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

Spring Break

This week the kids are on spring break, so it is a great time to get maintenance done on the garden. Instead of the normal group of three volunteers in the garden, we had seven people at the garden working today. We had two volunteers, Ned and Christine Bellamy, who were part of the original group of volunteers that dug the park.

We spent our time edging the beds as this time intensive task normally isn't able to get accomplished during the course of a regular garden shift. With so many volunteers though, it was easy to edge all of the beds in the Campbell Park garden. With a couple more shifts this size, it will be easy to get the garden into great shape for the kids when the get back from spring break. 

Andrea also worked on transplanting starters into our herb bed. The original seeds didn't sprout that we planted in the bed. After the transplants were finished, and all the beds were edged and watered the two hour shift was done. Hopefully soon we will be able to begin building the fences around the beds.

 Derek

A Wonderful Day for Peace Patching!

A Wonderful Day for Peace Patching!

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, 

and no culture comparable to that of a garden.

- Thomas Jefferson

Ms. Gibbon's First Graders in front of Three Sisters Garden.

The midday sun was beaming brightly as Andréa and I made our way to Campbell Park Elementary for a couple hours in the garden. As is usually the case on our Wednesday shifts at Campbell, we weren't sure what - or who - the afternoon would bring us. Yet the not knowing is fine by me, as my time in the garden is always a much needed sojourn from the business of everyday life.

Campbell's garden is the baby of the Peace Patches - just over two months old - and it never ceases to surprise me what new growth has taken place over the course of a week. Yesterday we were met by sprouts of beautiful okra we'd planted a few Wednesdays prior.

Hello Okra!

Andréa watering the cucumbers.

I looked over at the construction crew working on what will soon become a bank building beyond the fence, and am reminded of how what we are growing together in the garden is worth far, far more. 

Not long after we finished giving the beds plenty of water, Ms. Gibbon's First Grade class lined up on the sidewalk, ready for their first tour through Campbell's new garden. It's a pretty amazing experience to walk these children around their very own Peace Patch. 

         

We split off in groups of two, Andréa leading half the class and I the other. Much of the beauty of

working with these children is never knowing quite what to expect. One guarantee, however, is the excitement you can see in all of their faces. 

The beauties of growing food can capture the interest of most anyone, and it's wonderful to share this excitement with a group of kids. I really can't imagine a better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon!

Until next time,
Alix

Visitors!

Today at Campbell was a beautiful sunny day with a class that was more than exceptional. We arrived at 1, and went to check in with the office, but never actually got to because the class was already lining up to come out to the garden. 

So we showed them around and decided that because it was the second week for this class being out at the garden, we would teach them about the different parts of the plants. At the beginning, we sat them around in a circle and explained the functions and locations of the leaves, stem, roots, and flower. Some of the kids were very knowledgeable about the different structures of the plant and were very excited about telling us what they knew. We eventually went on to playing a game of Simon Says, telling the kids to act like their bodies were representing individual plants, with their feet being roots, hands are leaves, etc. 

We spent about 5 minutes playing games with the kids, and when they were thoroughly entertained with that, we moved on to smaller groups, showing them around the garden. We explained what was planted in the certain beds, and how they grow better in certain types of soil, compared to the sandy ground that is regularly found in Florida. 

We only had one class, which was really up in the air anyways, because we weren't sure what the plan for the day was. After the class left, we watered the entire garden and planted some more seeds. 

It was a beautiful day with some great kids who were genuinely interested in learning more stuff about the garden. I was really pleased with working with them today.

Andy

In sight, in mind

            Liz and I arrived at Campbell park for our 11:00-1:00 shift for the first time today. Since this garden hasn’t established a schedule with the teachers yet, we had been previously moved around to other gardens with classes on Mondays, so I was really excited to see what this one would be like. I was so surprised to see it directly adjacent to the parking lot as we drove up to the front entrance. All of the other gardens require you to go through multiple doors, hallways, and gates to finally get to them, but this was right there as you walked up. My first reaction was, “This is odd, it looks like it is right in the parking lot”, but as we worked I began to love the set up. Whether this was done intentionally or out of logistics, I think that it is a great idea to have the garden be the first thing people see when the come to school. It provides exposure to the kids that may not get to interact in it and to the parents who may not be aware of it. I think that the unhidden presence of this garden will spark a sense of awe, curiosity, and interest in all who pass by it.

            Last week the first plants were set in the soil, and so far most of them seem to be feeling right at home. We oriented ourselves to the layout of the garden as we watered it and began to learn all the different vegetables and flowers artistically scattered within it. One of the coolest parts about this garden is the design. We couldn’t quite figure it out at first, but then Robin informed us that it represents the stitching on a baseball since the Peace Patch received so much help and funding from the Rays Baseball Foundation. It will be interesting to see if the kids will be able to pick out this design as they learn and work in the garden. I am very excited and proud to call this my classroom every Monday for the next couple months! 

Colby

(more pictures coming soon!)