This post is about how to grow garlic to spice bread at home. Have you noticed garlic scapes on any menus? Garlic scapes are the leaves that grow from a garlic bulb. Have you ever tried this? Do you happen to have some garlic in the pantry? It will grow and impress your children as well as make a tasty snack for the family. Perhaps you have noticed that garlic left unattended might start to grow shoots. Although it might look quite incapable of being useful, it has more potential.
Easily Grow Garlic and Measure Its Progress
Here is a free PDF for children to measure and record plant growth from bulbs or seeds they plant, not just garlic.
A little soil, pot, and some water are all that is required. Be sure to place the flat end down in the dirt, and the pointed tip up as well. This is the same way garlic is planted in outdoor gardens.
Then cover the bulbs with soil almost to the top, but leave the tips exposed. I leave the tip exposed so children can see what is happening. Outside in gardens, the bulb should be placed about two inches under the soil. Add water and wait. Of course, the plants will need sunlight and patience. Here is a free PDF to have children record and measure the plant growth. measure-plant-growth-recording-pages
Children can observe the plant growth and try to understand what is going on.
It is fun to pull one of the garlic bulbs out even before the green shoots appear to study the roots that grow in just a few days.
As the plants grow, children can measure how long the leaves are growing. The leaves are what will be used to spice the bread. The long green stalks are called scapes.
When it’s time to harvest
When you have some of the thin, green leaves (scapes), it is ready for harvest. These leaves could have grown longer, but the best part is the young shoot. Cutting the shoot may cause the bulb some damage so do not do this to all the plants. Snack time will be fun when the children have cared for the bulbs and helped cut the leaves. This is an opportunity for some authentic scissor practice. When cut the leaves will release a smell just like garlic. Funny thing!
Then butter the bread and put the garlic snips on the bread. Toast in the oven a few minutes (6 to 8).
After toasting, eat and enjoy it!
Another plant that grows quickly is the green bean. Once my son brought home his one lonely green bean from a seed he planted at school. We shared it and ate it at dinner. It was so much fun.
Thank you for reading, Carolyn
The bubbling snowman is easy to set up. Begin with a cookie tray and arrange different size lids to create a flat snowman. We drew a face on one lid using a sharpie marker. Be sure the lids are upside down so they can be filled with baking soda.
Mixing colors in the kitchen with a few common ingredients provides an engaging activity for children. This is one they are sure to want to do over and over as it will be different each time.
This post is about how to grow garlic to spice bread at home. Have you noticed garlic scapes on any menus? Garlic scapes are the leaves that grow from a garlic bulb. Do you happen to have some garlic in the pantry?
Free PDF. There are 3 pages of directions: one for a microwave oven, one for using a solar oven, and one for the microwave approach. Children can read the directions and prepare the S’mores for the family. Sneak in some summer reading!
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Did you know things like ketchup, salt, vinegar, and lemon juice will clean and brighten pennies? If your pennies are all bright and shiny, you can keep them in water overnight to allow them to darken for this experiment. Warning, children might like to do this over and over!
