School Garden Update

It's been the better part of a week since I did any significant work at the school garden beds, but I'm excited to see how it will come out.

 The top of the bed faces North. Starting from the NW corner, left to right, this is what was planted:
Row 1: Cukes x4, Row 2: tomatillos x4, Row 3: empty, unknown type tomato, tomatillos x2, Row 4: nasturtiums, empty x3, Row 5: empty, lettuce x2, chard, Row 6: nasturtiums, lettuce x2, mustard greens, Row 7: empty, onions x2, empty, Row 8: nasturtiums, carrots x3.
The first three rows utilized extra starts that were thinned from my garden, except the tomato that was a volunteer. I'm very curious to see what variety it is -we had quite a few different ones last year.
The nasturtiums I put in for color and to bring back the bees that the previous resident clover did. Also, they're edible and pretty in a salad. :)

The empty squares, I plan to utilize as fall crops, and plant seeds in about a month. Going to try: beets, turnips, cabbage, and more greens.
These are very late plantings, especially the seeds, even by Puget Sound planting standards. The spring was much drier and warmer than normal, and summer is looking the same. A lot of crops are kicking off earlier this year than they would in a "normal" year. Check my berry  post for more on early crops. I was very glad to see that the sprinkler system is working, and hoping it will carry the transplants through the warmer days.
Overall, I'm really not sure how these plantings are going to work out.
We'll call it a summer science experiment. :)
Hopefully, there will be something for the students to check out once school starts.
I would LOVE it if the fall crops come out well and a class or two could use the beets to pickle or use for dyes: science and art, two of kids' favorite subjects! If there are any NHE teachers reading this, please comment or email me if you have an idea for the fall crops (or any of the summer leftovers!). Pinterest has some good ideas for using fall veggies.
If the kids could use these to make a snack, that would be my dream come true! I think it is so important for kids to learn where food comes from and how to utilize it from a fresh and local source. Unfortunately, there always seems to be a lot of red tape where this is concerned. If you have interest in a garden for a school you work at or that your children attend, check out the Teaching Gardens hosted by the American Heart Association. They've come up with a program to combat childhood obesity by teaching children the steps of gardening: planting, nurturing, and harvesting. While it teaches them the value of being able to produce their own food and good eating habits, it's also giving them hands-on science, math, and heck, you can even work art into it!
Another thing it incorporates, is just good old-fashioned time outside, another thing many children just don't get enough of, and this subject could be another post on it's own. Until it is however, let me just give you the title of the book I'm reading right now on the subject: The Last Child in the Woods.
Before I really get going, and you stop reading, let's go enjoy the beautiful day -rain or shine!
Garden on friends...