Caution: Contents may be HOT!

It was a hot and sunny day at the peace patch today and there is lots of work to bedone in preparation for the Harvest festival. The a.m. shift watered all of the plants in the garden, churned the compost and did a bit of weeding despite the morning heat. They also harvested a GIANT zucchini and a couple of cucumbers to be shown to the kids who would come out later. As the sun rose in the sky and the day got warmer, more garden magic took place.

The early afternoon shift was visited by the kindergarteners, who played “the bee game,” a game to help students learn about pollinators. By the end, the children were sweaty and tired, but walked back into their classroom with smiling faces. The first graders that came out during the early afternoon took part in a plant scavenger hunt in order to help identify the vegetables in their final, harvested form.

The late-afternoon team got to see Ms. Lee’s 1st graders, who hadn’t been out to the edible peace patch for a whole week, drew pictures of their favorite garden scenes to be used as decorations for the Harvest Festival. Mrs. Robinson’s 1st grade class helped the afternoon shift weed out the persistent witch grass between and around some of the beds. They, too, seemed to enjoy themselves, even in the scorching mid-day heat.

Some of today’s classes even had the opportunity to taste some of the large, freshly-picked cucumbers. Much of the veggies in the garden are nearly begging to be pulled from their beds and the peace patch has proved the perfect environment for growing massive zucchinis, big, long cucumbers, copious quantities of greens such as kale and collards, bushes upon bushes of beans, succulent squash, climbing legumes supported by corn, red radishes, carrots, a variety of herbs and decorated with colorful wild flowers, marigolds and sunflower towers.

When it comes time to celebrate the bountiful harvest, the peace patch team will be ready!

Phewf!