Transplanting Tomato Seedlings
We are putting a lot of hard work into this process and the main reason for these posts is to speak about what goes on in the day to day and how we are teaching about this.
(For more information about the start, click here)
We planted some tomato seeds nearly five weeks ago and, mainly because of the weather, they have taken a little bit of time to get ready. They sprouted and due to the cold temperatures, they languished a bit. This is a teachable moment because we were able to show the students how weather impacts the growth of things.
At this point, we are focusing on tomatoes because they are fast growing and people love them. As the project gets bigger and the weather gets warmer, we are going to grow other plants of course because there is an increased need.
We start with tomatoes.
We went with organic roma tomato varieties for a couple reasons. First, we talked with local restaurants and caterers about what they use because at the end of this process, we want to show our students results. We wanted them to see the process of what goes into getting something from a seed to the plate and we have big plans for that.
The second plus of the roma tomato is that it is great for a variety of things and just downright delicious! It has a low water content and is great for making a variety of our favorite things. They are easy to grow and challenging enough to be a good teaching tool.
Today we worked on transplanting our seedlings and their own, recycled cups. Over the winter, students were tasked with collecting plastic cups from various locations around Atlanta. It became chance to talk to our students about keeping usable materials our of the trash stream.
The seedlings were planted in large groups from seeds harvested from organic tomato plants to get the most germination possible. Because they were not treated with chemicals designed to slow growth, we got a lot of really strong seedlings.
Today, they were strong enough to transplant. We took the whole clump of seedlings and then separated each into separate cups. We then placed enough about an inch of compost in the bottom of the cup. We placed a seedling in each cup and filled it up with soil up to the main leaves. Each plant will grow more roots along the stem where it comes into contact with soil making it stronger.
We are now going to step back and watch them grow.
On April 29, we are going to start giving them away. Our students are going to track the progress of the plants as they go out all over Atlanta, Augusta, and Greenville, SC.
If you would like to be a part of the Little Life Growing Cooperative, get a plant to help us grow, or help in any way, please let us know at thelifecooperative@gmail.com
Hashtags
#growtogive
#growyourownfood
#nowmorethanever
(For more information about the start, click here)
We planted some tomato seeds nearly five weeks ago and, mainly because of the weather, they have taken a little bit of time to get ready. They sprouted and due to the cold temperatures, they languished a bit. This is a teachable moment because we were able to show the students how weather impacts the growth of things.
At this point, we are focusing on tomatoes because they are fast growing and people love them. As the project gets bigger and the weather gets warmer, we are going to grow other plants of course because there is an increased need.
We start with tomatoes.
The second plus of the roma tomato is that it is great for a variety of things and just downright delicious! It has a low water content and is great for making a variety of our favorite things. They are easy to grow and challenging enough to be a good teaching tool.
Today we worked on transplanting our seedlings and their own, recycled cups. Over the winter, students were tasked with collecting plastic cups from various locations around Atlanta. It became chance to talk to our students about keeping usable materials our of the trash stream.
The seedlings were planted in large groups from seeds harvested from organic tomato plants to get the most germination possible. Because they were not treated with chemicals designed to slow growth, we got a lot of really strong seedlings.
Today, they were strong enough to transplant. We took the whole clump of seedlings and then separated each into separate cups. We then placed enough about an inch of compost in the bottom of the cup. We placed a seedling in each cup and filled it up with soil up to the main leaves. Each plant will grow more roots along the stem where it comes into contact with soil making it stronger.We are now going to step back and watch them grow.
On April 29, we are going to start giving them away. Our students are going to track the progress of the plants as they go out all over Atlanta, Augusta, and Greenville, SC.
If you would like to be a part of the Little Life Growing Cooperative, get a plant to help us grow, or help in any way, please let us know at thelifecooperative@gmail.com
Hashtags
#growtogive
#growyourownfood
#nowmorethanever
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