It's been a while. . .

Hey folks,

Sorry I've been not keeping up with the old garden blog lately.  I've had some health issues that will hopefully be resolved in the next week or so.  I'm having kidney stone surgery this week, so there will be no club meeting on October 11th.  According to my doctor, I'll still be recovering.

Anyway,  the Garden Club has had a late start, but I anticipate going full tilt in the near future.  The garden itself is a total mess at the moment, as I went on vacation over the summer and it was a bit neglected for most of July and August.  Also, moving to 4th grade has really cut into my garden planning time.  No matter, though, I'm ready to get going.

We'll be meeting today to do some weeding and start taking down our old fence.  Mr. V has a friend who is going to help us out with putting up something a little more aesthetically pleasing.  Also, a shed is in our future.

Garden Club will officially start on the 18th so keep an eye here for plenty of news and pictures.

Mr. Rough

Alice Water's Is Expanding The Edible Schoolyard

We will definitely find a way of associating with this once they have it up and running later in the fall.


Join the Edible Schoolyard Project! from The Edible Schoolyard Project on Vimeo.

Happy July!

I went over to the garden today.  I've been sort of slacking in my garden duties for the past two weeks, but we've had plenty of rain, so I  haven't been too worried about it.  Ah, the weeds!  The weeds in the vegetable garden are nuts.  We need to have a weeding party soon.  I picked some beets and there are more to be had.  The lettuces are done, but there are other greens too.  Help yourself.  I'll be in on Tuesday to do some weeding and cleaning up.

On my way to school, I stopped by Southern States.  They're having a sale on bushes and trees this weekend if you're in the market for some.  I picked up two nice butterfly bushes for the flower bed, a white one, and a light purple one.  They seem to like their new home in our flower bed.

Speaking of which, the flower bed looks just spectacular right now.  You all should go check it out.  The lilies, cone flowers, daisies and new butterfly bushes are in bloom.  It'll be interesting to see how they expand in the next few years.  There's still plenty of room for more stuff, too.

In other news, there are apples on our lone apple tree.  Six to be precise.  The weight of the fruit is starting to weigh the tree to the side a bit so I'll be tying it up with stakes this coming week as well.  Also, there's a garden shed in our future!  I really can't tell you how happy I'll be to be able to store stuff at school in a safe and secure place and not have to run tools back and forth from home.  I think it'll make my ability to do school projects in the garden much easier.  Also, it'll give us a space to get out of the blazing sun.  Ms. Jones and I are also talking about putting a pavilion space out there where classes could work outside in a sheltered area.

In that same vein of thought, that fence we have is really starting to get on my last nerve.  To be frank, it's ugly.  I talked briefly about it with Mr. V. a month or so back.  He's willing to buy a side of the fence.  Anyone else want to step up?  I'm thinking a picket fence that the kids could decorate (tastefully) and allows teachers to keep an eye on what's happening over there.  It doesn't need to be very high, as we really don't seem to have any animal issues (knock on wood this should continue), but something that will block soccer balls from rolling through the plants.

That's it for now.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend.  I'll be in the garden next Tuesday and Friday if you want to get your hands dirty.

Real Progress

Mulching

Thanks to Ms. Jones and the Charlottesville Community Church for bringing these great volunteers from Texas. In three days they've finished de-grassing the flower bed and mulched it. When I left this morning (for an appliance repair appointment) they were about to embark on a quest to rid the vegetable garden of crab grass. It's a tough job, but after two days of digging I think they can handle it.  They worked hard, never complained and it was a delight to hang out with them.


I can't thank them enough.  I hear, though, that they're in for a great dinner tonight thanks to Mr. V.  (Our own Angelo Vangelopoulos of the Ivy Inn.)


By the way, there's plenty of swiss chard, kale and collard greens ready for the picking. Help yourself. Soon the beets will be read as well. We also have a second planting of romaine and butter lettuce going (hopefully we won't get blasted with too much heat for another week or two) that should be ready in about a week. What isn't cut or picked by next Monday is going to the food bank so if you want some greens, go get them. If you want some cooking ideas for the greens let me know and I'll post something.

What a great crew!  Thanks, guys!

Finishing up digging the flower bed

Oops, I Forgot Something

The Armstrong's blog has a couple of posts about us!

This first one is about the Spring Garden Party.  There even a picture of some weirdo playing a banjo/ukulele.

The second one is about our visit to their farm.

Their blog is really a lot of fun.  I think we share an appreciation not only for gardens, but for good food as well.

Last Garden Club Meeting of the Year

Beamer helps strain our first batch of
compost tea.

Well another school year is about to end.  I'm really impressed with the kids.  The Garden Club started out in the fall with close to 40 kids.  Thankfully, there were lots of adult volunteers to help out.  When "official" garden club ended in November, I decided to keep going and  about fifteen kids decided to keep working in the garden.  The numbers have gone down and up depending on the weather, but there has been a very dedicated core that kept showing up every Tuesday afternoon.

The Garden Club sends a huge thank you to Phil and Deirdre Armstrong
and hopes everyone has a great summer!

We've really gotten a lot done.  Half of our new flower bed is planted.  Our summer crops are in the vegetable bed.  We've learned how to start brewing our own compost tea.  We've met and worked with Mr. Phil and Ms. Deirdre at Harvest Thyme Herbs and got to take the first ever Garden Club field trip to their farm.  Lastly, we hosted a fantastic Spring Garden Party.

Over the summer I'll try to be in the garden two or three times a week to keep the weeds down and keep everything watered.  I know Fridays will be one of my regular days, but I'm willing to meet up with anyone who wants to come out and lend a hand.  Just shoot me a quick email (mrough@k12albemarle.org) if you'd like to come out to the garden.

Also, there will be plenty of vegetables available for anyone who would like any.  I'll post what's ready as it becomes available.  Our local Food Bank will happily take stuff, too.

I hope everyone has a great summer and hope to see everyone back for Garden Club in the fall.

GEF Spotlight School

A few months back I submitted our garden to the Green Education Foundation "Green In Action" Award. While we didn't win, we are listed as one of their Spotlight Schools, which is still pretty cool.  Here's the link to our submission.  You can see the other Spotlight Schools in the column at the right.  It looks like we're in great company.

A Successful Party

I am a complete dope.  I remembered the camera.  I just forgot to take pictures.  Ah well, I did get a few early Saturday morning when I went to set up the canopy.

I'm still full thinking about all the great food: beef, chicken and mu shu lettuce wraps, tapenade, pesto, mango salsa, fruit, quiches and too much more to mention without running on and on.   I'll just say, I wasn't even tempted to cook any dinner on Saturday night.  I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.

Anyway, great food, great company, great weather.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.  Thanks so much to all my friends, colleagues, students and families for coming out to enjoy the garden on a beautiful day.  We'll have to do this again soon.

I do have everyone's plates, bowls, containers, etc. so come by my classroom to claim stuff.  (Phil and Deirdre, I'll drop your stuff over at your place next week.  Don't worry I'll call first.)

We've only got one more Garden Club meeting left this school year.  I've got two activities lined up.  Guess what they are. . .  alright I'll give you a couple of hints.  1)  There's no rain in the forecast for this week.  2)  If we don't do our second activity, I would have to come to school everyday to get caught up.

It's been a great year out in our little gardens.  I'm really impressed with all of the work that we've managed to get done.  Keep your eyes on this blog to find out what's happening over the summer.  I'll post what's ready to be picked for those of you who want to take anything home.  What isn't taken will happily be accepted by the Food Bank.  Everyone wins!

So. . . lettuce is ready!  If anyone wants some romaine, green-leaf or red-leaf lettuce, let me know.  We have some chard and kale ready, as well.

Don't Forget - Party This Saturday!

Saturday, May 28th, 2011


Potluck Picnic and Garden Party


1:00-4:00 pm


The kids have worked really hard this year.  Come on out and celebrate!  Bring a dish to share and we'll sit down to eat together, enjoy the spring weather and check out all of the progress the kids have made in the vegetable garden. While you're here, you can also see the new flower bed on which we've worked so hard.  Also, if you time it right you can meet Mr. V (who I will forever refer to as "Job" for his patience) and our guardian angel/farmers Phil and Deirdre Armstrong.

Just Back From Harvest Thyme Herbs

Wow!  What a fantastic afternoon!  We got off right on time and were only a little wild on the bus, mainly because we were all so excited about our trip.  Mr. Phil and Ms. Deirdre had us working right away, digging compost and clearing out some irises (although, I'm not sure they realized how quickly and thoroughly we can clear stuff).  Then they showed us their kiwi vines and fig trees.  We learned how to make compost tea and learned that, no, you probably shouldn't drink it.  Plants do, though.  Afterwards, the Armstrongs gifted us with a new compost tea system and showed us how to set it up.  It's going to be great to be able to make this at school and give our garden beds a great natural fertilizer.  I really can't thank them enough for all that they've done for us.

We watered and fertilized the kiwis and an iris bed with the compost tea before we sat down for our snacks - fresh mint tea to drink with veggies and dip and then the most amazing chocolate brownie kind of thing that Mr. V made.  I was absolutely blown away by how quickly and happily the kids cleaned out all the veggies (peppers, carrots, celery and mushrooms).  I guess all my talk about healthy snacks is maybe paying off just a little bit.

Anyway, I'm totally beat and have lost my voice so I need to cut this short and get some sleep.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and close by again saying thank you to Phil and Deirdre Armstrong for inviting us to visit and helping us so much.  Also, a big thank you to Mr. V and his family and Lori Ann Stoddart for coming with us and keeping us all on track.

Oh, one more thing,  CHECK FOR TICKS!

We're ready to go.

Max is excited.

Checking out the irises.

Digging in the compost pile.

Ms. Deirdre showing us the kiwis.

Kiwis

Learning how to make compost tea.  Come to find out, it's not good to drink.

Straining the tea.

Putting compost tea in the sprayer.

Stirring and straining.

I think these two were born in the wrong decade.

Feeding the irises and kiwis.

Straining some more tea.

More fertilizing.

One should never underestimate the drawing power of something that's vaguely "icky".

Starting from scratch.  Half a bucket of compost and 1 ounce of molasses.

Add water to about three inches from the top, stirring the whole time.

Needs more water.  After all the water is added it needs to sit and aerate for three days.

After all the hard work of making compost tea and running wild,
mint tea and fresh veggies and dip were most welcome. 

Blake can't get enough of either tea.

After all the running around Kelsea needed a pole to hold herself up.

"It's gooooooood!"

I never even considered that kids would like mushrooms.
These guys love them.

Checking out the cherry tree.

Finishing up for the afternoon by running around in the meadow.
Oh, everybody should check for ticks.

The Big Day Is Here

Mr. V helps plant some of the flowers Phil and Deirdre
brought.  The Armstrongs have been over to help us twice.
We always have fun with them.

We're all very excited to head over to Staunton after school today to visit with Phil and Deirdre Armstrong of Harvest Thyme Herbs.

Phil and Deirdre have some great plans for us, showing us how to brew compost tea and showing off their fantastic gardens.  I went out and visited them last week and I know it's going to be great.

Look for pictures and stories this evening or tomorrow right here on this very blog.

Brewing compost tea for the gardens.

I need to say a big thank you to Ms. Jones, our most excellent principal, for helping to arrange for the bus.