Fighting more sedge today...

Today we uprooted more of that pesky sedge and grass with the hoe, rakes and our hands and laid down cardboard as we moved along. One of our team members quickly covered the cardboard collage with mulch, making the Garden look more and more fertile every passing minute. The half circle area in the back of the garden is the next grassy place to tackle. In a few months, we hope to have corn growing in that part of the garden. We ended work today around 11:30- just when the Florida sun was really starting to beat down on us.


On a personal note, today my first day at the Garden! Working with my hands and getting dirt under my nails was therapeutic after long days inside classrooms and evenings studying. With each shift a little more work gets done- every day there'll be less green sedge, more mulch laid down, and soon beautiful flowers will bloom and the veggies will be ready to harvest. And after the prep work is done, the kids will come out and lively up the garden so much!

A Word on Sedge

Sedge is perhaps one of our biggest enemies at the Lakewood Edible Peace Patch. Florida plants seem to have a feisty streak that other plants don't quite have. The adaptation that sedge has astounds me. The root ball is about a foot from the surface of the soil. That root ball then shoots off string like roots towards the surface and grows leaf structures in several different locations. So, if a fellow gardener were to just pull the said leaf structures, the plant still survives. The only way to ensure the removal of the plant is to get at that root ball. This means following down the string sized root to the ball which can be trying and definitely takes quite awhile. It's hard to convey to my fellow gardeners the importance of getting this rootball out. There is still so much to be done in the garden that this project seems like a low priority. In reality if we get the complete root structure out now then we'll have so much less work this semester. Hopefully, I'll be able to convince my classmates that this is what needs to happen!

Other than the sedge, we are working diligently to rake

up all the grass, lay cardboard, and put down mulch. We still have a long ways to go, but it's early in the week so I believe we can finish and be prepared for the students next week!

Monday September 27th

Today was another work day. It was a gorgeous day out and the morning started with the sun shinning. Katie, Alyssa and myself all meet over at lakewood around 830am. We checked the log book to see what had been done on the last shift and what they thought should be done next. We started by pulling weeds around the beds again. We laid cardboard and mulch along the paths that were finished. The three of us made quite a bit of progress today. Katie pulled up the compass rock at the front of the garden and weeded around it and relaid it with mulch around it. You can now see which direction is North and South. We also harvested the sweet potatoes in the last left garden. We saved the smaller ones to replant later on. Today was a great day and we are on the short road to planting soon!

Going Strong!

Today was a day of great progress, determination, sweat, and dirty hands, but the garden is certainly coming together! We cleaned out the shed, got ourselves organized, and took inventory of what we have in stock. Seperating all of the tools, going through last years crates, and cleaning up the shelves was a tedious task, but well worth it. Having a clean shed will enable us to grab what we need when we need it.

We next moved on to tackle the grass and weeds that seem to have invaded our patch this summer. Using steel rakes, bare hands, and a wheelbarrow the team cleared the main drag of the garden, laid down cardboard, and mulched nearly half of the garden. We then took all of our weeds and trimmings and piled them up into our compost mound.

Walking through the school hallway on our way to the water fountain for a quick, but much needed, break from the sun, it was amusing to hear the students point out how we were covered head to foot in dirt. I know all of us can not wait to see what the garden has instore for everyone. Our final touch today was replanting our lovely pineapple plants that seemed to have turned over on us.

Although all of this prep work seems like a heavy load, it will all be worth it when the children see what we have to teach them and we can see what they too have to teach us!

Spring(Fall) Cleaning...

Well, this morning started off with a bit of a scavenger hunt. We've been making frequent use of the Eckerd recycling truck this week which is used communally on campus by different organizations. With the frequent use of the truck and it's lack of a true home, one never really knows where the truck might be. Usually it's parked near Beta Complex or in the Old Library Loop, but today was not the norm. Long story short, we checked Beta, old library loop, the Nu/Omega parking lot, and the Beta parking lot again with no avail. As a last ditch effort we headed to the Forrer parking lot, and thank goodness our forest green and badly battered friend was there! We filled the truck with cardboard from the mailroom and the on campus recycling center and headed out to Lakewood.

There is so much left to be done before the garden is in working condition. We need to rake up all the grass that flourished over the summer between the beds, turn the 3 sisters' bed with manure, lay down cardboard and new mulch, replant the pineapple plant that were knocked over this summer, reorganize the shed and mix in the new dirt from the compost into all of the beds to name a few item off the endless checklist. Needless to say, even as a veteran to the garden this all seems daunting. Yet, we grabbed another load of mulch and staked the watermelon before I left. Tommy and Vivian continued after I left since I unfortunately have class at 10 am.

Small steps I keep telling myself. Each shift will progress on the list and it will dwindle. We will have a gorgeous garden in no time ready to accept the classes that will prosper from the information and experiences it can provide.

PS I apologize for the lack of pictures, I've been struggling to upload them for 30 minutes now, and I believe technology is winning this battle. I'll see if I can add them in tomorrow!

Mulching Again

Four of us went out again today, to continue getting the garden in order. We still had quite a bit of cardboard from yesterday, so two of us went on mulch-collecting duty, and the rest of us continued weeding the plots. Most of the beds were relatively low on weeds, so this task was easy enough. Yesterday's horse manure was mixed into the beds, but we should add some more next time we go out, because there is a bunch of unused manure left over.
We brought in two more truckloads of mulch. and made good progress covering the paths with cardboard and mulch. On the way back, the two of us in the back of the pickup had quite the zen experience, as we were made one with the mulch. All in all, a lot of work got done, but a lot more remains...

Another Day of Prep Work

Today started early with five students. We drove over to our on campus recycling center to collect cardboard to line the bed of the truck as well as the walk ways in the garden. We then traveled again to the Saddle up stable to load another truck full of manure. Though smelly and slightly wet we managed to load it quickly and return to Lakewood. Once the manure was unloaded we then made the quick trip over to the recycling center near the elementary where we could pick up free maulch. We loaded and unloaded two truck fulls of maulch, laying the cardboard down first we maulched around the first garden bed to give an example to tomorrows group of students. At this pace we should have all the prep work done by the end of the week!

Lakewood Begins!

Today was the first step toward our Edible Peace Patch! In the morning a few students got together to head up to Saddle Up stables to collect some really important manure for the garden! It was a tedious and tiring task that was to say the least, the poop. The unloading was great and it really brought out some new ideas for the garden once back to see how much work we have to do. Weeding and mowing the grassy areas around the garden are in dire need. Some serious housecleaning will be in order this semester to pull the garden back to work.

Into the Street 2010

Every Autumn Term at Eckerd College, freshman show up three weeks early to participate in the Autumn Term, a three week short semester designed to introduce them to the rigors of college life and give them some time to adjust to the campus before the upper classmen arrive. One of the traditions of Autumn Term is a large scale service event called Into the Street, where almost 300 freshmen spend the afternoon providing help to an organization in St. Petersburg that is in need of labor. As you can see from some of these photographs and as I will affirm if you have never seen the Edible Peace Patch before, things are looking grassy and sedgy. We needed some help. We were able to hold the sedge at bay during the school year because we had many hands on the garden every day. No one has been to the garden since July and so almost two months and lots of rain and lots of things grow. We had covered the beds back in July with a 6 mil black plastic to try to minimize washout of our soils and to cook them a little bit to kill nematodes. We decided that we would work in pairs and two people would help weed out the watermelon plants that survived the summer heat, but are fighting for ground space against other fast growing weeds. Another two went to town on the three sister's garden, beginning the long back-breaking work of turning the soil. We'll do that twice more, once with horse manure, before we plant it. One student pruned the crape myrtle trees, very ncely, I'd say, and another helped me move the compost pile and begin spreading the new soil we made. One small bit of plant miracle took place. Last year during Into the Street, students had been pulling weed along the fence line and they accidentally pulled a Firebush that we had planted in honor of Science Coordinator Margaret McCabe. We stuck it back in the ground but all school year last year it just stood there like a dead hulk. No sign of life. When we returned to the garden with this year's group, the whole bush had resurrected. It is flourishing as if it never felt a thing. We consider it a good sign for the new year. Another good sign is the continued interest in the garden by Eckerd students and the continued interest in the garden by the teachers and administrators at Lakewood Elementary. One other promising sign, which you can see in a couple of the photographs, is the huge pile of new soil that we built out of the organic matter of last years plants. My eternal gratitude to the seven students who put in some very very hot hours under the steamy Florida sun to help us move closer to being ready for planting. It was a great day in the gaden and we look forward to another flourishing year. We hope you can join us.

The Edible Peace Patch 2010-2011 will officially begin in a few weeks. Watch out for new posts!

After the Harvest

For all of our luck having growing seasons and school years overlap, it seems that the Edible Peace Patch wants to go into peak harvest a week or two after our harvest festival. The squash are looking healthier than ever, enormous orange flowers blooming in the sun. Bright yellow crook-kneck and pale flesh colored butternut. Not to mention the zucchini which keeps coming and the gourd on the fence. And then there is the cucumber. This is the season of cucumber.
We have heard that tomatoes are not the best crop for the hot Florida sun. The word on street is that cherry tomatoes are your best option. But Amy planted some variety of large tomato on her balcony and transplanted it here in February or March and now, hanging almost ripe on the vine, is the largest tomato I have seen yet. And behind it and around it are a dozen more ready to ripen and red soon, too. We will have a bountiful harvest of tomatoes in two or three weeks before the hot summer sun begins to burn out the plants.
There were even radished left over from the radish bed we harvest. And beans to harvest and corn on the cob and the stem. The zucchini are works of art and the okra flower, the first of many ready to bloom, composes a delightful contrast in the Sunday morning light.
We plan to offer the rest of the harvest for sale from behind the school. If it is within school policy. Otherwise, we'll set up a stand somewhere. There will be a regular harvest for several weeks.

Harvest Festival

Tonight was the 2nd "Annual Garden Harvest and Science Celebration". About 150 people came out, including Lakewood students, their families, and other community members. It was a really incredible event. The evening's activities began with a walk through the garden, followed by a vine planting ceremony at the entrance of the garden. Professor Curtis planted a Coral Honeysuckle vine and stated how the vine serves as a metaphor for the Lakewood students; as they work to help the garden grow and mature, the garden also works in the students to help them grow and mature. The events then moved into the cafeteria where the Eckerd students served the dishes they had prepared to the community members. As we ate we watched the documentary produced last year by Kelly Schiller, and then heard some remarks from Principal Cynthia Kidd, Lakewood science coordinator Peggy McCabe, and Professor Curtis. The events of the evening concluded with a raffle of various potted plants from the garden such as tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and marigolds.
I began participating in this project in January of 2009, when it was still mostly just an idea in Professor Curtis' mind. A dozen or so of my classmates at Eckerd began volunteering with the project, not really sure what would come of it. Now, almost a year and a half later I find myself involved in a successful, revolutionary project that I know will only continue to grow and solidify. I feel very fortunate that I've had the opportunity to not only participate in this project, but to watch it grow from idea to success.
We are in the middle of a food revolution in America, and I think that it is projects like this that are going to produce substantial and effective change in the future. More and more people are becoming aware and concerned with where their food comes from and the garden project at Lakewood addresses that issue while putting it in a learning environment for elementary school students, college students, and the surrounding community. This is a mutual learning experience, my classmates and I have learned so much from teaching these Lakewood students that can't be learned in a classroom.
Although I'm sad to have to say goodbye to this project I feel extremely fortunate to have been a part of it and the events tonight at the Harvest Festival reiterated to me how important of a project this is.

Brilliant Wednesday morning in the garden, cannot believe the end of the year is coming so quickly. I have so looked forward to these quiet mid week mornings, where this beautiful growing space has provided a perfect platform for easy conversation and playing in the dirt.

Alex and I spent the morning weeding and watering and trying to combat the strange fungus that has overtaken the zuchinni leaves. We applied a diluted milk solution to the leaves, as suggested by Dylan, so hopefully we should see an improvement

We had some unexpected visitors from the 4th grade classes towards the end of our shift, who were sent to observe and interpret their findings through writing and drawing. It made my day to be surrounded by these young ones, so full of questions and excitement!



It seems things are coming together for the Harvest Fest tomorrow, grocery shopping has been done and the zucchini bread is going in the oven!

Home stretch on the garden harvests!

Today in the garden we witnessed a tremendous feat! With our second grade class we harvested some of the beans that have grown tremendously fast over the last few weeks. The numbers kept piling up and at the count we almost picked a hundred beans!!! If today was not already successful enough, we played a final match of the Bee game. The bee game, originally organized by fellow edible schoolyarders is a garden favorite. Along with tomato tomato cucumber, this game provides an educational background while providing an outlet to the extremely high amounts of energy our students have. The bee game consists of fast, witty and smart bees whose goal once let out to run chase after the mighty flowers who try to outlast and outsmart these bees in order to make it from their home base across the PE field. Pollination is key in our garden and it is easily understood through a fun activity.
Besides having a great last day with our students, a ton of weeding was accomplished to pull the sedge out of the mulch. Keeping the sedge out of the mulch will only add to the natural beauty of the garden for Thursday's Harvest Festival!

Last Monday of the Year

Today was a marvelous day! Dragonflies were busy gathering nutrients and helping the garden bloom under the sun's shining rays. Unfortunately, it was the last day for mondays kindergarden and second graders class. The second graders ran through the open field screaming and laughing as they played the game pollinator. Likewise, the kindergarden class chased each other around in a game of cucumber, tomato, which is essentially duck duck goose. In both classes, we discussed what we learned over the school year and what was some of the kids favorite things were about the garden. It is apparent that the some of the kids favorite parts were pineapples, aloe, playing games, tasting the vegetables, watering the plants and planting the seeds. Also many of the kids stated that they learned it takes water, sunlight, bugs, and soil to create a garden. They really seemed to have enjoyed this experience and have gained a lot of knowledge regarding how to grow a successful garden. One kid even stated that it feels good to be in touch with the earth and give back to it, which was really cool to hear from young generations. All and all, the volunteers and the children had an amazing semester together. The best part was being able to plant a single seed with the kids and watch it grow over time into a beautiful plant. The spirits of the kids made the garden grow extra strong and it will be a privilege to enjoy the wonderful food that we grew at Thursdays Harvest Festival!!