At last Thursday's meeting, we came to the conclusion that we may have been over-watering. We adjusted our schedule, gave the garden a few days off from water, and WAH-LAH! Everything really shot up over the weekend. The corn, squash, beans, cabbage, lettuce, snap peas, and spinach are all starting to pop up. We had a fifth grade class come out this morning, so we gave the garden a little water after it's break, and also planted some okra in seed trays which we will transplant out with the kids in two to three weeks. Although the garden is really starting to bloom, the students always seem to find their way to the compost pile. The fact that some left over vegetables, horse manure, and worms can make soil really amazes the kids.
We had a first grade class come out for their first time, so we gave them the grand tour of the garden. They planted some radishes in containers which we transplanted into our garden. This is an experiment for the class, because they grew one container with sunlight, and the other container in the dark. They will be monitoring the growth of the radishes, and keeping track of how they do. During the last shift, more manure was delivered to the peace patch, which we will sprinkle on top of our beds to give our seedlings a little extra nitrogen to help them grow in our sandy, Florida soil. We feel confident about our garden and look forward to watching everything grow.
It is likely that, as the sprouts develop root systems, the water uptake will dramatically increase. Plants are water pumps. You might think about planting a few seeds along the inside edge of glass jars at the same time you plant seeds in the ground. Keep the jars wrapped in black paper and once a week peek at the growing root mass. It will somewhat mimic the root development in the soil which will not be so easy to observe. A terrarium is even better.
ReplyDeleteThe project looks wonderful!