Patchin' Up the Peace Patch

So over the past week we have continued to revive our garden to its fullest potential in hopes of expanding it in the near future. We have mulched, planted, and supplemented our sandy soil. One factor I am really excited about it the line of sunflower seeds we planted along the sides of the garden. Our goal is to surround the garden with 12ft gorgeous sunflowers! Also, we took a little field trip to the Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Petersburg for some free pineapple tops from one of the stands. Pineapples can regenerate from one part of the fruit so we buried two rows along the backside of the garden in hopes of yielding some delicious fruit. We've also constructed a trellis for our climbing cucumbers that looks something like modern art. For all of our climbing plants, we will be building these wooden trellises. It really adds something to the garden.

This week we are focusing on prepping the soil for planting more veggies such as collards, beets, turnips, broccoli, sweet potatoes, etc. We have also began little starters for okra, bell peppers, spicy peppers, and eggplant. Thanks to Saddle Up Riding Club, today the group got a truck load of free horse manure to turn into the soil. The other focus of this week is making it beautiful and functional with more mulch! We retrieved several loads of mulch from the local recycling center and plan on covering the entire expanse of the garden to block out unnecessary weeds and sedge, as well as show off how pretty our garden is.

This past week we have also welcomed a 3rd intern to the group, Ethan, who will be working along side Sydney and I everyday in the garden. The three of us are really looking forward to this upcoming semester for many reasons. For one, the garden will be at its peak. We have big plans such as more beds, different vegetables, a possible seating area in the garden itself, and much more! We are also going to be giving more power and responsibility to the students. This upcoming semester, the Peace Patch will be lead by four Independent Study students from Eckerd under the guidance of Prof. Kip Curtis. The important thing to remember is that this project is not possible without the dedication of our volunteers! We need close to 24 volunteers, weather returning or new to the project, to be willing to devote just a few hours a week to making this project the success we all know it can be!