FINAL HARVEST OF OUR SPRING GARDEN

We were so pleased with the success of our first garden. The children in all six grade levels were so excited with their results. They eagerly picked the vegetables, brought them to the health room sink and rinsed them, and then took them to the cafeteria to be prepared.

The children ate fresh squash, zucchini, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and radishes. It was interesting to see how they liked the taste as well as how they liked it cooked. Around 75% of the students really didn't care for the radishes. I don't think we will grow them this year. They thought they were too peppery tasting. They loved the carrots, zucchini, and squash both cooked and raw. They really liked eating the zucchini raw as a snack. They loved the salads with the red, and green lettuce and spinach. They perferred the cabbage boiled rather than raw in cole slaw. I found that amazing. So many of the children had never had zucchini, squash, and especially never tried cooked cabbage. They were so amazed they liked it. I don't think they would have been as willing to try them if they had not grown them.

The last couple of days of school, we had so many vegetables that we were able to send a large basket full to our local children's shelter. The children couldn't wait to share the fact with the shelter personnel that they had grown them

Early Results

Today for the very first time, the lunchroom had more salads ordered by the children than cheeseburgers. This is the first week that the children's vegetables from the garden have been put in our salads. There were 38 salads ordered instead of the usual 15-20. Way to go kids!!!

RADISHES

We have radishes. Some of the second graders harvested their radishes this morning. This is the first crop we have had come in, so far. See pictures enclosed.

We are Growing

Upon returning from Spring Break on April 6th, I was appalled at the condition of the garden. We had so much rain and with the poor soil we initially started with, the soil had become hard as a rock. Many hours spent hoeing and mixing in mushroom compost has helped. A good many plants were lost. I replaced those plants without the children's knowledge. They are so proud of their plants! Each class is helping with the hoeing and weeding. I have included some pictures.

Two 3 foot rain barrels were donated by a local company. I am learning how to adapt them into real rain barrels from the Green Steps site.

Our Master Gardener, Judy Camp had a friend who donated 100.00 to go toward our garden project. We are very grateful for all the community support.

I spent some time this morning talking with Ginger Bowen at Clemson Extension. We have a meeting in May to discuss getting a head start for our garden in the fall. We are definitely planning on doing strawberries, in addition to some vegetables. She will help us develop a garden journal for each child in our school to use to document growth, rainfall, temperature, etc, including stories they wish to write.

Planting our Garden

The week of March 23rd, we are finally planting. The children are so excited. The first to plant were the 2nd grade. They have the radishes. These plants were a good 2 inches tall when placed in the ground. A good 48 plants were planted.

The next to plant were the Kindergarten classes. They have the squash. Their plants look so healthy and are at least 2 inches tall.

Fourth grade has had poor success with their lettuces. They planted 4 different types into their milk cartons. They shot up quickly but over the last couple of weeks have really wilted. We have planted what few we could salvage but it doesn't look good. We have a few seeds left over so we will plant those also. I think we have learned that with lettuce we need to plant the seeds directly into the garden. Fortunately we have some cabbages so we will plant those in the rest of the lettuce space.

Fifth grade has planted their spinach and that is also looking good.

First grade, zucchini and third grade, carrots also plant this week.

Fertilizing our Garden

The weekend of March 6th, my sweet husband agreed to come to the school and til our garden. After tilling and removing a large number of rocks and clay, we put 3 bags of lime into the garden and then tilled that in also.

On Friday, March 13th, I put 2 bags of Purlite and with the help of a group of 5th graders, spread 400 pounds of top soil to further inhance the soil.

With watering, the soil is starting to look a little more fertile. The weekend of March 20th, my sweet husband agreed to til again. A 40 pound bag of 12-12-12, 2-36 pound bags of Milorganite used as a fertilizer and to prevent deer and rabbit intrusions, and a bag of soil conditioner were further tilled into the garden.

We were very fortunate, that our local Garden and Farm Supply Company agreed to donate some of the above. With our red clay type soil, I hope this has been enough fertilizer.

Herb Garden

I have received some interest regarding our Herb Garden. When we started our Youth Advisory Committee on Nutrition, I decided to incorporate herbs into the lesson plans. I watched several television specials on herbs, bought numerous books, and tried to learn as much about them as I could. The last two years, at each of our monthly meetings, we would discuss a different herb, its nutritional value, its medicinal value, and what foods we could incorporate them in. We started growing them in pots in the healthroom and then gave them to the children at the end of the school year.

Last year, our Green Team planted some for us in one of our little garden areas. They have done well outside even during the winter until our 5 inches of snow this month. One of our YAC children, Allison Dunlap, comes one day each week at 7:15 A.M. and helps cut the fresh herbs and takes them to the cafeteria. They are then incorporated in the lunch menu each week. On our morning television show, the herb of the month is discussed.

We have recently replenished the herb garden with some new plants and seeds since the snow. I have included some pictures.