Monday, August 30, 2010
Germination Anticipation
We prepared seeds for sprouting today! I went on a mad dash for tomato and bell pepper seeds this weekend, forgetting that even though we're having typical Florida hot and sunny weather, the rest of the country is thinking in terms of Autumn planting. No tomato or pepper seeds to be had just now. Opted for "cherry belle" radishes, rosemary and basil. Half the class pushed seeds down into starter soil in small cups and the other half tucked seeds into moistened paper towels and nestled that into a plastic baggie. These are taped to the classroom window, while the cups are perched on the window sill below. We hypothesized about which preparation would help the seeds to sprout fastest. Most students were confident that the soil would be the best choice. We'll see in about a week. It feels so good to know that life is getting started in those cups and towels...I can almost taste those crunchy little treats!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Happy New Year!
Yes, that's right, I said, Happy New Year! Happy New School Year! I met all of my new students today and I'm so excited about our year together. We seem to have a wonderfully diverse mix of personalities and interests. It was fun to get to tell my students about the composter and the worm bin that were donated to us via DonorsChoose.org. We're also receiving an audio CD of the book The Gardener and a pair of work gloves, which we will sign as a symbol of our inaugural vegetable garden at SES.
Coincidentally, or perhaps, serendipitously, our order for the gardening and composting items shipped today. I can't wait to get our table scraps and lawn clippings cooking away in there so we can get some nutritious, organic soil into our veggie beds! Obviously, we're going to "cheat" a little by purchasing organic soil at first, or we'd have to wait two months to plant anything. I'm hoping Home Depot will donate some soil to us in exchange for free advertising at our school.
The best part of all of this is how enthusiastic my students seemed about getting to dig in the dirt and produce food by themselves. I'm so eager to get us going, I may have to go to Home Depot this weekend!
Coincidentally, or perhaps, serendipitously, our order for the gardening and composting items shipped today. I can't wait to get our table scraps and lawn clippings cooking away in there so we can get some nutritious, organic soil into our veggie beds! Obviously, we're going to "cheat" a little by purchasing organic soil at first, or we'd have to wait two months to plant anything. I'm hoping Home Depot will donate some soil to us in exchange for free advertising at our school.
The best part of all of this is how enthusiastic my students seemed about getting to dig in the dirt and produce food by themselves. I'm so eager to get us going, I may have to go to Home Depot this weekend!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Feeling the Love!
Monday the 9th was a good day for the garden.
The girls and I took a drive to Habitat for Humanity in Vero Beach to have a look at scrap lumber we could use to frame out the raised beds. They have a LOT of what appeared to be usable wood, but I learned something interesting: We can't use treated lumber for this garden. Of course, this made sense once I heard some one say it, but I hadn't thought of it myself before. Treated wood has been chemically changed to make it more resistant to critters like bugs and mold. Sounds good...except the chemical treatment is toxic. Obviously, that's not going to work in a garden where the results are supposed to be eaten! The man I met at Habitat also said that it would be a good idea to use untreated wood to outline the beds, but that ultimately, we will want to use pavers, bricks or something else less subject to weathering and decomposition than wood. He also mentioned the polyvinyl edging blocks I have seen at places like Lowe's and Home Depot, but, we're Sea Turtles Gardening Organically, and it wouldn't do to be using non-renewable resources to edge our gardens.
Our next stop was Orchid Island Botanicals on US 1 in Vero Beach. Neil, one of our school crossing guards, works there and came right over to say hello and see what help he could offer. He donated a giant stack of black, plastic pots we can use to get seeds started and suggested that we build our beds right on top of concrete, instead of over dirt in an attempt to circumvent the nematodes that would eventually destroy our crops. Neil told me he would stockpile supplies for us when they weren't needed at the garden center. It feels so good to know that community people are on our side!
The girls and I took a drive to Habitat for Humanity in Vero Beach to have a look at scrap lumber we could use to frame out the raised beds. They have a LOT of what appeared to be usable wood, but I learned something interesting: We can't use treated lumber for this garden. Of course, this made sense once I heard some one say it, but I hadn't thought of it myself before. Treated wood has been chemically changed to make it more resistant to critters like bugs and mold. Sounds good...except the chemical treatment is toxic. Obviously, that's not going to work in a garden where the results are supposed to be eaten! The man I met at Habitat also said that it would be a good idea to use untreated wood to outline the beds, but that ultimately, we will want to use pavers, bricks or something else less subject to weathering and decomposition than wood. He also mentioned the polyvinyl edging blocks I have seen at places like Lowe's and Home Depot, but, we're Sea Turtles Gardening Organically, and it wouldn't do to be using non-renewable resources to edge our gardens.
Our next stop was Orchid Island Botanicals on US 1 in Vero Beach. Neil, one of our school crossing guards, works there and came right over to say hello and see what help he could offer. He donated a giant stack of black, plastic pots we can use to get seeds started and suggested that we build our beds right on top of concrete, instead of over dirt in an attempt to circumvent the nematodes that would eventually destroy our crops. Neil told me he would stockpile supplies for us when they weren't needed at the garden center. It feels so good to know that community people are on our side!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Getting the vision
Our ultimate goal is to grow fruit and vegetable plants that will produce snacks for our 1st and 5th grade classrooms. Eventually, we'd like to expand this to provide healthy snacks and a learning garden experience for all students at SES.
Today I'm taking the girls over to school so we can do some exploring around campus. I have my tape measure and a compass ready so I can measure possible sites for the raised beds, and so that I can get a good idea of what kind of sun exposure the plants will be getting throughout the day. I spoke with Barbara from the Master Gardeners of Indian River County on 8/2. She gave me some great resources to check out through the University of Florida's extension office (UF). It's going to be important that we choose plants that will grow well in Florida's heat. We're right on the edge of Zones 9 and 10 Here's a link to a Hardiness Zone Map.
We're planning to use raised beds because the soil conditions at school are pretty poor, and with raised beds, you can control the nutritional content of the soil better. The hope is to garden organically with compost created on campus from compostable scraps from the cafeteria and home.
Today I'm taking the girls over to school so we can do some exploring around campus. I have my tape measure and a compass ready so I can measure possible sites for the raised beds, and so that I can get a good idea of what kind of sun exposure the plants will be getting throughout the day. I spoke with Barbara from the Master Gardeners of Indian River County on 8/2. She gave me some great resources to check out through the University of Florida's extension office (UF). It's going to be important that we choose plants that will grow well in Florida's heat. We're right on the edge of Zones 9 and 10 Here's a link to a Hardiness Zone Map.
We're planning to use raised beds because the soil conditions at school are pretty poor, and with raised beds, you can control the nutritional content of the soil better. The hope is to garden organically with compost created on campus from compostable scraps from the cafeteria and home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)