Germinating Idea

My 5-year-old, Joe, is deeply interested in understanding how the world works. When we planted our native wildflower mix over the weekend, I explained that we had to keep the seeds damp so they would germinate. After a few minutes of trying to explain this concept, I decided to show him instead. A few sunflower seeds, a damp paper towel and a plastic container is all it takes.

Thanks to school science fairs, there is a host of information on seed germination available on the Internet. (See the results of a Google search on the topic.) I even had Joe plant 10 seeds so we could easily do a little thinking about percentages when the seeds start to sprout. We are now eagerly awaiting the results of our experiments, both inside and out in the recently planted garden beds.