Cubs Gardener Badge

Find out what seasons are best to grow a selection of 6 fruits and vegetables

a. Find out what it is about those seasons that make them the right time to grow your fruit and vegetables

Learn what tools you need to garden (at least 3) and show that you know how to use them safely

a. Important tools include gardening gloves, hand trowel, secateurs, hand fork, spade, and watering can
b. Create a leaflet to tell people about when to use some of these tools and how to use them safely

Help to look after and grow at least 1 item in a garden/allotment for 2 months

a. Alternatively, grow at least 2 different fruits, vegetables, or herbs for 2 months indoors or in plant pots
b. You could grow:
i. Herbs such as basil or mint (these could be done indoors in a window box)
ii. Vegetables such a lettuce or runner beans
iii. Fruits such as tomatoes or strawberries

Design plant labels for the plants you are looking after or growing

a. You could use lollipop sticks for this

Understand what minibeasts are and why they are good for our gardens and outdoor spaces

a. Create an informational poster or leaflet to tell people all about different minibeasts
b. Visit a bug hotel and record what you find living there

Enjoy!

Send any work that you do for this badge to [email protected] or keep everything safe and bring it along when Scouting returns

Any questions, use the same email address, or for parents; post in Facebook, or message a leader.

There are some extra activities which you could do below!

It’s A-Sprout Time

You will need a plant to monitor and care for (you can grow it from a seed or buy one)

Create a poster for your plant

When you first plant / buy it, give it some water and record how it looks on your poster

a. You could use words, measurements, photographs, or drawings

You should regularly monitor and water your plant for 2 months, recording it’s progress on the poster

If your plant isn’t growing well, think about how much water, light, and air it is getting

You could try growing different types of plant to see which are easier or more difficult to look after

Snug as a Bug

Think about the kind of invertebrate that you want to attract to your bug hotel, different bug hotels are made to attract certain kinds of bugs

a. You need to make sure the conditions there are similar to those that minibeasts like in nature
b. Where does your favourite invertebrate live in the wild? What are their favourite things?

Examples include:

a. A pile of rotting sticks and logs will act like a fallen tree and attract woodlice, beetles, spiders, and centipedes

b. Lettings areas grow high with wild flowers and grasses will attract
grasshoppers and bees

c. Holes and small tubes made out of bamboo, reeds, and drilled logs make the perfect home for solitary bees

d. Larger holes with stones and tiles provide cool and damp conditions for frogs and toads

e. Dry leaves, sticks, or straw will attract ladybirds

f. Corrugated cardboard is a favourite of lacewings

g. Dry leaves will mimic a forest floor, favoured by lots of different minibeasts

Have a go at making a bug hotel using natural materials

Check back on your bug hotel in a week or 2 and record what you find by taking photographs or drawing pictures