I've just volunteered to take over the school garden club (grades 3 to 5). The woman who has done it the last two years passed away recently. Since I like gardening I thought I'd give it a try. I think this is going to be a major project. Does anyone have any experience like this? I'd love ideas and advice.
Garden Club
No, but if you post some photos and describe the conditions, etc., I'll be glad to offer some possibilities.
Oh, that sounds like so much fun! My kid's elementary school had a light cart and a courtyard garden complete with fountain and pond. Every year they would plant annuals and make bird houses. They'd have to write about the habitat and catalog all the plants and animals in the courtyard.
FYI: a great fundraiser at a recent craft fair was decorated bird houses (local artists decorated and donated). People had to bid on them, but for a kid's garden club, they could just sell them for a reasonable price....
Let me know if you need a seed donation for the kids. I'm sure I can find some to send.
:)
Deb
I live in the same area, and know that many of the local elementary schools have similar programs. It might be helpful to see what other schools in your district or neighboring districts have done. You may even have some local gardening clubs nearby that can give some wonderful advice, or even houses of worship with people who can guide you.
That sounds like a lot of fun. You have gotten some great advice already and I am sure the school will give you guide lines as to what you can and cannot do. They must have some records of the previous years projects for you to look at too. I look forward to you posting the children's progress and projects.
You have got to grow pumpkins! The kids in my neighborhood love the pumpkins we grow in my neighbor's back yard. They had no idea where pumpkins came from when we started. The kids also love cherry tomatoes. At the end of the season I let them pick their own as I don't mind the possibility of them crushing plants then before that I pick for them.
A quick question: will this club meet during the summer months? You will need to consider which things to plant according to the attention they demand and the school year.
So sorry for my absence. We have had an introductory meeting. I've met with the woman who, due to a grant, started the garden club two years ago. The first year, they linked up with local 4H and many of the students entered various flowers and produce actually winning ribbons. The second year, the volunteer leader and many of the parents found the club too demanding and it petered out and didn't produce very well. This year nearly 50 people signed up (nearly half with their parent) because a memorial garden is planned in the front of the school dedicated to the previous volunteer who died suddenly in January. So it's getting a little complicated.
There is a design for the front garden presented by an Eagle scout for his project and accepted by the school. So that will be pretty much fixed and just needs to be implemented with the volunteer help.
The part that I will have to directly facilitate will be the vegetable garden to be designed, planned and planted by the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students and their parents. I haven't measured the space yet.
The 4th grade teachers have also requested a 3 sisters garden.
Yes there are other schools in the area with garden clubs and if I can fit it in, I'll try to visit some.
We're also considering getting some seedlings from the DEC for planting around the grounds. Another teacher, 5th grade, wants a greenhouse (was donated two years ago) installed and a stone wall and teaching area created.
I'm just a little overwhelmed, but it will be what it will be. The advisor that started the project, while generous with her advice, won't be involved because the grant ended.
I just finished creating a little newsletter and setting dates for our first meetings. It'll be a real adventure. I hope I'm up to it. I didn't expect this to grow to this extent. I just thought we'd grow some vegetables and share them among ourselves and the community.
Our weather has recently gotten cold and we've gotten snow. I'll bring the camera one day this week and get some pictures.
Any way, I'll fill you in when I have more details, or digest what I've learned so far and can be more specific about what's happening.
Candy, I used to have contact with the DC EMC before it was effectively disbanded. I do know a DEC forester for our area but it sounds like your program is more small garden and not as much about trees. My town did something called a rain garden for the public areas and I can give you a name if need be.
Have you checked with Stony Kill Farms? http://www.dec.ny.gov/education/1833.html
They may be a valuable resource.
mamasita, what I could use are some dates. The cooperative extension site is down. I believe our last frost date is around May 20th. Is this true? I've never paid close attention to the ground thawing. About what time would we start checking for friability (is that a word?) of the dirt, or when do the lettuces etc. go in about? Do you plant vegetables?
Stony Kill is on the list for possible field trips later in the year.
I had no idea how much would be expected of me all of a sudden. I think that there was a lot of interest in establishing gardens and a garden club at our school and people have just been waiting for someone to come along to make it happen. I'm not a big project, make it happen sort of person so I've got to get up to speed here.
The kids and the seed starting I can handle. There are two established gardens that were started by our previous art teacher. She just had a natural knack for gardening. She retired a few years ago and her plantings are really showing the absence. When we can figure out what the plantings are we should be fine. I'd like to develop the plantings in a wildlife friendly direction which I don't think will be hard as many of the plants are good ones for that.
Department of Environmental Conservation offers to groups like schools a package of 30 shrubs - beautyberry, highbush cranberry and crabapple. Or, a package of 50 trees - white pine and white spruce. The shrubs really caught my interest because they are good song bird support plants. We have a wooded edge around the area where our play fields are and empty planting areas in front of the school where last year's renovations took place. All the mature shrubs and trees were taken out to our great dismay! However, it's a great opportunity to plant things with a ecological impact. Butterfly attractors, etc. Of course we don't have much of a budget for buying shrubs at the local garden center. There's a lot of competition for the few dollars we currently do have.
What will be another challenge is keeping these kids busy until we can get outside to tend our plants. Next week I plan to start them learning about frost dates and germination times, days to harvest, etc. and planning out our vegetable plot for best use of space etc. I need to organize my thoughts about the steps you take in planning and implementing a vegetable garden. I've never done this myself in a systematic way and so its a real challenge. It will be good for me to finally make myself learn this stuff. Some people are lucky and had parents or grandparents pass along their wisdom. I've been mostly dependent on books and Dave's. So, I naturally came here when I started to feel so inadequate.
Thanks for listening people. I'm sure I'll be back with plenty of questions as we get underway.
Hi Candy,
Our last frost date is usually May 15th. Some years it's earlier, and other times a little later. There are plenty of early crops such as lettuces, radishes and peas which can go in - especially if there is a southern exposure near a building. There are also veggies which really ought to be started indoors and then transplanted. This will get the kids involved while you wait for things to warm up.
Do you ever go to Adams Fairacre Farms in Poughkeepsie? They are wonderful for giving advice and could also be an extremely valuable resource. They may make a good field trip. In my area, Sabellico's is wonderful, too. Since both businesses are local, they can give you more detailed information about planting times and issues. You might also want to contact the Farm and Home Center up in Millbrook since they are a wealth of information, too.
I hear you about the project getting to be a bit much. You may want to concentrate on one particular typeoif garden at a time (i.e. start small) because, as you have noted, it's the maintenance which will be the time consumer.
You can always Dmail me if need be. - Lynn
"...What will be another challenge is keeping these kids busy until we can get outside to tend our plants..."
Have you considered showing them winter-sowing? Until you get your greenhouse installed, that will definitely keep them busy.
Good luck with your project. It does sound a bit overwhelming but very, very exciting! It also sounds like you have a lot of interest and support from the school, which hopefully will help.
Forgive me if I missed your answer to mamasita, but how will the garden be handled over the summer? Will the club continue to meet and work? It seems it would have to for this to be successful.
Will you be composting? Sorry for all the questions - this is so exciting and I guess I'm living vicariously, lol....
:)
Dee
mamasita, yes I've been to both Adams and Sabellico's and have had a lot of help from both places for my home gardens. Adams will probably be our main source and the principal proposed an open purchase order over there so we can get what we need. The main budget will go to the memorial garden in the front of the school, but the money was donated in Sue's memory and she was the garden club person for the past two years so garden club (by that I mean the vegtables and flowers planted by the kids) will also qualify for funds.
DiggerDee, yes the garden is intended to continue over the summer. Parents are to sign up with their kids and then take turns showing up to water and weed over the summer. I live locally and don't travel a lot so should be able to supervise. There's a parent who lives close to the school as well and she has been very active and should be a big help.
Compost? Absolutely. A few years back one of the 5th grade teachers, through a grant tried to start a garden curriculum unit. They got a compost bin, one of those black things the DEC sells. The goal was to collect food waste from the cafeteria. The bin is too small for all the weeds and cuttings that were generated the year the garden was actively tended, and so they started dumping stuff on the property line next to the woods. I'd like to at least come up with a chicken wire or plastic mesh enclosure for the large waste and I'd like to get the black bin going again. Since I supervise a lunch hour it would be pretty easy to collect appropriate food waste and get it into the bin if I can get other staff members to cooperate and I can locate the bin.
I think winter sowing could be a good experiment for the club come next winter if I have a core number of students who show a strong enough interest and stay involved.
We have a plant lab that was bought for the third grade curriculum and we're allowed to use it. That's where our seeds will hang out until they're ready to be hardened off.
The garden beds are on a west wall of the school with nothing blocking the south exposure until late in the day. The third bed that needs to be developed because of compacted soil, is out in the open.
You really have your act together! It sounds like things will go smoothly, and I hope you have great success. Please keep us posted with your progress, questions, observations, etc.