Time frame: 60-75 days

Outdoor space needed: 10' X 10' (100 square feet)

Objectives:

1. To identify vegetable foods and how they grow.

2. To successfully grow vegetables and flowers.

3. To properly perform gardening practices.

4. To develop gardening as a lifelong hobby.

Materials needed: plastic 5 gallon pickle buckets (10)

potting soil (10 cubic feet)

seeds and transplants

water source and hose

fertilizer (water-soluble 20-20-20)

Estimated cost: $25.00 (donations should be sought)

Methodology:

Remove the handle from the bucket; cut the bottom out of the 5-gallon pickle buckets; and saw the buckets into 2 equal halves. This creates 2 cylinders in which the potting soil is placed. By using the cylinders and potting soils, the hard work of digging the soil is eliminated.

Locate the cylinder garden in a flat area which receives a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight each day. Place the 10 cylinders in 2 rows 3 feet apart. Within the rows, place the cylinders 3 feet apart. This spacing allows room for the plants to reach full size and for the children to work around the plants.

Plant seeds and transplants of vegetables and flowers, and water-in. A dilute fertilizer should be applied on a weekly basis beginning one week after the transplants are planted and after the second set of leaves form on the seedlings.

Different vegetables and flowers can be grown depending on the season. Fall gardens should be planted in the first week of September to insure harvest before the first frost. Spring gardens should be planted after the last frost date, approximately March 21. Refer to the plant lists to choose those vegetables and flowers to grow in the cylinder garden.

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Vegetable Seed/ Season Number of days

transplant to plant to harvest

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Beans, bush seed spring 45-60

Beets seed spring/fall 50-60

Broccoli transplants spring/fall 60-70

Carrots seed spring/fall 60-70

Cabbage transplant fall 60-70

Cauliflower transplant fall 70-75

Cucumbers seed spring 60-70

Leaf Lettuce seed spring 45-60

Mustard seed fall 30-40

Okra seed spring 55-65

Peas, southern seed spring 60-70

Radishes seed spring/fall 20-45

Spinach seed spring/fall 40-60

Squash, yellow seed spring 50-60

Turnip, greens seed fall 30

Turnips, root seed fall 30-60

Tomato, cherry transplants spring 60-70

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Flower Seed/ Season Number of days

transplant to harvest

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Dianthus transplant spring/fall 7-14

Pansies transplant spring/fall 7-14

Periwinkles transplant spring 7-14

Petunias transplant fall 7-14

Portulaca transplant spring 7-14

Purslane transplant spring 7-14

Zinnas seed spring 40-50

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References from the Texas Agricultural Extension Service include:

Vegetable Gardening in Containers (B-1212)

Home Vegetable Gardening (B-1139)

Annual Flowers in the Landscape

Spring Vegetable Gardening

Fall Vegetable and Flower

Optional activities:

1. Cooking the harvested vegetables for the children to taste.

2. Discussion of the nutritive value of vegetables.