your seeds and sprinkle them along the rows at the correct depth and distance apart as indicated on the seed packet. Note: It is always a good idea to sprinkle a few extra seeds just in case some do not germinate
4. Lightly pat them with soil, being sure not to bury them too deep
5. Always water seeds with a light shower after planting, being careful not to spray them too hard – they may wash away or become buried in the soil too deeply
6. Watch your veggies grow!
7. Sometimes as vegetables begin to sprout, they begin growing too closely together and need to be thinned out.  You can do this by simply snipping some seedlings with a pair of scissors – remember, veggies need ample room to grow to a decent size!
8. Continue to water your vegetables as the soil dries out – depending on the amount of light and heat they receive from the window, water the radishes every day or every other day – use the moistness of the soil as a guide!
9. Enjoy healthy, eco-friendly, and truly local veggies, Earth Rangers style!

The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog. Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!