This week is our first time participating in Unplug Your Kids' weekly Unplugged Project, and this weeks theme is eggs. With it being Easter weekend I thought it would be a perfect time to jump in since there are so many egg related projects associated with this time of year! The kids and I have been saving our Araucana chicken eggs because they are such beautiful green and blue colors for planting in :)
To get a good egg shell for planting in try to crack them really close to the top of the shell so that you leave behind a nice deep cavity for placing your dirt and seeds in. We used a store bought all purpose soil mix and filled up a measuring cup with it....
and mixed in a really generous amount of water so that it was good and wet, not just damp.
With our egg shells all set up in a carton to keep them upright we started to spoon in little bits of the potting soil at a time until they were about a centimeter from the top of the shell.
Then using some of the hard red spring wheat I had on hand for bread making we put in a solid layer of the grain completely covering up the potting soil.
And the last step was to cover them again with just enough wet potting soil to cover the wheat. You don't want to put to much on or it will take longer for the wheat shoots to come through :) We placed the eggs right in the egg carton in the stereo cabinet where it was guaranteed to be warm all the time from all of the electronics, on an empty shelf of course not to close to anything *grin*. Now we wait, not very patiently I might add. Do you know how many times I was asked if they were sprouted yet.... on the first day!! LOL.
The results were fantastic!! The wheat sprouted on the 2nd day, and by the 4th day it was well on its way :) I made some funky little egg cup holders for them with copper wire and we placed them on our bright yellow chicky plates for Easter brunch today. Maybe we'll try juicing the grass next and see who will drink it. It's supposed to be super healthy *grin*
I love this project! Next year I'll have a source of blue/green eggs of my own (right, Heather?) and I love the way the wheat looks sprouted. The copper stands are darling. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for joining us with your wonderful egg idea! That looks like a lot of fun, and a good learning experience too. It is a happy thing that they sprouted so quickly otherwise you might have been pretty tired of those "have they sprouted yet?" questions! I just love your little egg stands too. Beautiful and very creative!
It is nice to "meet" you, and I really hope you'll join us again next week for rocks. I'd love to see what you come up with!
PS. Sorry I am late in visiting this week. I usually make my rounds on Monday.
I'm finally catching up on my reading! (Thank goodness for a week off!)
What a super project to do with the kids! I wish I'd seen this earlier! We did, however, plant some tomato seeds (from plain old planet earth) yesterday! I hope we can handle it!
Sprouting is one thing. Getting them outside and growing is a whole other thing. Maybe we'll have beefsteak tomatoes?
