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In today’s world, we are so separated from the process of growing food, and few children understand where the food we eat every day comes from. We are more connected to the supermarket than we are to the farm. These 3 indoor gardening activities will rekindle the connection to the earth and teach your child about the important origins of food!
1. Easy Bean Sprouts
The first of our 3 amazing indoor gardening activities is bean sprouting.
Sprouting beans is a great way to introduce the concept of food growth to your child because the result literally happens overnight. From one day to the next, there are signs of life. This activity is easy, and the result is some super gnarly, alien looking sprouted beans. So fun to eat!
To grow bean sprouts in your own kitchen, you will need the following:
- Beans. Any bean will do, but mung beans and lentils sprout the fastest. Alfalfa, chickpeas, and adzuki beans are also good for beginners.
- Large empty plastic container. This plastic water container is the perfect size.
- Small hand towel
- Medium sized towel
- One deep baking dish
First, prepare the plastic container. Remove any labels and cut off the top of the plastic container. Cut small holes in the bottom of the container so water can drain out easily. The plastic container is ready to go!
Fill a medium sized bowl with your beans of choice (about 3 cups), and give them a good rinse.
Place the plastic water container in a deep baking dish, and put the beans into the plastic container. Fold the small hand towel to create a square shape and place it in the plastic container, snuggly on top of the beans.
Pour water into the plastic container. Use just enough water that it doesn’t overflow out of the deep baking dish. Let the beans rest in the water for 5 minutes. Remove the container from the water and place container in an empty bowl to catch any extra water drips.
Cover the plastic container with a medium sized bathroom towel, ensuring the entire container is covered. The seeds need to be completely shielded from the light. Let it sit untouched for one day. After one day, you will already see tiny sprouts coming out. But we want them to grow more! So we’re not done, yet.
Repeat the above process. Put the plastic container back in the deep baking dish, pour water into the plastic container, and let the beans soak in water for 5 minutes. Drain the water, place the plastic container into an empty bowl or baking dish, and cover with a medium sized bathroom towel.
Let the covered beans sit for 1 day before uncovering.
Repeat the process one more time! After the third round, you will have beautiful sprouted beans or lentils. They make the perfect crunchy treat!
2. Spring Onion Sprouting
The second indoor gardening activity is spring onion sprouting. For this easy growing experiment, you will only need 12 hearty spring onions and an empty plastic egg carton.
Prepare the spring onions by trimming down the little stringy roots at the bottom of the sprouts as well as the the spring onion green stems, leaving just the white parts and a small bit of the roots. Cut a small hole in the bottom of each egg well. You will stick one spring onion in each hole later.
Turn the egg carton upside down and fill the lid section with water.
Put one spring onion in each hole.
After 6 days, you will have fresh spring onion green stems that you can use to create a delicious dish or munch on as they are. You can repeat this process and continue growing spring onion green stems to your heart’s content!
3. Lemongrass Stem Growing
For this indoor gardening activity, you will be growing lemongrass stems and roots in order to transplant into a bigger pot and continue growing lemongrass for as long as you’d like.
You will need plastic or glass cups, lemongrass, and a pot of soil for this growing activity.
First, take as many stalks of lemongrass as you like and pull off all of the outer layers until you are left with just the inner layer.
Cut each stalk so they are about 6 inches in length. Place the stalks in the glasses, putting about 3 stalks in each glass. Fill each glass with 2 inches of water.
After 10 days, the lemongrass will grow impressive green leaves and a system of roots.
It’s time to plant the lemongrass! Fill a pot with soil. Dig a small hole for each lemongrass stalk. After all the stalks are planted, water well. Grow them for as long as you like, trimming as needed.
Click the video below to watch these 3 incredible indoor gardening activities in action!
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