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