Spring has sprung...and so has the pollen.

Hi folks, 

After a rainy spring break week, we are back in the garden. It's amazing how much it had changed in such a short period. The main development: flowers. Flowers on the tomato plants, flowers on the dill, flowers on the weeds. It seems like everything is blooming save the lettuce and kale. No wonder I've been sneezing like crazy.

Coral Honeysuckle

This is convenient because the lesson this week in the peace patch gardens is all about pollination. 

Sam, Kaitlin, Cory and I had a group of Pre-K students out in the garden this afternoon. We taught them all about pollination, showed them examples of pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc.), and we picked flowers, of course. Unfortunately, I was too carried away picking apart flowers with the kids to remember to take pictures of all of us...but I did get some snapshots of what's blooming:

Female flowers of the papaya. Papayas are naturally dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female trees. However, they can change gender quickly depending on environmental factors. This one's a female tree...for now.

Male flowers of the papaya. This ones the male, so pollen will be taken from these flowers to the female flowers, which will then develop into papaya fruits.

 

Dill!

Green onions. This is the beginning of a classic, round allium blossom. 

Eggplant flower and young fruit, the product of successful fertilization.

Tomato flowers. A lot of nightshades (ex: tomatillos, eggplants, potatoes, peppers) have this flower shape.

Wood sorrel. You can't forget the weeds--they attract pollinators, too! Sorrel doesn't taste half bad, either.

Beach or dune sunflower.

Until next time, 

ponder over a flower or two.

Deb

The seeds that we all planted a few weeks ago are coming along very nicely! The recent rain is making them so happy :)

Little cucumber seedlings above.

Here are corn seedlings in the Three Sisters bed, soon to have other seeds planted!

Today we had the great opportunity to have some Lakewood High School students come out to interview and film us in the garden with the kids. 

The lesson plan today was about the parts of a plant. Hank, Avery, Wes, and I had a big group of kindergartners and they were really excited to learn, especially about flowers and fruits.

Avery teaching about the roots of a plant.

The kids were very intrigued about the baby pineapples growing on the plants!

I think the papayas were the favorite of the boys :)

Can't wait to see the progress next week!

-Kayla

Happy St. Patty's Day!

'Tis a rainy day in the Peace Patch. Great for our beds, unfortunate for the kids who can't come out today. Last week, Deb and I met our kindergarten/first graders and introduced them to the garden and explained a bit about weeding. We showed them examples we had picked, Spanish Needle and Sedge, and explained why weeding is important.

Plenty 'o green in the garden- no shamrocks though! Here are a few pics taken last week:


                                                       Papaya blossoms

                                                  
Look at that pineapple bed- at least 4 are starting to fruit! That was a big hit with the kids, I think. It's very hard not to wanna grab that beautiful fruit.


I am looking forward to spending more time in the garden with the kids and learning more about the plants and gardening myself. Enjoy your day!
                                                         -Kaitlin

An afternoon in the garden

Howdy veggie-lovers, 

Today Sam, Cory, Kaitlin and I spent some time weeding the Lakewood peace patch and getting organized for the spring semester and the classes to come. 

Here is Sam making some adjustments to the garden map:

 Some purple kohlrabi we thinned last week. Mmm...I love kohlrabi:

Kaitlin worked hard at weeding the beds. 

We put the weeds that hadn't gone to seed into the compost pile.

And Sam acted as a scarecrow? Cory seems unfazed.

Lastly, the nasturtiums are still kicking.

I've been picking them to add a little zest and ornament to my salads.

I can't wait until the students come out! 

Until next time, 

Eat your greens!

Deb