Cale School Garden: Happy Last Day of Winter!

It still felt pretty wintery this morning at recess but it was a gorgeous day by the time garden club rolled around. I forgot to take pictures out in the garden but got a few shots at snack this afternoon. Needless to say it was a great afternoon. We had a quick refresher on how to use our tools then dug up one whole bed and a good chunk of another.

I think we have the best view of any school in the county.

We're planning on planting around the first of May. Of the four beds inside the fence, one will be dedicated to corn this year. Corn can be tricky and we aren't guaranteed to get much out of it, but I think it's a worthwhile experiment. Otherwise, we're donating half of one of the beds to a kindergarten class. The other half will have greens (lettuces, chard, and, of course, kale) and herbs. In the third bed, we'll plant pumpkins and watermelons. In the last bed, we'll do some more greens and perhaps some strawberries. The kids are really excited about trying out strawberries. They can be easy to grow, but there won't be any yield this summer. We'll be pinching off any flowers this year. That allows the plants to send out more runners that will produce even more fruit next year. No worries, though, everyone is welcome to come back and sample them next year when they start producing.

In the raised bed, since the soil is rich and pretty soft, we'll work on some root crops, carrots, radishes, beets, and turnips, definitely, but perhaps parsnips as well (if I can find some good seed).

Planning further ahead. . . Our spring Garden Party will be on Tuesday, June 11th. This is on the regular Garden Club Tuesday during the last week of school. Hopefully, more kids will be able to stay later that day. Perhaps we'll interest some new gardeners and end up with a bigger group for next year. We'll get started at about 2:45 and go until about 4:00.

Planning even further ahead. . . If there are any families interested in adopting the garden for a week or just a couple of days over the summer, please let me know. You'll be able to spend some quality family time together making sure everything is watered and weeded. You'll be most welcome to pick any produce that is ready during your time, of course. I'll set up a Google calendar in the next few days so folks can sign up.