Pizza wheels and caterpillar cress - Former Blue Peter gardener shares his top tips on how to make gardening child's play

With parents and guardians also looking to keep their children entertained and learning in this unprecedented period of lockdown, former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins is sharing advice on how to keep little ones amused whilst developing their interest in organic growing.

“Start simple and quick-growing,” is the top tip from Collins, head of organic horticulture at the charity Garden Organic.“Pea-shoots, cress or lettuce leaves are perfect starting places for impatient minds. Shoots will appear in just a matter of days, with only a short wait before you have something to eat. Identify colours, draw flowers, count seeds, and encourage home cooking using the produce grown.”

Collins has suggested a number of creative gardening projects for youngsters to try: making a ‘pizza wheel’ by growing their own ingredients for pizza toppings, nurturing a ‘cress caterpillar’ from an egg carton, and making a ‘butterfly pie’ to attract the beautiful insects.

In each section, a different type of seed can be grown to make toppings for a pizza. Seeds could include basil, tomato, sweet peppers and rocket. “Learning about where their food comes from, how it is grown and looked after and the importance of insects to the food chain are great life lessons for children,” Collins says.

For the cress caterpillar, cut the lid away from an egg box and cut through the middle to create three sections to plant seeds in. Decorate the box by painting it, adding a face for the caterpillar, along with googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae.

Once dry, pop a cotton wool ball in each section. Water the cotton wool and sprinkle liberally with cress seeds. Keep it moist and sprouts should be seen within a few days, with the cress ready to chop and eat within a couple of weeks.

For the butterfly pie, dig a small hole in a border or pot, about 30cm wide by 15cm deep. Create a ridge around the hole and line it with a piece of bin liner and pierce with a few holes.

Next, dissolve some sugar in water and add some partially rotted plums or similar fruit. Mix the ingredients together and add to the soil from the hole. Pop the final mixture in the hole or pot and the Butterfly Pie is complete and ready to attract various butterfly visitors.

Try to teach organic gardening too, Collins stresses. “As parents we don’t want our children eating things sprayed with chemicals, or soil with artificial fertiliser on, so it is really important to teach them organic methods.

“Children also love seeing and interacting with caterpillars and ladybirds. If you have sprayed your garden with pesticides they will be hard pressed to find these fascinating creatures.”

Parents shouldn’t interfere too much either, he suggests. “Give them responsibility for their own space. That could be part of the garden, a pot on a balcony or patio, a hanging basket, or a container on the window ledge. If they look after it every day, they’ll see the plants shoot, flower and fruit before their eyes.”

He continues: “Children love putting their hands in the soil and getting them dirty. Getting them outdoors and involved with nature is a natural thing for them to do, and a great learning experience. It will also get them outdoors and active. Gardening can have a positive effect in so many different ways.”

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor