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Now you have been inspired to grow your own vegetables you'll want a creative way to help you remember what you planted where!
It is important to label what you have planted and sown, as a lot of plants look similar as they are growing. Painting stones and using them to label what you are growing is not only useful, but an great art project in itself!
Now arrange your stones in your veg patch, herb garden or patio containers. Not only is it clear what you are growing, but it adds colour and fun to your space too!
Painting stones has become a bit of a craze in recent months, with social media groups popping up all over the country!
Our Littleheath Garden Store discovered their local 'Bromsgrove Rocks" group when a local charity requested a donation of stones. They explained that they had an easter event, where children could paint stones to join in the craze of hiding them around the area.
Since then we have been following the groups progress and have been inspired by their ideas for encouraging kids to get out into the great outdoors and have stone hunting adventures.
We caught up with Jane Taylor, Founder of Bromsgrove Rocks, to find out all about how it all started and the plans she has for the future for her growing facebook community.
It all started with a conversation with another school Mom friend who said she had found a rock in Redditch and I was the perfect person to set a Facebook Group for Bromsgrove !!
Bromsgrove Rocks is all about getting children of all ages, and families out in the fresh air, off Ipads and away from Televisions to explore their surrounding areas searching for painted rocks. It is also a fantastic way to meet people in the community and talk to people in the park, like the elderly or families, and give them hints on where to find the rocks.
The idea is to paint rocks of any shape with any design to then be weather sealed and hidden. Suggestions of materials to use are acrylic paints, Sharpies, Posca Pens and then a clear spray varnish to seal them. It's important to put (for Facebook) FB Bromsgrove ROCKS! on the back of the rock with Re-hide and post a picture. Some rocks with the United Kingdom flag design on them that I have painted recently travelled with a Charford First School Teacher to Florida, and have been found and posted on the Facebook page, such an amazing feeling to know they have been found and brought a good feeling to someone. The adults post the pictures of their painted rocks onto the Facebook page and also post the rocks that they find. All abilities and age groups are welcome to the group, some ladies have posted photos of their rocks which are complete works of art, with others getting their confidence back into the world of art to toddler painting, it's so much fun. Especially when you hear the whoops of excitement in the park when children have found a hidden rock.
They are being hidden in all the local parks, Sanders Park, Aston Fields Park, Lickey End Park, the Lickey Hills, Stoke Prior, Stoke Heath, The Oakalls, Bromsgrove High Street, to some people leaving them on friends doorsteps too as an act of kindness. People are also taking them on holiday with them too, and with the Bromsgrove ROCKS! name on the back people know where to post the picture too. I have to approve members for security but they can add their friends once they have been approved.
It all started in November 2017, a little slow to begin with due to the time of year and Christmas around the corner, but every week new members have been joining to the extent now that we are fast approaching 2,000 members from local to as far afield as Scotland, Cornwall and even abroad.
We have had some great backing from the Bromsgrove Advertiser who have seen us grow, to even being mentioned on ITV Central News, with a big feature on Rock Painting in the West Midlands area. I have recently produced an 'Aston Fields Rock Hunt' sheet with some rocks I painted to represent the shops in Aston Fields, from hairdressers, coffee shops, tattooist, beauticans. These shops display the rocks in the windows for the children to find and the children then tick them off their sheet. Again the Advertiser did an article on this for us.
The craze is UK wide with lots of local groups being set up on Facebook.
Our next event is on the 19 May - Royal Wedding Rock Event - at Sanders Park with everyone between now and then currently busy making wedding themed rocks to line a pathway in the park for the Bromsgrove Advertiser to photograph and feature. The rocks will then be hidden by the children to all parts of the surrounding areas to spread the word and the feel good factor.
After this event, in the summer holidays, I plan to do a Picnic Painting Rock event for everyone to bring a picnic rug, picnic and rocks and we'll pray for a nice day to enjoy some rock painting together and meet some of the Facebook followers. A great way to get the community together.
Charford First School are also going to do a stall to sell painted rocks to raise money for the school at the School Summer Fayre on 22 June.
Also planning to do an event in November when we reach 1 years old.
Bromsgrove Rocks Facebook page is a closed group, which means that members need to be approved. But once joined you are free to join in the stone hunting fun!
Search Bromsgrove ROCKS! on facebook to join.
Rock Painting and hiding groups are popping up all over the country. Search on Facebook to see if there is a group near you!
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