A Happy Lookin' Garden!

This morning Manuela, Kasey, and I met at the Lakewood garden to do some maintenance work to help keep the plants healthy and happy. The plants in the beds are almost full grown. The bok choy is my favorite!

bok choy

Kasey watered all of the beds. Manuela and I weeded the garden and also thinned some of the okra in one of the beds, which was looking pretty crowded. The greens seem to have enjoyed those few days of cooler weather last week, they sure look good! The lettuces, mustard greens, and arugula are ready to be harvested.

 I love starting off the day working in the garden amongst fellow peers. No kids today, but I look forward to seeing their expressions when they see how much the plants have grown next time!

-Lilian Gonzalez

Introducing the Garden

Today two classes came out to the Lakewood garden. Kasey, Manuela, and I were excited to meet them and introduce them to the garden. The vegetables have been growing rapidly and there was lots to show the students.

The first class that came out was a third grade class with many enthusiastic students. They were not shy upon meeting us whatsoever! Immediately they began to ask questions about the different fruits and vegetables that we are growing this season. The students were particularly excited about the papaya trees and the lettuce growing in the beds. They tasted the different varieties of lettuce. The class was very sweet and energetic, We look forward to seeing them next Wednesday!

The second class that came out was a fourth grade class with few students. This class was very inquisitive, and creative! We explored each bed thoroughly and drew analyses between the characteristics of different plant species. All the students in this class now know how to spot out tomatoes at different stages of their development. They learned several distinct characteristics of tomatoes, such as their fuzzy stem, small yellow flowers, and pale green fuzzy leaves. One student observed that the tomato leaves smell like celery! They totally do! I had never realized this before.

At the end of both classes, we gave each student a small squash to take home. They were very excited to go home and show their parents and siblings. I am looking forward to teaching these classes more about gardening next week!

-Lilian Gonzalez

A Fruitful Day in the Garden!

This morning at Lakewood Amy Mautz and I did some maintenance work in the garden. The squash beds have been growing vigorously these past few weeks. They are doing so well in fact that they have covered several areas of the walkway. It had grown over the small crape myrtle, the tomatoes in the beds, the eggplant, and was going for the papaya tree! I have never seen such copious squash.

 Amy and I decided to cut back some of the squash in order to save our crops and reclaim our walkway. As Amy aptly put it "We showed the squash who's boss." We also transplanted a tomato plant in one of the squash beds into the bed with the other tomato. I think it's chances will be better there.

We also cleared some of the squash around the eggplant. From the parts of the squash plant that we cut back we were able to collect many baby squash.

They are currently in the garden shed. I think the kids at lakewood would love them! Today was successful day! The garden is looking great.

-Lilian Gonzalez

School Yard Garden Program 2013-2014 IS UNDERWAY!

For the fifth year in a row, Labor Day comes and we set to work in our schoolyard gardens.  As tradition has it, the past few years, these beginnings start with undergraduate volunteers early in the morning, attending a meeting about teaching and farming.

This year we began with the story of the Lakewood Garden (since we started here) and shared with a new class of students the story of our origins and some of the vision that has grown out of that original experiment.

Volunteers learned about huegelkultur and compost and pineapples and natives and soon their brains were swimming with plant names and growing strategies that they could only barely imagine.

As is tradition, we began pulling the endless growth of sedge, torpedo grass, that loves our beds and seeks every piece of open ground.

This year we began a new tradition, as well.  I had student volunteers each take a starter pot and fill it to the top with dirt.

Back at the shaded picnic table, volunteers had their selection of seeds and each of them chose something to plant, encouraged to read the instruction on the seed packet and place only one seed in the hole.  We watered the starter pots and everyone took one home.

Each volunteer is charged with tending to their seeds until next week, when they will bring them back to garden for our second meeting.  How many will sprout?  We wait.

As always, I am deeply grateful for the ongoing support of this program by community and college volunteers and, this semester, including the course being taught by Dr. Erika Spohrer at Eckerd College.

The growing season is upon us.

Kip Curtis

Founder and Executive Director

The Edible Peace Patch Project

Fall 2013 HERE WE COME!

Friday afternoon 8/23, for the fifth time since 2009, local college freshmen volunteered to help open the Lakewood Peace Patch Garden.  We had fifteen volunteers who turned our solarized summer garden:

into a planting-ready fall garden:

Our soils appear rich and we enhanced their growing power by amending all of the beds with compost that had cooked all year long.  The plastic had to be folded and stored.  In places, the plastic had blown free and so we had several thick stands of grass to remove (although nothing like years past).  Once everything was cleaned up, the students got a chance to put some starters int the ground.

We planted chives, heirloom tomatoes, and parsley.

The large plants is oregano, a healthy stand.  Kenny's Lawn and Landscape Service was kind enough to sell us a bunch of herbs wholesale and we got them right in the ground..

We also planted red sweet peppers and two other varieties of heirloom tomato.  They watered and everyone said goodbye. 

We are thrilled to be starting a new season.  In the next two week we will begin to have our college and community volunteers offering the academic mentoring and garden educational lessons in all four schools. This year, we also add a wellness kitchen in some locations.

Stay tuned!

Kip Curtis, Ph.D.
Founder and Executive Director

Harvest Festival 2013!

For the fifth year in a row, we hosted the annual Peace Patch Project Schoolyard Gardens Harvest Festival.  We rented space at the Enoch Davis Recreation Center at 1111 18th Avenue South.

Board member Chelley Tighe sets up our outdoor live music cafe

The space was full of light and perfect for the occasion.  In years past, we have held individual harvest festivals at each of school where we grow gardens.  This year, with four schools, we decided to hold the harvest dinner at a single location.

Alix Brett, Robin Gipson, and Chelley set up the tables with lovely lime green table cloths.

Slowly after 6:15, families, teachers, and community members began to trickle into the auditorium, while Eckerd College student volunteers put final touches on their dishes in the nearby kitchen.

Before we knew it, a line stretched to the door, as kids and families and others waited to get a sampling of the Peace Patch Harvest.

Local musician, Jun Bustamante (left), played acoustic guitar in the Cafe.  Board members Joe Esposito (center) and Andrew Chittick (right) shmoozed with the talent before the show.

By 6:30, table were filling up and the auditorium was filling with the joyous noise of feasting people.

Volunteer teens from the Carerra After-School Program dropped by and helped serve some food.

Muhammed, Daisha, Cameron, Meoshea, Christon, Zion, Freeman, and in front,  Martin.

We raffled ten plants including this corn.

Founder and Executive Director, Kip Curtis, with the lucky winner of a corn plant.

After the food was devoured and the prizes given out, student volunteers and volunteers from Missio Dei helped clean up the dishes, straighten the kitchen, and put the hall back in shape.

It was a lovely evening and a fine ending to another successful semester.

Blooming!

Sunshine daze

Today was officially the last day in the garden for the semester and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful time! Our kids were the most well behaved that we have ever seen them and they were practically oozing joy and curiosity to be outside and tell us all the things they've learned this year, I've never seen them so happy or work together as well as they did today. They were kind, helpful, and supportive of one another. They explored the garden for the last time and many of them scrambled to tell us that their parents had signed the RSVP for the Harvest Fest. It's sad to say goodbye, but just like my students, I am so geeked for the Feast next wednesday and to see everything the Peace Patch has in store for me next year!

Cheers!

Liz

They Love climbing on the compost pile to be taller than me!

Tomatoes on the way!

papaya!

Group shot with Miss Early's class (: