2014
May 28, 2014
We do have a sign in the garden. Thanks so much to Jennifer Esser, who together with her 3rd Grader, Natasha, designed and painted the sign. - Can you read the hidden message? clue: It's the same color! |
Thank you to these lovely ladies for making it happen, L-R Jennifer Esser and Whitney McDermott
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Did anyone see the chicken in the garden?
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PeanutsThis is an interesting plant to watch grow. The flowers will set seed, then the flowers shoots will droop and burrow down into the soil to develop the pods below ground. You have to dig your peanuts up. BEWARE to nut allergy sufferers out there, contact with the plants may also affect you - They are planted out of the way in the garden.
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PotatoesHow do you know when you are ready to harvest your potatoes? Hmmmm, you can't see them, they too are below ground. wait until the flowers are over on the plant. Is generally a good rule of thumb.
May 20, 2014
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PeasPeas - now those we can see. And we didn't expect to. We thought they had all been eaten. But it seems they re grew from the roots already well established in the soil. Other plants were hidden among the pansies and didn't get eaten. Our peas, although only a few, have proven to be good competitors for Jackson-Via!
http://www.newsplex.com/video?videoid=2850621 |
Spring has sprung ...............................
Whodunit! Something or someone ATE our peas!!
- No sooner did our peas they pop their heads above ground, and they were gone! Who did it? – a squirrel, a bird or a slug?
What’s your guess? Our pea race may be lost, alas one of the joys of
gardening! but a good reason to read “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter. Maybe
we need to put Peter’s Blue Coat in our garden to deter the little
herbivores!
"GOLDIE" and"MIDNIGHT"- together for ever.
Goldie DID survive the winter! This was a cold one, if you can remember a lot of the time his water was covered with an inch of ice. He must have gone deep to where the water was a more constant temperature. BUT not only did Goldie survive the winter, but so did his buddy "Midnight" (now named). Can you imagine our surprise when Sonny scooped out water to water our newly planted spring beds, only to find beautiful Midnight, caught in the watering can. Well camouflaged Midnight! and good job we saw you before we watered the plants with you.
Goldie DID survive the winter! This was a cold one, if you can remember a lot of the time his water was covered with an inch of ice. He must have gone deep to where the water was a more constant temperature. BUT not only did Goldie survive the winter, but so did his buddy "Midnight" (now named). Can you imagine our surprise when Sonny scooped out water to water our newly planted spring beds, only to find beautiful Midnight, caught in the watering can. Well camouflaged Midnight! and good job we saw you before we watered the plants with you.
Ira Wallace visited our Garden
March 20, 2014
As part of the Virginia Festival of the book, Ira Wallace came and gave our first grade a beautifully animated and engaging talk about seeds. Seeds? Because Ms Wallace lives and works at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Mineral, VA SESE is a community and farm, where they grow vegetables - not to eat, but for their seeds! She brought all sorts of vegetable seeds to show us, in various stages; sprouted, which we tasted, and dried, which we examined. You would never guess what seeds came from which vegetables. Have you ever seen a dried carrot flower? Ms Wallace has just written a book all about growing vegetables in our area, the Southeast. It is a great reference for us as it describes what to do month by month. We shall be using our new library book as well thumbed guide. Thank you Ms.Wallace. |
Before and After the snow March 15 and 18, 2014
Spring Family Workday
March 15, 2014
WOW WOW WOW - The gardens look great!
Thank you so much to everyone who turned out on saturday and worked diligently on the gardens, we are SO ready for the spring plantings now - The garden club is about to begin again and Traci will be gardening in her PE classes - We can expect a full garden this summer. You know you are all welcome to harvest as much as you like over the break.
Did you see our greenhouse? Whitney and Jeff brilliantly sealed it up and put up a shelf, so we will be able to start our own seedlings off pretty soon. We may even have enough to make them available at the April 19t, Parks and Recreation Run and Garden fete held at Venable.
AND the weather cooperated! - Someone has 'contacts' with 'someone' obviously! - We managed to fit in a day before the snow came. Look at the photos from monday - who'd guess they are only 2 days apart.
Sallah and his film crew were also around filming while everyone was busy digging. They are making a movie for Tomas, owner of the Tapas restaurant 'Mas', in Belmont. Tomas has generously supported the City Schoolyard Garden, and is putting together a movie related to school gardens and food, to be displayed on Mas's wall during the Tom Tom festival. Be sure to visit Mas during the Tom Tom festival to see yourselves on the on the big screen.
We had another special visitor on saturday too, - Matt Darring and his two lovely children. Matt is the CSG coordinator at Burnley Moran, so doing double duty working so hard in our yard. Thank you Matt it was lovely to have you. Check out Burnley Moran's Schoolyard Garden on Facebook, (he has a website that will be up and running too soon). - It keeps us on our toes.
A really special call out to our unsung heroes of the 'West Wing' (actually south I think, but less poetic). Nancy Newman, Donna Morris and Fran Boninti. Yes they were there saturday, (as they are almost every week and workdays) but tucked around the other side of the school. They create, nurture and tend to the native and wildlife gardens around the primary wing. These gardens have been going for years and years and are the backbone of the vegetable gardens. Be sure to visit the them through the spring and summer, their changes are both subtle and spectacular at the same time, and follow 'snipits' of news the Nature Gardens page, which is only a tiny representation of what really goes on.
A really big thank you to you all! - Without you the gardens would be nothing.....
And hopefully you all had a fun day sledding on monday!
WOW WOW WOW - The gardens look great!
Thank you so much to everyone who turned out on saturday and worked diligently on the gardens, we are SO ready for the spring plantings now - The garden club is about to begin again and Traci will be gardening in her PE classes - We can expect a full garden this summer. You know you are all welcome to harvest as much as you like over the break.
Did you see our greenhouse? Whitney and Jeff brilliantly sealed it up and put up a shelf, so we will be able to start our own seedlings off pretty soon. We may even have enough to make them available at the April 19t, Parks and Recreation Run and Garden fete held at Venable.
AND the weather cooperated! - Someone has 'contacts' with 'someone' obviously! - We managed to fit in a day before the snow came. Look at the photos from monday - who'd guess they are only 2 days apart.
Sallah and his film crew were also around filming while everyone was busy digging. They are making a movie for Tomas, owner of the Tapas restaurant 'Mas', in Belmont. Tomas has generously supported the City Schoolyard Garden, and is putting together a movie related to school gardens and food, to be displayed on Mas's wall during the Tom Tom festival. Be sure to visit Mas during the Tom Tom festival to see yourselves on the on the big screen.
We had another special visitor on saturday too, - Matt Darring and his two lovely children. Matt is the CSG coordinator at Burnley Moran, so doing double duty working so hard in our yard. Thank you Matt it was lovely to have you. Check out Burnley Moran's Schoolyard Garden on Facebook, (he has a website that will be up and running too soon). - It keeps us on our toes.
A really special call out to our unsung heroes of the 'West Wing' (actually south I think, but less poetic). Nancy Newman, Donna Morris and Fran Boninti. Yes they were there saturday, (as they are almost every week and workdays) but tucked around the other side of the school. They create, nurture and tend to the native and wildlife gardens around the primary wing. These gardens have been going for years and years and are the backbone of the vegetable gardens. Be sure to visit the them through the spring and summer, their changes are both subtle and spectacular at the same time, and follow 'snipits' of news the Nature Gardens page, which is only a tiny representation of what really goes on.
A really big thank you to you all! - Without you the gardens would be nothing.....
And hopefully you all had a fun day sledding on monday!
1 - 2 - 3 They are off.
March 3 to 7, 2014 Are our official start dates for sowing peas in our garden by our 1st Grade children.
In the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville City School 1st graders will all plant peas, care for them and watch them grow. The school's peas that reach 1/2" in diameter first - holds the distinction of the 1st pea to the table!
It starts with a seed
Ms O'Brien's 4th grade class saved some apple seeds (and citrus seeds) from their snacks and placed them under their classroom grow-lights in December. Now they have some really tiny seedlings. Apple trees, all trees, must take a really long time to grow and produce fruit of their own. We are hoping not to wait so long in our garden and Ms Hunter's 1st grade class helped us plant an apple tree we got from Virginia Vintage Apples. Our tree is only about one year old, and although it looks pretty small - you can see how much it grows in a relatively short time. But it still has a long way to go. I hope our 1st graders will see some apples on it by the time they are in 4th Grade.
We are going to espalier our tree, and the top has already been chopped off. Look at our resources page to learn more. Our tree is a "Grimes Golden" variety (see Virginia Vintage Apples), Most apple trees need to cross pollinate to produce apples (even a crab apple nearby can do), but our variety is said to be able to self pollinate. We only got one because we anticipate our little tree will completely fill the trellis space --one day, when these first graders are in High School!
We are going to espalier our tree, and the top has already been chopped off. Look at our resources page to learn more. Our tree is a "Grimes Golden" variety (see Virginia Vintage Apples), Most apple trees need to cross pollinate to produce apples (even a crab apple nearby can do), but our variety is said to be able to self pollinate. We only got one because we anticipate our little tree will completely fill the trellis space --one day, when these first graders are in High School!
Favorite gardening quote.
"Ne'er cast a clout till the May be out". This is an old English saying. Clout being clothing (winter clothing) and May, is the May flower, AKA Hawthorn (Crataegsus) - commonly found in all the hedgerows. Named for the month that it usually flowers in.