|
Project
#4 --- Sweet Potato Sprouting
Fascinate your child
with produce. It's easy to grow a green window treatment from a
lumpy sweet potato.
Selecting a potato at the grocery store is part of the fun. Once
the bounty is home, select a container. (A clear glass provides
a root-eye view.) You'll also need sturdy toothpicks.
Poke toothpicks in a
circle around the "waist" of the potato. Either end can
go up. Very young children may need help either piercing the skin
or making sure the picks will support the weight of the spud. Once
it's appropriately spiky, put it in the glass or jar. Fill with
water.
That's it to start. The
child needs to keep the water level high, adding to it as needed.
Within a week, the sharp-eyed will see tiny root buds starting in
the lower half. Soon, dark buds will appear. Some may even grow
under water level.
If the water level is
kept high enough, and the potato receives light from a window, the
vines should keep going. Got a sunny spot outside for a large container?
Cut the sprouts off the potato and put them in a deep pot with good
drainage. If the weather stays warm long enough, you can grow next
year's crop.
|
