We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses- Abraham Lincoln

            Today in the garden we had threatening rain clouds overhead all morning, but were spared of any plan ruining drizzle. Our Tuesday morning group spent the first half of the morning weeding the stubborn grass and trying to tackle the weeds that persistently come up in the butterfly garden. We also continued to work on mulching the area between the beds and the fence and admired the newly set up outdoor classroom. 

            Throughout my morning stroll through the beds I recognized some interesting new growth.  The okra not only has grown dramatically in size but it has some beautiful new yellow and purple flowers, and some promising new fruits.  I also observed some equally beautiful purple flowers on the sweet potatoes and some bulbous roots of the almost pickable radishes.  My fellow gardeners and I were happy to see that the stumps that had been resting along the fence in previous weeks are now arranged in a little mulched circle that is perfect for Lakewood kids as well as Eckerd students to sit on. We decided this spot was an excellent location to execute our day’s lesson about the plant parts. Where better to learn about plants than surrounded by them on all sides.

        After briefly going over the lesson plan and setting up for the kid’s arrival, Mr. B’s class came bounding toward the garden with loads of excitement. We arranged them into a line and led them to the outdoor classroom. We went over the main parts of the plant: roots, stem, leaves, flower, and fruits, and then asked them to identify and assemble our tomato plant on our chalkboard.  The kids impressed me with their knowledge and were extremely willing and ready to soak up all the knowledge we had to teach them.

            We then gave each student a clipboard and some paper and colors and had them draw their own plants with all the parts that they had just learned.  This aloud us to truly see what all they had absorbed, and fill in any gaps, which they still had. After viewing many gorgeous representations of the plants we had just learned about, we let the kids take a tour of the ever-changing garden.  They viewed the new flowers and taller corn, as well as tasted some basal. We finished with a barrage of hugs as they left as excited to come back as they had arrived.

-Becca Waitz

The Kinder-Gardeners

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.” –John Burroughs


After another weekend, the garden continues to surprise us with beauty. When examining the first bed with the tomatoes in it I notice that quite a few tomatoes have been planted since I had last been there. The biggest one in the bed continues to grow. We were excited to find that it has a few yellow flowers that have recently bloomed.

I did some weeding and thinning out in the carrot bed, between the sweet potatoes and tomatoes. I noticed that the sweet potatoes also have flowers that are a white and purple growing within its leaves. These flowers are not easy to see because they are hidden by the big leaves.

Other excitement in the garden was in the pole bean bed. The bean’s long spiral tendrils finally decided to climb up the pole. It won’t be long till the other beans do the same.

Mrs. Barlow’s kindergarten class came out around nine-thirty. We asked them how their bean plants were doing that they planted last week and if they noticed any changes. They said they had seen some green in the cups. We then introduced our topic of the Lesson, “Plants have Parts”. Using a chalkboard with a stem drawn on it and paper cutouts of pictures and labels of the other parts, we had them attach various parts of the plant (roots, leaves, flower, and fruit) to the diagram. We reviewed all the parts again and went over their various functions. Roots are like a sponge; they absorb water and nutrients and hold food. The stem is like a straw sucking up water while the leaf lays out to collect sun and food. The flower and fruit holds the seeds for new plants to grow. We told them to draw a picture of all the plant parts, using the plants in our garden. The okra turned out to be the best example because it had a flower and fruit.

The radishes are nearly ready for harvesting so we decided to pull one up to show the kids some roots. They were amazed by how much of the plant was hidden in the soil.

The kids lined up and got ready to go back to the classroom. It seems like they would much rather prefer to stay in the garden and I can understand why. Everything is growing and it is exciting to be part of the process!

Julia Melton

Weeding and Planting

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. 

- Og Mandino


During our early morning meeting we all took a stroll through the garden to determine what we thought still had to be done. After our walk through the garden we met up and talked about what work was left to do. The students who come up with the lesson plan each week presented the activity to us. Next week we are going to be teaching the kindergarterns and first graders about plant parts. With little cut out plants we will have them “build” a plant on the chalkboard and then review the names. Today we had two groups role play next weeks lessons.

"Children are born naturalists. They explore the world with all of their senses, experiment in the environment, and communicate their discoveries to those around them."

Everyone on my shift was disappointed to find out that we would not be having any classes come out today. We still had plenty of work to do though. Katie and Erin carefully transplanted some of the starter plants including kale and lettuce. Carly got to work labeling the sunflowers while I put poles in the pole bean bed. We had a couple of extra workers in the garden today and we all spent a lot of time weeding the wildflower bed, which is very overgrown. Someone also tackled the mess in the shed and organized it.

-Alina

A Rainy Thursday

Let the rain kiss you.  Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby.  

~Langston Hughes

This morning was a rainy day at the garden. First, Julia and I started weeding some of the beds, and then a big black ominous cloud came across the sky. Julia and I decided to take shelter in the shed while the pouring down rain passed. I thankfully took a picture of the garden before it started pouring. The garden is really coming along, even from week to week when I come back, it has grown. I am so excited to see how the garden will look at the end of the semester. Despite all of the rain it was a good morning. While Julia and I took shelter in the shed, we got together the materials for the kids to come out.

While getting the materials together, it was a little difficult to decide how many kids that Julia and I would have, since we were the only two there today. We decided that each of us would have two cups and in each cup we put two seeds, as the lesson plan said. Before the kids came out we tried to find a space where the rain wouldn't be as bad and we decided to put the blanket out under the tree.

It is amazing how fast these plants are growing, all of the rain over the weekend must have helped tremendously. I was so happy that the cucumbers and squash that Julia and I planted last Thursday have sprouted and look really good. Julia also mentioned that in her other group they trimmed them a little bit and she said the leaves smelled just like cucumbers.

The kids came out right at 9:30 and luckily not all of the kids came today. It was only ten kids, so Julia and I were able to split them up equally. First, Julia read them the story and they really liked it; there were three kids who raised their hand after every color and gave very good answers. One of the little girls that was in my small group last week remembered me and it was very cute. When we split off to do the seed activity she ran to me and held my hand. It was a bit hectic with five kids and two cups because every kid wanted to do every job.


 Since it was raining still we stood under the tree and did the activity. We weren't able to get the last part of the activity done with the clipboards because it started raining harder by the end of the shift. It has only been a couple weeks, but being at the garden and making a difference in these children's lives is turning out to be pretty amazing!

Must we always teach our children with books?  Let them look at the stars and the mountains above.  Let them look at the waters and the trees and flowers on Earth.  Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education.

 -  David Polis

Jessica Stitt

The Magic of the Garden

“No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden.” ~Hugh Johnson


It seems like every time I return to the Edible Peace Patch something new appears as if it were magic. It is amazing to actually see all the hard work that we put into the garden. I was very excited to see the radishes we planted such a short time ago have started to show their magenta colored bulb from underneath the soil. It brings a sense of pride to have planted them.

The beets that were planted on the other half of the bed have begun to sprout up. They were looking a little crowded so we decided to thin them out to give the beets room for their roots. The beets that we pulled out had the most magnificent magenta color to their stems; it was similar to the radish bulb color but way more vibrant.

The cucumber’s that we recently planted in mounds were also getting bigger and were looking a little crowded. We pulled some of the cumbers out very carefully so that we could try to transplant a few in another bed. I was surprised to find that the tiny little cucumber sprouts already smell like cucumber. Also, most of the seeds were still hanging on to the roots, which gave us hope that they could perhaps survive being relocated to a new bed.

Another magical presence to the garden was found in the okra bed. One of the okra had a beautiful flower that blossomed. I had no idea that okra had flowers.

When it was time for the kindergarteners to arrive, we were very prepared after doing the lesson on Monday. After the kids had planted their bean seeds in the cup they wanted to check out the Edible Peace Patch. They wanted to water the plants in the beds with the leftover water from the beans they planted in their cups. We told them to bring the bean seeds that they planted two weeks from now so we can see if they have grown. I am really enjoying working with the kids. They are enthusiastic to be learning outside and they are starting to recognize the garden as their own.

Julia Melton

"Earth laughs in flower."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today was quite a productive day.  Our Tuesday morning group started out planting some eggplant and corn, which should be sprouted by this time next week. We then watered all the beds inspecting them closely for new growth since last week. The okra and sweet potatoes are definitely still dominating the garden thus far but the radishes, tomatoes and pole beans seem to be catching up.

             After pulling a little stubborn grass growing up through the mulch we were visited by Mr. B’s eager class of first graders. We all put on our SCIENCE APRONS and listened to an enthusiastic reading of Planting a Rainbow!  It took a little while to get the kids into the book but once we got to the rainbow of flowers part, the class was quite enthused. The reading led perfectly into our next activity.

            In the next part of the lesson we split the first grade class into four groups. In these small groups we each had our own part in planting a pole bean. One student poked a whole in a cup of soil to the right depth; the next student planted the bean into the hole and covered it up and the last student had the opportunity to water the plant. All of the students seemed to really enjoy all the steps of this process. The kids may have gotten a little over zealous with the watering step, but we’re going to cross our fingers that they will germinate anyway.  The culmination of our lesson consisted of having the kids predict what will happen to their bean as it grows. Our kids illustrated and colored in beautiful pictures of flowers, beans, the sun and water.  Over all I believe both the kids and my fellow Eckerd students had loads of fun working and learning in the garden today.

-Becca Waitz

“Planting a Rainbow”

“A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.”


-Ludwig Wittgenstein

It is amazing what a rainy weekend can do. Not only did it make our Monday morning watering less work, it also seemed to encourage growth in our beds. The tomato plant has a new ladder that is used for stability. The tomato plant appears to be beginning to climb up the ladder.

Other improvements are visible with the Okra as well as the recently planted radishes that were planted about two weeks ago. The radishes seemed to have blossomed in such a short time span. Before we know it, they will be ready for harvesting. I am looking forward to harvesting the radishes with the children because they have been part of the process in watching the radishes grow into what they are today. I think the kids will also be surprised that the radishes grow under the soil and that they are more than just the tops that they can see at the surface.

I was also excited to see that the cucumbers and squash that we planted in hills last Thursday were sprouting up. The red ants seem to have recovered their home in this bed. We are hoping they will relocate to a new area.

The lesson plan that we had with the kids today was called, “Planting a Rainbow”. We were supposed to read a children’s picture book that uses colorful illustrations to describe what seeds need to grow. Unfortunately, the class came out to the garden late so we only had time to do our second part of the lesson.

We told the children to break up into the small groups they were in last week. I had a group of three girls that were well behaved and attentive. I asked them what were some things that seeds need to grow and they responded with the correct answers “soil, water, and sun”. Then our next task was to have them plant bean seeds. I gave them each a job. One kid was assigned to give our lima bean seeds soil, another kid was assigned to plant the seed in the soil and the third kid was in charge of watering the seed that was in the soil. Once they each participated in planting the seeds, I asked the girls what they predicted the seeds would look like in two weeks. In the small amount of time we had left, I had the girls draw their predictions on a piece of paper.

Although we only had a little time to work with the kids today, it was nice to have them experience planting a seed. I predict that the kids are going to grow from learning at the Edible Peace Patch.

Julia Melton

Feels like fall

As everyone gathered around for our weekly group meeting the peace pathchers shivered in the cool morning air. It finally feels like fall! As we talked about our weekly experiences everyone was eager to share their stories about the first week with their students. It was apparent to me  that everyone was excited to finally be able to share the garden we have been working so hard on, with the kids.

          After the meeting my early morning shift of Erin, Katie and Carly and I got right to work before our group of students arrived. We weeded the beds, watered and planted some more pineapples. The recently planted pineapples are looking a little sad but we are hoping that they will perk up soon. The time flew by and before we knew it we had a line of kindergarteners waiting for us.

After introducing ourselves to the group as a whole we then split up into smaller groups. We asked them questions about the garden to see how much they know. I was surprised about how much my three 5 year old girls knew about the garden. They were all excited to answer the questions and when we toured through the garden they kept rushing from bed to bed guessing what each plant could be. It is so much fun to teach when the kids are so eager learn! 

I can’t wait to see my kindergarden and first grade group on Monday!  

-Alina 

Planting a Seed

“When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,

The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.”

-Robert Frost


Today was another peaceful morning at the garden. We began by examining some of the beds. The larger of the two tomatoes in the first bed is getting even bigger. Today was the first time I have notice the tomato touching the line that weaves above it that is used for added stability.

The Radishes we planted about a week and a half ago are growing very fast. One of my group members, Noah, decided it was a good idea to thin the radishes out by taking some of them out. Then they transplanted the ones they took out in the other half of the bed. We are curious to see if the ones we transplanted will survive.

We remembered the group of kids that came out last week on Wednesday mentioned how much they loved carrots and wanted to plant them. We decided to designate the bed between the tomatoes and sweet potatoes as the carrot bed. We prepared the bed so that the kids could plant the seeds at the end of their lesson. We dug six rows and made small holes for the seeds about three inches apart.

When the kindergarten class came out with smiling faces, we did our introduction and got into smaller groups to do the assessment. The first thing the kids in my group asked was, “Are there any carrots?” We decided that was a good time to let all the kids plant the seeds in the carrot bed. Each hole got about two to three seeds. This was a little difficult because the carrot seeds are very small. After the seeds were planted, we told them to cover the holes with the soil. Then I guided the kids in my group around the garden and told them what was in each bed. For the empty beds, I asked them what they would like to see growing there in the future.

Before we knew it was time for the class to go to lunch. They gave us all hugs and smiles and I told them that we would see them next week. There is so much gratification in working with children in the environment. Getting to share the Edible peace patch with younger children is a neat opportunity.

Julia Melton

I know that you'll feel better, when you send us in your letter, an' tell us your favorite vege table"-The Beach Boys

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

  Well, we all started off a bit sluggish this early morning, but once we started to get our hands dirty our morale quickly picked up. Tristram welcomed the garden by giving the compost a few turns with the ol' pitchfork while Sam and Becca were quick to start liberating our mulch of wee, little grass-heads poking through. Due to the recent lack of rain I decided to give our garden a refreshing and much needed shower. The sweet potato bed has nearly disappeared under the lush layer of its large leaves. Our lone tomato seems to finally have some strong followers, and it wont be long before a few more seedlings join them. The soldier-like army of radishes is truly an impressive site, and is quickly becoming one of the most successful crops! A couple heads of corn are showing a promising start for our future, Native American-style, three sisters bed and the pole beans a few beds down are starting to wrap their vines around the trelis. Our pineapple forest is growing by the day. Although not all have fully established themselves in the soil, the ones that have give us great hope for future fruit salads galore! The once empty watermelon patch is now adorned with three bountiful mounds of seedlings. Around 9:30, Mr, B and his smiling kindergarten class greeted us in the garden. Once the kids circled round we introduced ourselves and informed them of our favorite color and vegetable. When asked what the garden rules were, all hands flew up. Almost everyone of them new a rule or thought of a new one that should be added. We split off into groups of four and had the kids play an identification game with some of the common garden knowledge. I was truly impressed with how knowledgeable these little youngsters were, some of them even knowing what a decomposer is! After the game we led the class through a garden tour and answered the many questions they had. From bugs, to flowers, to fruits, the kids wanted to know everything and couldn't wait to start planting. One of the little girls even told me she couldn't wait to take a watermelon to her grandmother's house. Mr. B wrangled up his curious bunch and headed back for the classroom a little after 10:00. As they walked away a small ocean of waving arms left with them, and a few lucky ones took some treats to show their families. All in all it was truly an amazing morning, and I know I can speak for all of us in saying that it will be the best part of the week. Till next time, Nico.
 

A New Page

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.


- Oliver Wendell Holmes



Today was not our typical morning at the garden; it was our first day with kids. We had the first hour and a half to do some weeding and final preparations for the kids. The radishes that we planted a week ago are looking very promising.

My group member, Lilian had brought the radish seeds from before and she suggest we build rows on the other side and plant beets with the kids if we had extra time after we gave out tour of the garden. So we prepared the rows on the other side of the radish plot ands poked a quarter inch holes about an inch width apart.

Before we knew it, it was nine-thirty; time for our kids to arrive. These kids came from recess and were a little rambunctious. Once we got everyone’s attention we had the kids make a giant circle. We introduced ourselves as Eckerd College students and went over our three basic rules: don’t step on the beds, don’t run, and don’t touch any plants without our permission. Then we got into smaller groups to do our assessment. I had three kids, two girls and one boy. They were very enthusiastic about the garden and did not like the idea of doing paperwork. They each spelled their name for me to write on the assessment and then I told them they got to pick the pictures that they thought were the answers to each questions. Although they circled every answer on the entire page, I think that it made them consider how much there is to a garden and how much they will learn.

Then the fun began. I gave them a tour of the garden. They were excited to guess what plant was in each bed, and could not wait to get to the next part of the garden. Then since we had some spare time at the end, we gave each kid a beet seed to put in the holes that Lilian and I made earlier. Some kids lost their seeds, so I gave advice to cup their hand when holding the seeds.

All in all I feel that we had a good first day in the garden with the kids. I think that they enjoyed contributing to the garden (by planting a seed) and they look forward to next week. My group members and I are excited to teach the kids and learn from them as well.

Julia Melton

100-Acre Pineapple Wood

This morning, Hank and Noah gifted us a box of pineapple scalps from Eckerd's cafeteria. Though their absence of sweet, tangy fruit may deem them useless to the common consumer, these green spiky parts will soon root themselves into the ground and begin producing new shoots. It takes a couple of years for the plant to produce another small pineapple, but I think the kids will enjoy the sight of what has now become quite the extensive pineapple forest. I spent a good part of the morning planting and watering our new members of the bromeliad family, and I'm sure there will be more to welcome in the following weeks.

 Since the elementary students are due for their first garden lessons next week, we decided to get some more plants into the ground. A few eggplants had sprouted, so we lined them up in a fresh bed. I was also very pleased to see so many vegetable babies making their way towards the sun! We have plenty of radish sprouts, pole beans, and corn on their way. The sweet potatoes and okra are progressing along fabulously, and one of the tomato plants has grown twice it's size since last Friday.

As we continued pulling out grass, weeding, and digging around, we had a couple surprise visitors. I encountered an especially attractive grub in my pineapple escapades, which found a new home in the compost pile with no hesitation. Katie offered a curious passerby a sprig of basil, which he happily accepted with a brief explanation of our project. To my delight, we also learned that there may be a bald eagle nesting nearby! Noah spotted this beautiful bird as she soared above in the morning sunlight.








Once again, the muddy shoes and sweaty brows are only evidence that our time has been put to excellent use. A beautiful weekend is upon us, during which I trust our garden will be preparing itself for the eager eyes of next week's classes! Happy Friday, everyone!

Carly Chaapel

The Helpers

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience."


— James Beard

Wednesday was another beautiful day in the garden. We began the day by checking on our radishes that we planted in rows on Monday. The radishes have a rapid harvest between one to two months after planting. We watered the radish plot as well as the other recently planted seeds in the garden.

Then my group decided to attack the grass that is between the garden and the fence. We used shovels to dig up as much grass as we could and then piled the grass into the wheel barrow. This took a lot of time to make a dent in the grass, but the final product looked spectacular!

Once a good portion of the grasses were taken out, we had some time to lay out cardboard to prevent the sedges from returning (although it is inevitable). The finishing touches will be to lay the mulch out on top of the cardboard.

The highlight of my shift and I’m sure for my fellow group members was when a class of about 12 students came out to the garden with their teacher. Some of these children made it clear that they were 5 years old. They came into the garden with wide eyes of amazement. Immediately after we introduced ourselves, they ask my peers and I if they could be our “helpers” and undoubtedly we responded “of course”. They walk through the garden with their teacher and we went along pointing out what was planted in certain areas. They asked the adorable, innocent questions such as,“can we plant popcorn?” and “can we plant mashed potatos?”. I can already tell that the kids are going to get so much out of the Edible Peace Patch. When they teacher acknowledged the students that it was time to get back to class the children didn’t seem to want to leave. A lot of them gave us hugs even though we had met only a few minutes.

Getting to meet the children that we will be teaching gave us some feedback for all the hard work we have been doing to prepare for them. It warmed our hearts how excited they were about coming out to the garden and how much they seemed to want to get to know us. The Edible Peace Patch is a very special place, in that it can be shared by many people of all ages.

Julia Melton

"Every quiet step is thunder to beetle life underfoot..." - Barbara Kingsolver

   Tuesday morning started off beautifully brisk after the refreshing rains. Upon arriving at the Edible Peace Patch we noticed that our once tall heap of mulch had now been spread across the growing garden landscape. Knowing that the mulch was essential to the expansion of our garden we decided to retrieve the "green monster" from Eckerd campus. After loading up the truck with several pitchforks we made our way to the recycling complex just down the road from Lakewood Elementary. Luckily the resources we were in need off were in excess! The persistent rains of the this past week had added a substantial weight to the mulch heap and it soon became obvious this job would not be a quick one. As the sun's rays began to grow stronger we tossed in the last loads of mulch into the bed.
    A short trip back to the school and we began to unload our steamy, warm mulch heap. Although unloading the mulch proved to be a much easier task it did not come without casualties...



By the time we finished unloading all the mulch it was time for the next group to start the day's work. We packed up our things and headed back to Eckerd campus to return the green monster. Until our next adventure in the Edible Peace Patch, farewell to all!

-Nico

More Mulch

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --Greek proverb

We all hoped that this week we would be finally be able to start working with the students but it turns out that we have another week without them. At least the garden will be in very good shape for the kids. Today was another hot one but lucky for us there was a nice cool breeze that made the humid air more bearable.  It was a relief to see that the stubborn grass that I spent so much time digging up on Friday morning was finally all cleared out. We started off our shift by watering some of the beds and wildflowers and then we set up the sprinkler to do the rest. Forest got right to work weeding some of the plants along the sides and re mulching them.

We also mulched the entire trench where we will soon plant some sunflowers! It's amazing how fast the garden has grown in just the three days that I have been gone. So many of the plants we just planted last week have shot up.

The red current tomatoes that Erin and I made starters for last week have already sprouted! 

Our shift flies by and I feel like we never get as much done as we should be able to.

Until next time!

-Alina