27 Apr 2010

Veg Patch Kids!

I have to confess that, for a few years, I ran the after school Art Club when my son was at primary school.  My background is in illustration, design and crafting and yesterday evening I mentioned, briefly, to one of my friends that I'd quite like some drawn labels for my raised beds.


In no time, I had three eager faces ready for action and, fifteen minutes later, armed with crayons and home-made sketchbooks, I was sitting by the Veg Patch talking to the kids about what we were going to draw.  (This was completely impromptu, I'd meant to be sowing carrots!)  The kids were completely absorbed, asking questions and talking about the veg (and the colours!).  Even the youngest wild child, a boy aged just 7, sat calmly drawing and colouring and was the last to leave.  Not bad, huh?

Not only that but they then wanted to help me plant some more seeds, which we managed just before they were called in to their respective suppers. 

I was going to give you my (rave) review of 'Organic Gardening, the no dig way' today but have spent the morning scanning the drawings, laminating them and painting wood to attach them to in the Veg Patch.  Children place such importance on their work, I think it's vital that adults respond to this.  Thus, the drawings will be ready for the kids to put up in the Veg Patch when they return from school today.

As I have a wealth of craft ideas for kids in the garden, the other thing that I've started work on is another blog which I've called 'Veg Patch Kids'.  I'll let you know when it's up (gotta make it look snazzy first!)

6 comments:

  1. They look fantastic - just the ticket! I ran an art club once at my daughter's school and was asked if the 'proper' artist was ever going to come - kids (ha!). I always remember my neighbour's son making a hat from laminated seed packets which looked fantastic. Looking forward to seeing veg patch kids take shape.

    On the crafting note - am taking part in a knitting and crochet blog week over at stitchingandknitting.blogspot.com if you fancy having a look...

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  2. They're brilliant. I agree with you totally about nurturing children's interests. It's the same with anything, you get out of them what you put in, so if you show them a little bit of interest, then the interest that they display will grow. The labels will look great in situ and the kids will be thrilled that they're ready to go in to position when they get home from school.

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  3. Countrymummy - I love the idea of laminated seed packets for a hat! I'll pop over and see how you're doing with the knitting!

    Jo - The kids have been racing round to the Veg Patch straight after school every day since the labels went up, so I scored a hit, I think!

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  4. Ryan, in sunny Melbourne29 April 2010 at 12:08

    Awesome! Well done to you. My little brother Archie is the young maestro behind two of the drawings.....he is far more talented than me! If you are reading Arch, hello mate, miss ya loads. Give Mum a kiss from me!

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  5. Hi Ryan, Archie is my most enthusiastic helper - he even wants his own garden now, and keeps everything lively in the veg patch! Look out for his cheeky face in future photos, I'm sure he'll feature here again soon!

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  6. The labels look really good and give the kids ownership of the seeds they have planted. Had not thought about laminating.

    Looking forward to reading the new blog.

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