Besides dancing an Irish jig, chasing pots of gold, or painstakingly sitting in a patch of clover to find that ‘lucky’ one, St Patrick’s Day (17th March) is the traditional day to plant Sweet Peas in your garden!
Sweet Peas come in an array of colours, bringing life and vitality to your garden space. Best of all, they make for gorgeous cut flower arrangements. Your Brisbane Kids will love picking the flowers and filling jars with colour around the home, or just giving little posies to their friends and teachers.
You will need:
- Six (6) cell egg carton (or twelve cell cut in half)
- Printed & cut ‘St Patrick’s Day Sweet Pea Seed Gift Tag’ [DOWNLOAD HERE]
- Small bag of Searles Seed Raising Potting Mix
- Packet Sweet Pea Seeds
- Garden trowel
- Garden Gloves
How to make a St Patrick’s Day Sweet Pea Seed Gift
Step 1: Filling the Egg Carton
Filling the egg carton is easy. Simply remove the eggs and fill the compartments/cells with Searles Seed Raising Potting Mix, using a garden trowel. I recommend that you use a specialised seed raising mix over a normal potting mix as it is specially formulated to help little seeds germinate. I’ve found I have greater success when using a seed raising mix.
Step 2: Sewing the Seed
Using your finger tips, push a small hole into the center of each of the cells. Add one to two seeds per cell and cover over the seeds with potting mix.
SPECIAL NOTE ON GLOVES: Unfortunately, most children’s garden gloves are a bit too cumbersome for sewing the seeds into the egg cartons. My Brisbane Kids prefer not to wear them when sewing seeds into trays, so we just make sure we don’t put hands near our face and wash our hands very well when we’re finished (I use a disinfectant hand wash by Dettol). Alternatively, you might want to try latex gloves.
Step 3: Making the Gift Tag
This part is super easy. Fill in the details on the ‘St Patrick’s Day Sweet Pea Seed Gift Tag’, using the growing instructions on the back of the seed packet. Older children would be capable of doing this themselves. Once complete, wrap the Seed Gift Tag around the egg carton (remember to close the lid or it could get messy!) and sticky tape ends together……. And you are done!
Now you have a snappy St Patrick’s Day Gift, which will bring the recipient endless gardening joy and colour!
More about Renee Nugent:
Hi, I’m Renee and I’m a self confessed fun maker. Whilst I’m not the world’s best gardener (I’ve killed cactus), I believe that getting my kids gardening is one of the most important experiences I can give them as a parent. It’s my way to teach them about the environment, food production, healthy living, science and sustainable practices in a fun and physical way. I love that they are willing to taste our garden produce and that we incorporate many of our garden ‘treasures’ into our craft activities.
So don’t let past gardening failures burden you, we’ve all killed plants and that’s OK. Just get out there and garden with your kids, because… well… it’s fun! Find more of my garden fun at www.aboutthegarden.com.au.
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