Although we’re living in unusual times it’s comforting to know that the nature is still doing its thing! The sun continues to rise and set every day, flowers are blooming, leaves are changing colour; there is so much to see and appreciate.
Nature is good for you
Spending time in green space is beneficial to both your physical and mental wellbeing. It can improve your mood, your confidence, your self-esteem and reduce feelings of stress. By taking the time to pause and notice nature you are living in the moment and practicing mindfulness. While lockdown is preventing us from spending as much time outside as we’d like to, why not bring the outside in?
Here are some ideas that can help you feel a sense of nature inside your home! If you don’t have access to a garden of your own, don’t worry! These activities are also suitable for those without access to a garden.
Make a milk bottle waterer!
First things first: What better way to water your plants than using a home-made watering bottle? This is a fun and free way to create your own personalised watering can. Decorate a clean plastic milk bottle, ask an adult to pop a few holes in the lid, then go and water your indoor plants!
Re-grow your veggie scraps!
Using your kitchen scraps, you can re-grow healthy vegetables again. Experiment by using different vegetable ends. Growing tasty, healthy produce from clean kitchen scraps can save money, cut down on food waste, and teach valuable lessons about nature and sustainability. Collect the discarded vegetable tops of carrots, parsnips, beetroot and turnips – they don’t need to have any green growth but do need to have the part where the leaves came from, at the top.
Here is an example:
- Grow celery! Cut the celery base about 5cm from the stalks
- Stand the celery base in a deep saucer or jam jar of water
- After a few days to a week leaves will begin to appear from the top and thin roots from the bottom
- Now it’s time to plant the celery stump into a pot of soil
- Bury the stump up to the new leaves – none of the original stalk should be visible – just the new growth poking through the soil
- Keep the plant well-watered
- When the new stalks start to grow, cut the top and bottom off a 2 litre drink bottle and place the cylinder around the plant to make a mini greenhouse
Chives and leeks are other examples of plants you can easily grow from the ‘base’ in the same way as celery.
NATURE NOTES: Discarded carrot tops are one of the easiest veggies to grow!
Juice bottle herb planter
Grow herbs using empty juice bottles! The bottle acts as a mini greenhouse to help your herbs grow faster!
What you need:
- Big juice bottle
- Scissors
- Stickers for decoration
- Compost
- Herb seeds
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