End of Week Five - and then some...

We have wrapped up our summer school session, and students will return in September for school. In our last week, we spent a lot of time prepping the garden for some volunteer work days in August by compiling a list of to-do's and weeding our beds. We also harvested our first crop: zucchini!

PEEPS also came out and did some serious clean up in another courtyard in our building. The students weeded, raked dead leaves and grass, and hauled out debris. They're enthusiasm and work ethic blew us away! 

We are continuing to water on a daily basis, especially with the weather reaching the triple digits. Pics will still be uploaded so everyone at home can see how the growth during the super sunny days.

Week 5 - and counting...

We have slowed down a little this week, as we are waiting for our harvest to grow - plus the temps are getting pretty high so we are focusing our efforts on watering and weeding. The sun is really helping us seeing visible growth every morning we walk in!

End of Week Four!

Here we are at the end of Week Four - with a WHOLE bunch of new seeds planted and starting to sprout. We also interplanted several different kinds of flowers in the beds to attract beneficial insects.

Day 16

So we are into Week Four, and have spent much time learning how to plant various cool weather crops for a fall harvest. This week so far, we filled the rest of the existing raised beds with soil and then each student planted their own seeds, including collards, kale, bok choy, carrots, radishes, various melons, various peppers, butterfly salvia, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, pumpkins (and I'm sure I'm forgetting the rest!)

Students have also been monitoring their greenhouse plants, learning the difference between leaf shape and margins. If our pole bean plants flower before the end of next week, we will also be pollinating them.

Week Three Updates!

Here are pics from our third week. We spent some time in class further discussing the reasons for creating and maintaining a school garden, and the environmental impact of food being transported globally vs locally. Then students designed their own gardens based on budget, size, and materials.

Students also learned about how stems transport food and water with an experiment using celery and colored water.

Although it wasn't the most glamorous week in the garden, we did haul A LOT of dirt in newly built raised beds and then planted seeds for collards, bok choy, spinach, broccoli, radishes, and carrots. We are going to have a great fall harvest!

Our project is up on Donors Choose!

Our Clark@Binnsmead Garden Project is officially up on Donors Choose! Click the link below to help out with a donation, or pass it along to someone who might be interested! Thanks for looking! Everyday we make progress!!

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR PROJECT!

Lucky Number Day 7

Today we filled almost all of the beds with soil and began building an irrigation drip system. Temps are getting HOT so we have a sprinkler on a timer to keep the plants watered for the time being.

Check it out - we've got tomatoes growing!

Day 6

Since the last post we have built another raised bed. We have newly planted squash, pumpkin, and several varieties of lettuce for the fall harvest.

In the greenhouse, each student has also started planting their own choice of either lavender, basil, rosemary, or catnip.