Double Oops!

Oh my!  I did forget at least one person.  Wendy Puddy, though she couldn't be with us for garden club due to work, has been invaluable to the club.  Not only has she come out to help on weekends, but she arranged for two UVA landscape architecture students to help out with our plan,  written to local businesses for donations and donated a lot of equipment.  I've really appreciated all the help.  Sadly, the Puddy's will be moving in December.  They've very nicely left lots of garden stuff for us to use, though, including a great indoor grow light for starting seeds, a bunch of peat pots and a lot of soaker hose.  Thank you all so much, and have a great time in your new home!

Oops!

Wow!  So sorry.  I didn't forget about this blog, but I certainly have been kept busy doing paperwork at school.  Now that we're done the first quarter and a lot of that is out of the way, I'll try to be a bit more regular.

Esteban

Our first tree!

We had a very successful, but very large group in garden club this fall.  We fluctuated between about 35 and 40 kids every week for seven weeks.  It was a bit like herding cats, but we did manage to get a few things done.  We've started digging a huge flower bed, gotten a cover crop planted in the vegetable patch and planted the first tree in what I hope will be a small apple orchard.  The tree was provided by Mrs. Josie Cohen and family and is a dwarf Granny Smith.  My buddy Esteban and I planted it during one of our recesses.

Semi-Dwarf Granny Smith

I couldn't have done it without a lot of help.  Deborah Riddick, Theresa Gimbert, Angelo Vangelopolous, Sean O'Rourke (I'm glad he came despite the Yankee fanboy thing), Josie Cohen, Lori Stoddard, Amy Eastlack and Ken Ferguson all came out to help.  Please forgive me and let me know if I've left anyone out, it was quite a crowd.

I would like to continue with garden club after Thanksgiving on Tuesday afternoons.  Hopefully, and I know this sounds terrible, we'll have a smaller group (10 - 20 kids).  A smaller group is easier for me to keep track of and I think will probably be more productive.  Of course, I'll take whoever would like to come out and help.  There won't be any bus to the Boys and Girls club, so kids will need to be picked up at 3:30 at school.  If you'd like to come out and help, or if your kid would like to come help, let me know and I'll send home some information next week before break.  It may be fall/winter but there's still plenty for us to do.

Garden Party - Thanks Everyone!

Stink Bugs

Stink bugs, it turns out, are probably going to be a huge agricultural problem in the not too distant future.  Here's a link from the University of Florida Entomology Department showing how to make a stink bug trap.   Actually, I'm thinking it may not have been squash bugs that destroyed the school pumpkin patch. They look pretty much alike unless you really stop to check them out.  Which I didn't.  
Hmmmmm. . .

They don't seem to like the nightshade family as they seem to have left the tomatoes and potatoes alone.  Good to know I guess.  Looks like the garden club has a new project!

Garden Club starting again

I'll be meeting with any students who are interested in working in the garden every Tuesday afternoon after school.  We'll get started as soon as everyone arrives and work until 3:30.  All I need is a note from parents saying that their kid is staying after school with me and letting me know how they are going to get home.  For now, parents will have to pick up their kids or they'll have to go to the After School Program.  When clubs officially start at the end of this month, there will be a bus to the Boys and Girls club at 3:30 (ish).

Any parents that would like to help out are also more than welcome to come one out and work in the garden with us.  Actually, I'm begging you!  Please come out and help.  There are a lot of kids that want to help and the more adults present, the less chaotic the group is.

Also, don't forget our garden party on Saturday, September 18th from 1-4.

What a mess. . .

Alrighty then, that garden is a mess. I've been busy getting my classroom ready and haven't been out to the garden for about a week and a half. Wow! The weeds went nuts! I know it's not a nice thing to say, but I truly hate Bermuda grass. If anyone has anytime to head out there and weed, now would be a great time. Plus, it's not supposed to be too hot this week (though it's a bit toasty today).

Tomatoes are doing well though they're about two weeks behind my tomatoes at home.
I've planted a second rotation of peas that are coming up now.
The pumpkins have squash bugs, but I'll mix up some soap solution that should take care of them.

On the agenda:
-weeding
-watering
-getting a new spigot for the water barrel

One last thing:

Garden Party
September 18th (yes, we'll have it cleaned up by then)
1:00-4:00
Potluck
Music
Garden plans from Pete and Andrea (our friendly neighborhood UVa landscape architecture students)
Garden tour

I've managed to make some stuff from our garden I'll bring. I'll also make a big cooler of homemade lemondade. You bring a dish of something from your garden (or someone else's garden). We'll eat together, listen to some music, check out the garden and the garden plans, maybe toss a frisbee and enjoy our cooler weather.

Plans

Yesterdays meeting that Ms. Puddy and I attended with Andrea and Pete (the UVA landscape architecture students) about the garden plan went incredibly well. I'm fascinated by the process of putting this together. It's very much like the writing process we teach in school - brainstorming, first draft, editing, proofreading, more drafts, more editing and proofreading, etc. Ms. Jones has okayed the plan and will take care of the necessary paperwork. In the meantime, we can move forward. We've also been okayed for the party on September 18th. Huzzah!

Brainstorming

A rough plan of what the garden could be. Apples!

A Photoshop mock up of what the garden might look like and a calendar for what you might find over the year.

Another mock up of what the garden could look like.

Wednesday in the Garden

Finished weeding the onions this morning. I'm not sure if we're going to be able to salvage them, but it's worth a shot. Everything else is looking surprisingly good. Two beds are mulched now. That should really help with the weeds and keeping the ground wet.

Next week, there's going to be a group of volunteers helping out for a couple hours each day. Mostly they'll be doing some painting in the office and front hall of the school, but I'm hoping to pull a couple of them to help dig the blasted holes for our sign. There are just so many rocks in the field that I've been really discouraged trying to dig them by myself. After all, it took me two hours to plant a couple of roses. Having help will be wonderful.

Also, tomorrow afternoon I get to see the plan the our volunteer UVA A-School folks have drawn up for us. I'm very excited to see what they've come up with.

Anyway, here are some more pictures from this morning.

Here are the tops of the potato plants. They're buried under about 8 inches of straw.

Things are really doing a lot better now that we're getting some rain.

There are a couple of great things in this picture. The first thing is the watermelon is flowering. The second thing is that they're being pollinated. That needs to happen if we're going to be eating melon anytime soon.

Monday In The Garden

Fergie and I spent a couple hours in the garden yesterday morning. The potatoes are now living in a nice bed of straw and the zucchini/cucumber bed is mulched well. We were there for summer school recess so bunches of kids got to come hang out for a little while. They all wanted to know when the garden club would start up again. Well, every Wednesday morning I'm there from 9 to noon. Also, I'm happy to meet up at other times, just shoot me an email and I'll be there. Otherwise, I'm thinking the second week of school (which is coming far quicker than I thought it would) is a good time to aim for starting up the group again. Of course, I'll need to check in with Ms. Jones and some other folks on that. In the mean time, here are a couple pictures to keep you thinking about things.

The cherry tomatoes are coming in. I ate most of the ripe ones. Sorry, it was getting close to lunchtime and I was a bit hungry. The yellow pear tomatoes are starting to ripen as well, but I didn't take their picture.
We're starting to get quite a few zucchinis, too. I gave two of them away to an old student and took three home. There are about four more that will be ready in the next couple of days. Please help yourself.
The sunflowers are starting to bloom.

Fergie discovered that she likes to help with watering.
Well. . . she discovered she likes to run into the spray.

Dilly Bean Recipe for Janelle

Janelle asked for the recipe so. . .

Dilly beans are like pickles but with green beans instead of cucumbers. Plus, they're awesome. This is basically the same recipe I use for cucumbers. I got it from my grandmother.

For the brine combine 3 and 3/4 cups of water, 1 and 1/2 cups of cider vinegar and 1/4 of a cup of kosher salt. This is enough to make 6-8 pint jars of dilly beans.

Sterilize the jars and lids*.

Wash the beans. Trim the ends of the beans, if you like. . . or not. . . depends on how you feel about these things. Stuff pint jars with beans. Wedge in some seed heads or leaves of dill (about 2 tablespoons) as well as 2-4 cloves of garlic. . . again, depends on how you feel about these things. I like garlic so I put in 4.

Pour the brine into the filled jars to within 1/4 of an inch from the top.

Tighten the lids onto the jars and process* the jars in a canner for 15 minutes.

The dilly beans will have pretty good flavor after 24 hours in the jar, but it develops more the longer they're in there. If you can wait two weeks, I think that's the best time to eat them.

*Canning sounds harder than it is. I'm pretty sure Janelle knows how to do this, but here are the basics for those who haven't done it before. I'd suggest picking up a good book on food preservation and investing in a canning pot. They also make pressurized canning pots that you'll probably want if you get into doing this a lot.

To sterilize the jars and lids, put them in a pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes. You can just use a canning pot for this. Then put the jars mouth down on a clean towel to cool until you need them. Same with the lids. It's kind of important to not touch the inside or rim of the jars once they're sterilized. Your hands have all kinds of funky stuff living on them. However, when you're stuffing the jars it's next to impossible not to touch them. I don't worry too much about it as the processing will take care of it most of the time.

To process the dilly beans you need put the filled jars into a pot and cover the jars with water. Bring it to a boil and make sure it boils for 15 minutes. They make a really good tool called a jar gripper to take the jars out. Trust me you'll need it! Once the jars are out of the water bath, check the seal. If the seal is good store the jars in a cool, dry place out of direct light. If the jar didn't seal properly, you can keep them in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Jars with a proper seal will last a long time. If you find that one of your stored jars has a seal that failed, go ahead and dispose of it. You don't want to play around with food poisoning.

Some Potato Information, Weeding Thoughts & Other Stuff

I managed to remember to bring my camera this morning, but forgot to take pictures. Sorry about that. Okay, on with the news. . .

There's a lot here, but I'd encourage you to read the whole thing. There are some great opportunities coming up.

Potatoes

Well, I sure didn't need to water the garden this morning. That's great! The rain over the past couple of days is very welcome. As a result, I was able to spend this morning just weeding. I managed to clear out half of the potato/onion bed.

The potatoes are now a little mounded, that is there some soil piled up around the plant. You need to mound the potato plants to keep the potatoes themselves from turning green. Also, when you bury the stem, it promotes new root growth and leads to something we want. . . more potatoes.

I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but green potatoes contain solanine, a toxin found in the nightshade family, of which potatoes are a member. It's not very harmful in small quantities, but it can make you nauseous will give you a wicked headache. If you eat a lot of it, it's much worse. Check out the link to see the grim details. If you buy potatoes that have green spots generally it's best to cut those spots off or not use that potato (compost it). Anyway, by mounding up the soil around the potato plant you prevent the potatoes themselves from being exposed to the sun, which leads to increased solanine levels. Solanine is produced as an anti-fungal/anti-pest agent in the plant to kill off any fungus or bugs that might grow in the sunlight. Good for the plant, bad for us. That's probably way more than anyone wanted or needed to know.

Since our soil is pretty heavy, I'd like to try something I haven't done before. Next week, let's take a couple bales of straw and mound the potatoes in the straw. Apparently, the straw provides enough cover to keep the potatoes from turning green, plus it's so much easier to harvest the potatoes from straw. If anyone has a couple extra bales of straw they'd like to donate please let me know. Otherwise I'll pick some up on my way to the garden next week.

Weeding Thoughts

So, yeah, the weeds, mostly crab grass and bermuda grass, are out of control. Next year we can plan on doing some heavy mulching, but in the mean time, we've got to get them out of there. While, they were okay when I couldn't make it into the garden to water for the first few weeks of summer, they're going to rob our plants of the nutrients they need. Plus, the weeds are starting to go to seed, meaning they'll be back again and again and again.

Anytime anyone wants to head out and pull weeds would be greatly appreciated. I know some folks have been out there doing it, but we need more! It can actually be quite pleasant to do in the morning or late afternoon. It's quiet, there's often a nice breeze and is a good time to review your day. I was out for about three hours this morning and got half of a bed done. We really could knock this out with a couple people working for three or four hours. Only one of the beds is bad, the other three just need some maintenance weeding.

Other Stuff

1) We're hosting a group of volunteers during the last week of July. They should be with us for about four hours each day. Of course, I'l have them help out with the weeding, but this might also be a good time to build a shed. I've gotten an initial okay to getting some funds from the PTO, we just need a plan. I've looked around, but the plans I've found look like they'll be way over budget. Any ideas or thoughts on this would be great. I'm not looking for anything complicated, just a place to keep our hose reel, a wheel barrow and our tools.

2) Wendy Puddy, one of our Cale parents, has been working with some UVA students on a garden plan for us. We're going to meet up some time next week to take a look. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they've come up with.

3) Next year, we're going to be an official club!!! Fantastic! That should really open the group up to kids from all the classes. Of course, the down side is that I'm thinking we're going to end up with a huge club. If there are any teachers or parents that would like to make a commitment to a once a week afternoon garden club, again, please let me know. The more the merrier.

4) I think we need to have a garden harvest party. We're not getting a lot from the garden this year, but we've had a great start! We'll have enough for several batches of pesto, so zucchini bread, maybe some dilly beans and potato salad. How's September 18th sound for everyone? I'm thinking I'll get some musician friends, we'll grill, check out the garden, eat some stuff we've grown, and maybe have an epic game of Ultimate.

That's all for now. I hope to see everyone out in the garden soon.

It's not the heat. . . okay, yeah, it's the heat.

I spent a great three hours in the garden this morning. Everything was well watered when I left. In fact, there was a small lake surrounding the sunflowers and beans. They sure need it. This heat is great. . . for the weeds. Ms. Garza came by to help out and we managed to completely week the bed with the cucumbers and zucchini. Thanks!

The spots where the peas, spinach and lettuce were have pretty much run their course for now. They like cooler weather, so we can try them again in the fall. In the mean time, I'll bring the tiller in the morning and get ready to put something else in there for now? Any thoughts?

So while I was at Lowe's this afternoon, getting some concrete for our sign, I ran into one of our parents who generously (and anonymously) bought us a couple of rose bushes. They're the loose-petaled, slightly scented kind (I can't remember their name at the moment), not the tight-petaled kind that florists like so much (and I don't). I think they'll make a great disguise for one of our crooked fence posts.

Tomorrow I should be there a bit early, around 8:30 am. It's better to get some work done while it's still relatively cool. It's suppose to be a real scorcher, so I'll probably call it a day around 11:00. Come on out and lend a hand if you'd like.

Thai basil has a nice taste, a little cinnamon-y.


Cukes and Zukes


The Three Sisters


Beans and Tomatoes


That, my friends, is a baby pumpkin.

Gratuitous Cute Puppy and My Schedule This Week. . .

Hey again,

It's been a busy weekend what with the new puppy and the 4th. So, to make up for it, I'm going to be at school on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Tuesday I'm just going to water and weed and meet the summer school kids that may or may not (depending on the heat, I'm thinking) come for a tour.

Wednesday, I'll dig the holes for the sign and see about getting that set up.

Come on out and help anytime!

Okay, just this once. . . here's Fergie. . .

Great Day For Gardening!

Actually, it looks like it's going to be really nice for the rest of the week, as well. I spent a couple very lovely hours in the garden today. Mr. V dropped by for a moment but had some visiting to do. I know he is planning on being in the garden tomorrow morning should anyone wish to join him. There's lots of weeding that still needs to be done.

Today I finish putting up the fence. It's not too bad. Some of the posts are a bit crooked but I think we can disguise that with some creative plantings. I managed to leave the hose at home this morning so I'll be back over there tomorrow afternoon to really soak things. I think I'm going to have to make a point of being there at least twice a week to keep up with the water and the weeds. Perhaps my second day should be Sunday afternoons. I know there were a few folks that couldn't be there during the week, so hitting the weekend might be a good plan.

For all you Facebook folks out there, I started a Cale School Garden group page over there. Feel free to "like" it if you're of the mind. You can find it here. As of now, there are a few pictures but I'll make announcements about events, things needed, etc. there as well as here

New Stuff In the Garden

I had another great, but very hot morning with the Millers and Hills. There's still a lot of weeding to do (I'm starting to sound like a broken record). Come on out when ever you'd like.

In the garden this week. . .

Hey Everyone!

I had a nice morning yesterday watering and weeding. The weeds are a bit out of control, but that probably saved us with me being in and out of town over the past few weeks. They hold a lot of water in the ground. I'm done my adventures for a while so I'll be around quite a bit more (I'm going camping this weekend. but that's it). Actually, I'll be at school tomorrow morning from 9 - noon if anyone wants to join me. I did notice that folks have been there. Fantastic! Please continue to feel free to come on out and lend a hand. I refilled the water barrel yesterday morning, so that's available for use as well.

If you're looking for the hose, it's in my truck. With all the cleaning in the school, it took me a while to find it yesterday. It's now safely back with us. At some point we're going to need to talk about how we can store all of our stuff in a secure way, but still have access for folks that need to use it.

Thanks to the mystery tool donator. The hand tools and hoe will be a great help in dealing with these weeds. They're in the bucket in our cold frame for now. Just a reminder, when weeding, if you get a lot of the root out of the ground, the weeds will have less of a chance of coming back.

I've managed to get some donations that will really look great. My parents have moved across town and given us a bird bath, a compost turner and a large circular piece of slate. I have kind of an idea for putting it all together. One day we'll all need to sit down and write a book about how to build a garden with donations and no money. It's amazing to me what people are willing to do and give for something in which they believe. . . not just my parents, but all of you folks that have given time and labor and brought donations and ideas. The kids and I are in your debt.

Also, a big thanks to Mr. Guerin for the logs. They're great for seating.

Finally, on the last day of school one of my students, Olivia, gifted me with a beautiful stepping stone saying "Welcome to Mr. Rough's Garden." It's wonderful! We took a few minutes to place it during recess on the last day of school. Remember though, the garden belongs to ALL of us.

Over the next few weeks I'm planning on finishing our fence, weeding, installing posts for our sign, planting some new seeds in the lettuce, spinich and pea rows (they don't do well in this heat), weeding, installing a compost turner and then maybe a little weeding. As I've said, I'll be there at least every Wednesday if you'd like to join me! If you're not available during the week and would like to meet up on a weekend, just send me an email. I can make that work (except this weekend, camping). I hope to see you out there, soon!

Garden Club for June 9th. . .

Is on! Mr. V, our fearless parent volunteer and snack provider has generously agreed to lead the gardening activities in my absence. I hope you guys have fun!

Garden Club

Due to Field Day happening tomorrow and since I'll be out of town next week, we're not going to be meeting Wednesday afternoons this week and next week. Sorry guys, can't be helped. I'll definitely be around all summer so perhaps we can meet after school lets out.

Today's Work Day

I arrived early to mark out where we were going to put our fence. I thought the weather was going to scare folks away, but that wasn't the case at all! Thanks so much to the Puddy's, the Hill's and the Knighton's for all the help.

I learned a few valuable lessons as well. Firstly, when you're mentally calculating how much fencing your going to need, double it. It worked out, though, as we got to do the weeding that so desperately needed to be done. Secondly, it's extremely difficult to lay out a fence in a straight line when the ground is full of fairly large rocks. Thirdly, when you attempt to drive a metal fence post through a rock, the rock wins. Still, half the garden, the side that was the recipient of so many soccer balls lately, is now fenced. The other side will be next weekend.

Wildlife Neighbors Of the Multi- or Non- Legged Kind

A female wolf spider with her egg sac that we disturbed while weeding.

No worries, it's just a Northern Brown Snake, a.k.a. a little brown snake (seriously, that's a real alternative name). He or she had taken up residence in our cold frame under a tray of seedlings. We weren't sure what kind it was at first, but figured it was better to leave it alone until we knew. Actually, if you ever need a snake identified, the folks at the Virginia Herpetological Society have a great on-line guide. Please remember, there are only three types of venomous snakes in Virginia. Most of the snakes in our area are harmless, and in fact, helpful in controlling populations of other pests.

More Pictures From Our Afternoon With Ms. Anderson's Class

Making Observations And Writing With Ms. Anderson's Class

Hot enough for you? We had a great afternoon with Ms. Anderson's third grade class (many of whom were in 2nd grade in my room). The second graders gave their third grade partners a tour of the garden, then sat down together to write and draw about what they saw. Several of us were surprised how much everything has grown. A few thought it was funny that radish seeds seem to have been washed out of their row in all the rain and were sprouting in two big patches between rows. One student speculated that there must have been a mistake when they were planted. Who knows?

Garden club today worked on weeding and painting signs to indicate what is growing in each bed. We'll finish those up during our work day on Saturday. We've deduced that people must be visiting and watering things, as our water barrel was just about empty. That's great! We'll be sure to get it filled up tomorrow. We wrapped it up back in the room with some fruit and the most incredible brownies proved by one of our favorite parents, Mr. V.

Don't forget we'll be gathering Saturday morning to put up a fence, install the welcome sign and finish up the row markers. It'll be fun. I know there are several other things going on in the community and it is a long weekend so many folks are busy, but any help is appreciated and will be payed back with fresh, icy-cold lemonade.