BY MARY WILSON, ACES
AUBURN — With continued hot weather, gardening may be the last thing on people’s minds. However, this is the perfect time to begin planning and planting seeds for a fall garden.
Along with providing nutritious, fresh food, growing a fall garden as a family can reinforce lessons students are learning in the classroom. Doyle Keasal, an Alabama 4-H associate and author of Reading a Seed Packet, said gardening integrates a variety of disciplines — from math and science to reading and problem-solving.
“When children get to plant a seed, they’re learning through every step of the growing process,” Keasal said. “They see what a seed looks like and how it should be planted. They learn about germination. Plus, they observe how a plant changes from the time it emerges as a seedling to the time it’s ready to harvest.”
Reinforcing Classroom Lessons
A veteran educator, Keasal said starting a fall garden from seed encourages students to hone critical thinking skills.
“Nowadays, a lot of youth and even adults just want to find an online video that tells them how to do something,” he said. “However, with gardening, you can find all the information necessary for success by simply reading a seed packet. We need to teach children how to read for comprehension and factual information, and a seed packet provides that educational opportunity.”
Plant illustrations, descriptions and scientific names are often included on seed packets. They also provide details on spacing and days to harvest, which can be used for the practical application of math.
“Gardening is a great way to teach measurement, which students can then use in other disciplines like woodworking,” Keasal said. “Children can easily measure the space needed between plants. Parents can encourage critical thinking by asking their children why the plants shouldn’t be closer or farther apart. You could even run an experiment where you space plants out differently and see what happens.”
What to Grow and How to Start
Mallory Kelley, a home horticulture agent with Alabama Extension at Auburn University, said the shorter days and cooler nights of fall provide perfect growing conditions for numerous vegetables. Those include beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, collards, kale, kohlrabi, lettuces and spinach.
To start in late summer, Kelley said it’s best to grow vegetables indoors from seed.
“You have more control growing indoors,” said Kelley. “The seeds still need consistent moisture in the soil and possibly a warming mat if your air conditioning makes your home too cold. They also need more than just a sunny window. It’s best to invest in a grow light that can be raised and lowered. Keeping the light just above the leaves of new seedlings will increase your chances of success.”
Kelley advised giving seedlings four to five weeks indoors before moving them to an outdoor garden.
“Ideally, nighttime temperatures should be in the 60s before transplanting,” she said. “Be sure to apply plenty of mulch around new transplants. That will help retain moisture in the soil and reduce stress as the plants adapt to the new environment.”
Benefits of Growing from Seed
Using seeds for a fall garden can be easier on the pocketbook than alternatives.
“At a store or garden center, you might pay $5 for a transplant or seedling,” Keasal said. “That’s one plant that might only provide one harvest. With seeds, that same $5 could likely buy two packets with the potential to grow 100 or more seedlings of the same plant.”
To start seeds indoors, Kelley suggested additional investments of a grow light, heat mat, seed trays, seed starting media and greenhouse-type covers.
“Once you have those items in place initially, you can use most of them for years to come,” she said. “Plus, with fall gardening, the temperatures are easier to work in. Insect and disease pressures lessen as the season progresses. Nature provides its own mulch with falling leaves, and the plant varieties that grow during fall are more compact and can easily be tucked into other garden beds.”
Plus, using a seed packet to start a fall garden provides its own souvenir.
“Some people like to keep garden journals, and a seed packet is a great addition,” Keasal said. “If you were really happy with what the packet produced, reference it in your journal. That way, the next fall, it’s easy to remember what worked and you can make that same purchase again.”
More Information
For a video about how to start plants from seed, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ks1HerqO0. Be sure to check out the online publication Reading a Seed Packet for more information, including an activity, worksheet and vocabulary lesson.
