Topic: Adult learners' week - your ideas please

[SMP1704]

I am organising some events at work for ALW. Most sessions will be work related and promote the work of the team. I also want to have some non work sessions, utilising people's hobbies; we have cake decorating, French, german, Arabic, singing etc. I offered to cover any spare sessions and so have been nominated for grow your own. I want the session to be practical - it is for 45mins. This is what I plan to do, what do you think?

Potting on seedlings using lettuce and beetroot.
Plant up a salad tub - mix of seeds and seedlings
Pinching out toms
Short talk on container growing and a bit on watering and feeding.

They will take away their tub. So that there can be no criticism of using public money I'm going to ask delegates to bring £2 to cover cost of platic tub and compost. I think a max group size of 10.

What do you think? If you were new to growing and didn't have an allotment would this interest you?  Is the charge reasonable?

[Poppy Mole]

It sounds a very good idea to me, but will £2 cover the costs?

[Alex133]

Excellent idea but agree £2 sounds a bit light - what about cost of seeds/seedlings?

[manicscousers]

Sounds like a great idea, let us know if you need some seeds, I 'm sure we can find some  :)

[SueK]

When I was doing a "Training skills for Trainers" course last year, I did an intro to growing your own as my presentation and I must say that people seemed to enjoy it and gave me good feedback, so I would say that your ideas are definitely a goer; let's face it, people do like the idea of taking something home!  Like yourself, I used container gardening as the starting point, and gave them the choice of potting on some tomato seedlings and/or sowing runner beans in cardboard tubes.  This was only a 10 minute session, but people took the opportunity to do both where they could and even the course assessors were seen nobbling tomato plants!  Just bear in mind extras to keep your room in reasonable condition - covers for tables, bags to take things home, etc., plus physically getting everything in there in the first place.

One thing which I did not expect and which you may come across, from what you have mentioned so far, is that some groups of people have a cultural aversion to handling soil.  Where I work was going to provide gardening gloves but, on the day, was unable to come up with these; however, I had brought in cut down milk cartons to act as funnels to use when filling the cardboard tubes and apparently that was sufficient to allow one lady of Indian origin, who didn't want to get her hands dirty, to manage.  This only became clear to me afterwards at feedback time and I hadn't foreseen this at all.

Money wise I didn't really have any concerns as I had plenty of spare tomato plants from home saved seed and lots of pots from freecycle plus support from work and my only personal expense was a packet of seeds in the end.   However, ultimately it was for my benefit so you may not view things in quite the same way, of course. :)

[SMP1704]

thanks for your feedback.

My plot neighbours have been very generous and are donating spare seedlings and as a seedaholic I have more than enough seeds!  Poundland do some good tubs, so 10 of those £10 and £6 for compost.  I have a tarpaulin to cover the floor and the tables can be wiped down afterwards.  As we are a hospital, I will ask people to brings gloves if they want to keep their hands clean.  I will bring the materials in by car the previous day and hopefully the group will take everything away with them after the session!

[Digeroo]

You can buy cheap plastic gloves in packets, to take a pair each time you fill up with petrol.

Tomatoes are quite a long time between planting and harvesting and with the blight situation can be rather frustrating.  I would suggest courgettes or cucumbers.

I would sow salad leaves in pots it is a matter of days before you are eating it and it is so much cheaper and fresher than a supermarket bag of leaves.  

Climbing beans and peas can be more fun people can grow them up a bush when they get home.   Or the dward beans in a tub.  

Does your local garden centre have a pot recycling bin.  

Not sure I would bother with potting on, just sow thinly and go.

[Gadget]

I think this is a really great idea!  people do have a fear of the unknown, so introducing them to a simple concept of growing your own should help encourage inspiration. :)  It's hand's on and but it is a bit too cheap, maybe you should make it a fiver and discount for old people and children? you should have a good number of people turning up though.

Before I got my allotment I would use anything to grow things in, including old hand bags, old draws (as in chest of, not frilly ones) old saucepans,  and anything I could lay my hands on.  The other thing is growing edible flowers like nastursans and pansy's as they look lovely too. :)

[PurpleHeather]

I had some school kids who arrived a few weeks ago with a teacher, just as I was about to transplant PSB seedlings from the flower pot I had put the seeds in, in to  individual pots.

It was no skin off my nose but the teacher was impressed that the kids could each plant up a seedling. I wished I had known they were coming because I would have organised it so that the kids could have potted up a plant each to keep and watch it grow and see a proper end result but as it was all I could do was show them and let them have a go at 'potting up' with what I had at the time.

£2  each will easily cover the cost of a bit of compost and a plastic pot since seeds are cheap enough. Unless you are intent on making a profit out of the project. Plants are available for under £2 from supermarkets. I would make a profit on it if I charged £1 each. In fact I think 50p would be enough to break even.

But in my view the seedling they plant up should be of the sort that they can grow on to something they can keep, look after and see the end result of as a pot plant.

It inspires interest and gives confidence. Most people are scared of potting up. yet it is a fairly simple.

 The skill will be on selecting the right plant for the adult to keep as a window sill pot plant, herb or flower.

They will show it off as an accomplishment. That bit of learning wont be forgotten. It could even inspire

The teacher, from my lot, brought on to the site a load of hand made cards from the kids as a thankyou for me the other day.  I just wish I had gotten the chance to show them and offer them so much more.

[SMP1704]

That's another Adult Learners' week done and dusted - roll on 2012 ::)

The gyo session was this afternoon and if I say so myself, went well.

Each person had a 20l (ish) tub which they potted up with a tomato, some seedling lettuce and sowed a few seeds of beetroot, rocket and four french beans.

Each section started with me explaining, then demonstrating and finally they added that component to their tub.

I think that is 5 converts to the way of gyo ;D and I covered my costs for the tubs and compost - a win-win...

PurpleHealther - that's a lovely story - why not send some bean seeds in to school? that way the kids can apply what they learn with the psb potting on.

[PurpleHeather]

I would love to send something to the school but I have no idea which school it was.

There are at least a dozen with in 15 mins of the allotments.

[SMP1704]

Whatever next - an impromptu school visit without a risk assessment, insurance and parental consent!

Lob a bean seed over each school fence and see which one sprouts - that has to be where your intrepid explorers came from ;D but don't phone round the schools, the teacher will probably be sacked for showing independent will.