Art and Craftspic This week for our Art and Crafts segment here at Life of Dad we taking on the role of Johnny Appleseed. Recently my family and I went apple picking. We had a splendid time. My girls loved to eat apples right there in the orchard. We took home a couple bags of apples. My wife made us a delicious apple crisp.

The girls also are learning about apples in their respective schools. So apples are the hot topic right now in our house. My oldest Lily asked if we could plant some apple seeds to grow a tree. I thought it was a good idea since we can discuss things growing in nature and the different stages of the apple.

Materials Needed:

Apples (Cut out the seeds from the apple before you eat them) seeds

Knife

Paper towels or damp cloth

Plastic container

Small flower pots

Potting soil

Mini shovel

Directions:

Extract apple seeds from a fresh apple. Dry your apple seeds in a cool location until thoroughly dried. Chill your dried apple seeds in a bag with a damp cloth or peat moss in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 weeks. This gives the apple seeds a boost to help them germinate.

Plant your apple seeds in seedling or small flower pots, covering them about 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters) with potting soil. Water the seeds enough to saturate the soil. Place the pots in a sunny window. Check them every few days to make sure the soil stays moist until the seeds sprout. Care for seedlings with plenty of water and fertilizer until they look sturdy enough to be transplanted outside.

Transplant your apple tree seedlings in a sunny area with well-drained soil. Surround your young apple trees with garden fencing to protect them and keep the soil around them moist. Northern Fence Inc. offers privacy fence Appleton and other fence installations. Pay special attention to watering them during very hot, dry days.

Plus you might want to keep a few seeds to plant right away, because your kids might not have the patience to wait that whole time. My kids wanted to plant the seeds in the ground right away. So that is why I kept a few seeds to plant in the ground that day.

apple seeds

The next morning after we planted the apple seeds, my daughters asked if the tree was growing out of the ground yet. I laughed and said, “No it will be a while.”

My youngest said in response, “Like Saturday?”

I replied, “No, it takes a bit longer than that.”

If you’re looking for extra nutrition for your apple tree, earthworms will do the trick! Go here and learn how earthworms can help in growing your plants. 

Happy planting!