Growing Party Bags

We were asked if we could provide party bags for a 6th Birthday Party - with a difference. Instead of the usual sweeties and cheap plastic toys (that all add up) this was to be an organic, natural and sustainable party bag.

You know we love the chance to get kids involved in gardening and spread the organic gardening love around like mud, so we accepted the challenge.

We made a party bag that holds new life and a new journey a growing journey. It's true kids love gardening, They love to make something, nurture something and watch it grow. What other activity can teach them so much and be so much fun?

The birthday girl's favourite colour is yellow, therefore it had to be sunflowers. Sunflower's are popular to grow with kids, because the seed is large, they are easy to grow and they are fun flowers. They are great for attracting wildlife too. We choose Titan sunflowers, their heads can grow up to 20" in diameter.

The Grow Your Own Sunflower Party Bag contains;

1 x Coir Pot (10.75cm)

1 x Coir Compost Disc

2 x Sunflower Seeds

Growing Your Own Sunflower couldn't be simpler with these kits.

Firstly pour 200ml of water over the coir compost disc and watch as it expands as if by magic. (We find lukewarm works best and make sure you are on a wipe down surface too!)

Now just add your seeds. There are two in the kit - just in case. Sometimes seeds are 'blind' and do not germinate.

Sow 1/4 inch deep. Water regularly. Seeds generally carry their own nutrients, but once your plant starts to form give it an extra boost with organic liquid fertiliser.

Germination time:14-21 days. Sow your Sunflowers indoors March/ April or outside from May/ after the last frost. From May your coir pot and plant can be moved outside.

The pot naturally biodegrades feeding the soil around it so you won't have to disturb the roots of your plant. Just plant the sunflower, pot and all, either direct into the soil or into a bigger pot. Your plant will need support as it grows tall.

Flowers: July/ August/ September.

Our coir pots are 'grown' in Sri Lanka, the coir is the husk of the coconut, the outer part, which otherwise go to waste, making this a very sustainable resource. The compost disc is made from coir too. Our aim is to offer an alternative to the plastic pots you see everywhere and also to avoid the use of 'peat', so much compost contains peat which is destroying the peat bogs, a natural habitat for wildlife.