Garden Planning

There have been quite a few sunny days recently even though it has been very cold - even for fur-covered bears! So, the bears already knew that Spring was finally on its way and they needed to start deciding what plants they wanted to grow in their garden this year.

They are very lucky that they have a greenhouse in their garden (they very kindly share it with their friends too) so they can start sowing their seeds in trays and pots and keep them warm enough to grow before they are transplanted out into the garden later in the year. Even if you don't have a

greenhouse, you can still start sowing your seeds in trays and keep them indoors on your windowsill.

The bears searched around to find all the packets of seeds they could - some are ones they have bought new this year, and some are left over from last year (some packets contain lots and lots of seeds so they couldn't possibly grow them all at once - can you imagine having hundreds of cabbages in the garden!!) They disposed of any that were out of date.

They made a big pile of all the packets and then somehow they needed to decide which ones to actually grow.

It was very difficult because the bears loved all of them! Teddy suggested that they should first each pick one particular flower or vegetable that they liked best. That would be the one which they would be personally responsible for - watering them, feeding them, and making sure they grow up into healthy plants. That was a bit difficult, but they all managed to find something they preferred.

Edward chose a particular sunflower (though he said the other bears could of course share them with him) because he liked its name best - see if you can find the name in the photos and work out why it was his favourite!

Another reason was because, unlike sunflowers the bears have grown previously, this one didn't grow too tall, and so they reasoned that the plants would be just the right height for the bears to see the flowers without having to climb up any ladders!!

But that still left loads and loads! So Scary suggested that they should vote on each one, and those with the highest votes would be the ones they would grow. Considering they had about 50 packets of seeds and there were 15 bears and their friends - this would take some time!! But, eventually, after several breaks for cake and lemonade, they managed to whittle their pile of packets down to a reasonable number.

Of course, they weren't going to plant every single seed, but it would still take a while to get the seeds planted in trays in the greenhouse - but at least it is very warm in there!

Have you chosen any seeds to sow this year? Grow them in your garden, or in a pot, or in a window box. You could even grow small vegetables, like spring onions or radishes, in containers if you don't have much room. Yum, yum! But don't forget they will need lots of looking after!