Getting Ready To Sow

The teddy bears have been very eager to start sowing their flower seeds and vegetable seeds for ages! But they knew they had to clean and tidy out their greenhouse before they could begin. They had simply abandoned it last year when Winter came.

Now the days are warm and sunny again, they decided it was time to start the job.

Firstly, Charlie (who, of course, is in charge of construction and maintenance) decided that both the inside glass and the outside glass of the greenhouse needed to be really clean so that the growing plants would get as much light and warmth as they needed.

He filled a bucket with hot, soapy water and found a big brush with a telescopic handle (that means the handle can be made longer and longer) so he could reach to the top of the glass whilst he was still standing on the floor. No need for ladders (he's not really very good with heights)!

He quickly washed down all the glass outside whilst the other bears (and some friends) emptied everything out of the greenhouse itself. Phew! That was very tiring!

Then he brought his bucket and brush inside the greenhouse and cleaned all the glass there too. Then he hosed down all the glass, both inside and out, with clean water. It did look very sparkly when he had finished.

In the meantime, Scary had put on his rubber gloves and, using a scrubbing brush and another bucket of soapy water, cleaned out all the plant pots they had used in the greenhouse last year.

Tiny pots for sowing seeds and slightly bigger pots for the growing seedlings and then bigger ones as they became individual plants. How many do you think he washed? A hundred and twenty-three!!!

Some of the other bears were cleaning and tidying all the tables and shelves and tools and watering cans and trays that they had taken out of the greenhouse, and then bringing them back in. Still more bears were in charge of laying out the washed pots on the shelves so that they would dry.

The shelves were very high up though. So Teddy filled an empty bucket with clean pots, then Oscar hauled it up onto the shelving using some rope he had found. Tommy and Edward emptied the bucket and arranged the pots in pyramid shapes so that any water would drain out and the pots could dry completely, ready to be used again. Tommy was in charge of the littlest pots (no, they're not hats, Tommy!!) and Edward stacked the bigger pots.

It took nearly all day! Of course, the bears did have to stop for lots of breaks for cold drinks and biscuits, and for a big lunch of sandwiches and fruit (they had to keep up their energy levels after all!)

Finally, everything was done and the bears can now look forward to sowing their first seeds this year.

Even without a greenhouse, you could have a try at planting some seeds in nice, clean pots and keeping them warm indoors on a windowsill until they start to grow. Vegetables started off this way and then put out into the garden should grow into very yummy food. Have a go yourselves!