Together We Grow

Courtesy of Free People Blog

This semester in the Peace Patch has truly opened my eyes in more ways than I know how to put into words. The opportunity to learn from a teacher like Professor Curtis is a rare one, and I hope anyone reading this may have the same luck as have I and my classmates. As an environmental studies major, much of what I learn revolves around harrowing realities and seemingly insurmountable problems. So in this, at times, disheartening field of study, the Peace Patch gives me hope that I - one individual - am capable of playing a small part in revolutionizing our current system. 

Today was another beautiful day in the garden. I get to Campbell and feel a breath of fresh air among the stress of this semester coming to an end.

Andrea worked on writing out the scheduled shifts for Campbell Park to give to the front desk so teachers could sign on to bring classes out to the garden.

I see such beauty beginning to grow in the young Peace Patch and feel as though it really is together that we grow.

Until next time,
Alix

Dry Garden Blues

It didn't feel glorious to arrive to the garden today. I was looking forward to being out in the warm sunshine, but the garden didn't look too great. I found myself a little embarrassed as we showed the kids around. I was glad to find that they did not mind. The kids always manage to find a million things that they didn't notice the last time. Their sharp eyes are great at picking up on all the things we miss too. Like this escaped bean that the whole class was ecstatic about.

Last week we let the kids weed and water. I'm glad we did, because this week as soon as they got to the garden, they started to help us right away. Several little hands grabbed at the watering can, and even more were digging in the sand in seconds. I remember what it felt like when I was bit by the ladybug of curiosity about my mom's garden as a kid, and I also remember how happy she was to use my childish energy. It's funny how the events of my life, even the seemingly small ones, are moving in a circle.

It's so frustrating that some of our gardens aren't taking off as much as others, but that might take a couple of years of nutrients cycling through the soils, according to our fearless leaders. And water. Lots and lots of water. We need to do something about the bed sides too, because the sand on the paths is getting blown straight on top of the nice soil. We have been harvesting some local bamboo to border the beds, and we'll be building those next week. That should help keep sand out. Today I just kept finding myself staring with sad longing at the native lushness on the other side of the fence from our garden (shown below).

As with many things in life, gardening does take patience. We planted some nasturtium seeds a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't notice any sign of them until today (below). I was so happy to see them that I yelped. Did you know you can eat them? I hope they make it. I sang them a little bluegrass today, and that always seems to help. 

Wishing you a wonderful and healthy weekend, 

Emily Bornhop

One Sunny Peace Patch!

  

If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil."

- Rachel Carson

The return of Florida heat is upon us, and the coming of another sweltering summer isn't far off. But heat and all, days really don't get much more beautiful than today.

While the beds at Lakewood and Sanderlin are teeming with squash and colossal cabbage, Cambell's juvenile garden is struggling through these rainless spring days of brilliant sunlight. Andréa and I arrived at Campbell this afternoon to find some of last week's promising growth now looking pretty sad.
This poor Papaya was especially bummed out. 

Watering young Peace Patches like Campbell and Maximo is the first order of business in the garden. The logs lying 6 feet beneath the surface of these hugelkultur beds require saturation so they can effectively retain moisture and ultimately generate nutrient-rich soil. As we watered the parched garden, I was reminded of how much we share in common with plants. 

We ran into Principal Watson at the front desk, who was busy overseeing this week's administration of the FCAT. He arranged for a class to meet us in the garden.
This juxtaposition of the public school's system of standardized testing and the experiential learning that occurs among in the garden is interesting. I can only hope these children carry their experiences in the Peace Patch into their ever-growing understanding of the world.

Halfway through watering, Ms. Miller's First Grade class met us for their first tour through the Peace Patch. 

Another Hot Spring Day

After a beautiful weekend in St. Petersburg it was not surprising waking up today with the weather the high 80's and sunny. Even though the weather was great for us, it took a serious toll on the plants. For some reason some of the plants and vegetables growing in the garden seem to be at a stand still, when some are looking great. Many of the greens, such as, lettuce, kale, and cabbage are continuing to grow.

Most of the other vegetables are not acting the same way though. Last week there were many radishes and my group thinned them out so that the strongest could grow bigger. Today it did not seem like they had grown any larger and perhaps some died. 

We had two classes come out at the same time today. That made things a little hectic. Not only because there were two groups at once but also because neither had been at the garden before. When this happened normally I like to go over parts of the plants and talk about what parts we eat on different vegetables, but these second graders were way to active to sit and have a conversation, they wanted to get into the garden and do some work. 

I had my group help weed around the edges of the beds which most of the kids got really into. They kept asking if there were more beds that they could weed. When all of their little hands were full I brought them over to the compost and explained that whole system to them. Some of the students said that they had composts at their house that they used at their own gardens. 

Derek had a great idea and let the kids water the beds as well. It was clear to anyone looking at the vegetables that they needed water so the kids got to talk about what water does for plants and see a slight improvement after just a bit of time in the garden. 

Obviously we needed to water the gardens more than what the kids did so we spend the rest of our scheduled time in the garden watering. Derek, Andrea and I each took a turn watering each of the beds and getting these plants really soaked so that this hot day wouldn't dry them up. 

Dani Cleary

The Wonders of Water

This garden was in serious need of some TLC when we arrived today, and boy did we find some great helpers!

Andy, Emily, Kelsey, and I were settling into our traditional garden rhythm (uncurling the endlessly long hose, watering the beds, pulling stray sedge and weeds, inspecting the plants) when who should appear, but some wonderful watering helpers!

Our extremely enthusiastic class came out around 1, and stayed until 1:30, tirelessly watering and weeding to their hearts content. At Campbell Park, the plant beds are all quite new and lacking in a strong nutrient base. We had been discouraged the past couple of weeks at the apparent lack of growth in our seedlings and new plantings. This is largely due to the immense amount of watering needed. We typically water for an hour each time we visit, but this obviously hasn't been enough to really give our plants the boost they need. Today we watered for a record 2 hours straight, and the beds didn't even look muddy! I guess some plants were thirsty...

This week's lesson focused on revisiting the functions of each part of the plant (the flower, stem, leaves, and roots) and a fun game of Simon Says to help us remember. Fitting in with the theme of our work day, we also focused a lot on the benefits of water and weeding! We had a great group of helpers attack some of the sedge on the edges of our beds, and others took turns with the hose and the gardening can.


There are some new plants in our garden as well!  We made sure to especially water last week's planted pineapple, and we just put in some new radishes! Radishes are a fun vegetable in the garden, because they have an incredibly short germination period. We should be able to see some small roots within a few weeks!


Despite all of our watering efforts today, it's going to take a lot more care to reverse some of the effects that lack of water and nutrients has already had on the existing seedlings. Come on cilantro, stay strong!

Well, that's all for today...

Cheers!
Miranda

Native Plants!

Today at Campbell Park, we introduced a bunch of native plants to the garden. They were placed at fairly regular intervals around the outside edge of the garden. Hopefully this will help the students to distinguish between the cultivares and natives, and they will learn about the different adaptations that allow the natives to live outside the bed, while most of what we grow and eat is inside the beds.

(Three of the new natives planted around the garden.)

The past couple of days have been full of rain, because of that we had a multitude of baby radishes spring up in the past week. So another one of our jobs today was thinning the radishes so that they have enough room to grow properly. Unfortunately no children came out during our shift today, last week they loved thinning the radishes, and tasting the spicy the roots. 

(Danni diligently digging, dastardly rapscallion radishes.) 

Even though, the past couple of days have been filled with rain, the Campbell Park garden can never get enough water! The soil and beds aren't as established as in some of our other gardens around the city, and it is clear to see that the plants are struggling because of it. The tomato plants in particular seem to be growing extremely slowly. I'm told this is to be expected because the soil doesn't yet have the correct balance of nutrients. I can't wait to see this garden in its prime!

 

(Andréa wisely watering our wonderful plants.)

Derek Kelly

Pineapple Peace Patch

Today was gray and windy when we got to the garden. We waited for our class, but they didn't seem to want to brave the weather, so we got to work. Andréa (pictured below) came prepared for the sun that came out shortly after we left.

We watered the whole garden, though it still seemed wet from a big storm the night before. Everything at Campbell Park still looks pretty small, but is slowly but surely growing. The rest of our work was mostly pulling up sedge, which keeps creeping into the beds. It looks like a grass, but it's not, and the roots can be pretty extensive. It has a bad reputation of being persistent in Florida gardens.

Along with seeds and starts, the Peace Patch has a tradition of planting old pineapple tops in the garden.  The workers at the Eckerd College cafeteria, run by Bon Appetite, have always been generously willing to donate the tops. Today Andy and Miranda showed the rest of us how best to plant them. First you remove any fruit leftovers. Then you peel a couple of scaly layers off so the roots can make it through. I have also heard that putting them in water for a couple days before they go in the ground help the roots get a head start.

After that, it's simple. They go right into the ground. The roots never grow very deep, and in two years, these pineapples should flower and fruit, like the pineapples at the Lakewood garden. Maybe after I graduate I will have to come back to St. Pete to see how the little guys are doing, and check out the rest of garden too.

Hopefully next time we come to Campbell Park, the sun and the students will return.

Wishing you a sweet weekend,
Emily Bornhop

Spring is Here!

Spring is here! Unfortunately down here we don't have the New England rains that come with the change of seasons, but we do have Dani! Since the Campbell Elementary School garden is one of the newest in the Edible Peace Patch Project, it is not a surprise that these little sprouts need the extra water to in order to establish these beds.

(Dani watering and Derek weeding)

Today we also saw Mrs. Power's 2nd grade class for the first time. Many of the students had not been out to the garden before, so today's lessons revolved primarily around safety rules in the garden, touring the beds, and talking about plant structure.

(Derek working with a small group from Mrs. Power's class)

After the class had left, Dani told Derek and I that in talking to her group about how plant's get their energy she had asked the kids if they could define "energy." Her response from one student was that "energy is what we need to get rid of by going outside and running around!" We all thought this response was not only cute, but also showed that the student was using personal experience and a personal definition of what he/she knew in order to answer Dani's question. As a general observation, I think the garden fosters this type of contribution from everyone since we are all coming from different backgrounds and defining this space based on what we know from personal experiences. 

(Dani working with a small group from Mrs. Power's class)

Andréa Martin