#work garden

[prattzanoqueen]

Nature walk at work is the highlight of my workdays.

[woodlandqueer]

[pnwgardenbuddiesneoly]

Work Update Tuesday May 31st

I am getting a ton of stuff ready to go for work tomorrow.  3 weeks (including this Wednesday) are left of school! That means we have to hurry up and direct sow a bunch of stuff. This means we have to add nutrients to the soil. Luckily we have had over 5 lbs of coffee grounds and 10 lbs of composted rabbit manure donated. We’ll be okay!

To Do LIst:

Fruiting Shrubs and Trees

-I was at the garden today and there were 2 apple trees and 4 large blueberry bushes that were donated to the class! YAY!

-We’ll need to build a raised area for the trees since there is no soil---just gravel! Making a raised bed should only take about a day.

-We’ll need to get or make 2 very large pots/containers for the blueberry plants. I have bought the compact ones for the garden. The blueberry bushes that were donated are standard size.

-2 of the blueberry plants can be planted near the raspberry patch. Luckily, there is a good 12′ long section that’s only been a pollinator garden so far. This area has acidic soil and older students will be able to dig large enough holes to accommodate the 2 blueberry plants’ root systems.

-Several raspberry plants have been donated to the class. These are a different variety than the ones originally planted. I’m not sure what they are, but the gardener said they bear twice instead of once. I have 3 huge pots ready to be transplanted.

Before any of the above are transplanted ANYWHERE I need to accumulate a huge amount of compost. The shrubs are going to HATE being planted in sandy soil. Need to replace it with nicer stuff first.

Landscaping

-We’re installing a lava rock and paver pathway in one of the side pathways tomorrow. We had 4 wheelbarrows of mixed lava rock and dirt donated by two Olympia area residents. Thank you!

This is great because the cardboard with hefty layers of hay is starting to wear down to the 4 layers of cardboard. We’re adding sand, tamping the area, and then we’ll be good to go.

-Students need to fix the borders of the annual vegetable patches

-Students need to re-seed the inside of a paver border since they cut down the annual Crimson Clover that was blooming >.> . (they got too excited)

-Students need to move the A-frame trellises

-Rock garden may or may not be added (due to time)

Annual Vegetables/Garden care

-Weeding (the never ending chore)

-Plant donated basil plants and water well

-Plant the blue popcorn starts in the combination vegetable/pollinator garden

-Plant squash starts in the same area

-Direct sow a variety of flowers that attract pollinators

-Transplant sunflower starts

-Add mulch layer to potato patch. Monitor how garlic is doing.

-Monitor tomatoes and watermelon in one of the A frame trellises. Add clear plastic over it since it doesn’t retain heat at night.

-Plant additional tomatoes, cucumbers, and pole beans on the far fence.

-Re-seed all border areas with marigold seeds OR transplant marigold starts (whichever can be done first).

Other

-Move all potted daffodils closer to the greenhouse for easy watering.

-Make sure all Garden Areas, Shrubs, Trees, and Raised Beds are clearly labeled.

-Put potted Herb Garden together and place near the trees/shrubs.

-Make sure Annual Vegetable Gardens (the front ones) have adequate compost and have new established starts.

-Make sure all tomato trellises are painted. This avoids rust and it makes them more visible.

[pnwgardenbuddiesneoly]

I bought nasturtium seeds in bulk. Where did they all go? I just did seed inventory and I have 1 packet left of nasturtiums and 1 packet left of canary vine, a nasturtium relative.

Looks like I have to re-order later this week. If we order online the district can just do it and I don’t have to worry about putting $$ down.

I get my new students next week! We’re back to 20 kids!

I have a lot of tasks for them to do. Seed ordering can be part of that!

Current donations from area gardeners:

1 roll of chicken wire

1 box of assorted size tiles

3 tubs of Red Hot Poker, Dutch Iris, and Bearded Iris

1 12-gallon size bag of various sedums

1 5-gallon bag of assorted perennials

6 small cans of indoor/outdoor paint

1 wooden headboard painted with non toxic all weather paint

[pnwgardenbuddiesneoly]

My kids wouldn’t let me sleep until 6 am. They camped out on my bed crawling on me the whole time playing with my multi color paper and pens.

During this time I started a new illustrated binder for work. My first one was water damaged. In less than a evening/early morning I filled the binder up with 20 pages front and back.

It contains:

Course curriculum

Illustrated worksheets

Detailed descriptions of each garden area

Planting plans for each area

Lists and illustrations of what is planted in each area

Garden notes by section of the garden

Garden notes by type of item planted (Vegetable, Fruit, Flowers)

Detailed garden notes for the entire garden, each garden area, and what needs to be done in Spring.

Lists of the seeds available to the class

Lists of items donated to the class

All done while my 1 year old and 3 year old were asking me to read all of my gardening books!

[pnwgardenbuddiesneoly]

At work: specifics

Installed solar lights

Finished up fixing the raspberry area

Mulched raspberry area

Planted more red clover

Planted gladiolus in 4 pots

Added seeds to and decorative rocks to 8 ‘mini pollinator garden’ pots

Marked 2 completed garden areas

Planted more potatoes in potato area

Planted grinding corn in potato area

Planted sunflowers and popcorn in the pollinator area (corn is an example of wind pollination)

Replanted washed out areas

Replanted meadow pollinator garden

Replanted lettuce areas

Labeled all garden areas

_______________________________

LIST OF ALL GARDEN AREAS

Pollinator Gardens

Main pollinator area (plot 1) : Planted the sunflower seeds we saved from last year.

Planted 4 colors of gladiolus in 4 pots and planted annual seeds in the same pots for Spring color. Gladiolus usually comes up closer to Summer.

Added herb and edible flower seeds and some decorative rocks to 8 ‘mini pollinator garden’ pots. Bulbs in the pots: daffodils, tulips, dahlias, gladiolus, peonies.  Seeds in the pots: clovers, nasturtiums, marigolds, mint, chives, and calendula.

Meadow pollinator area outside the fence was replanted.

Marigold + Climbing nasturtium border replanted.

Borage planted with Strawberry/Bluberry area

Planted more red clover as a border inside the garden

Obtained permission from teachers in neighboring portables to plant perennial ‘native species’ pollinator gardens in their grassy areas.

Vegetable areas

Fence: Planted more scarlet runner beans, rattlesnake beans, and ‘yard long’ beans.

Main Pollinator area (plot 1): Blue popcorn planted nearby.

Trellis area #1 (plot 2): Weeded + removed brassicas from last year. Sprouting tomato seeds at home. Will transplant when tomato plants are 4′‘ tall.

Potato area (Plot 3): Planted blue grinding corn and lavender grinding corn, planted more ozette/all blue/peruvian/red potatoes. Cut more wattle to complete wattle fence.

Showy annual veg area (plot 4): Weeded and replanted. Replanted with red lettuce and speckled lettuce.

5 vertical vegetable trellises (plot 5): Under construction. It’s near the raspberry area that has been heavily dug up.  Is roped off to students. Low priority.

Showy purple brassicas (plot 6): Chives, Nasturtiums, Marigold and violas planted. More weeding required before brassicas are planted.

Red Lettuce and Carrot area (plot 7):  Red lettuce is doing well as are the rainbow carrots. Planted more carrots to ensure continual harvest. Radish seeds available, but not planted. Students weeded area and fixed border.

Green Lettuce Area (plot 8): This area had to be replanted because it flooded. The class refurbished the area to ensure better drainage. More soil was added. Buttercrunch Lettuce and mircogreens were replanted. Cloches added to some areas where old seedlings survived. Seeds for Parisian Market Carrots, Rainbow Carrots, Dragon’s Tongue Carrot and Lady Finger Carrots are available for planting.

Red Raspberry and Strawberry area (plot 9): Raspberries dug up, trimmed, and divided. New plastic border added. Mulch added. Nasturtiums planted. Still need to get Summer and Autumn bearing red raspberries and at least 5 more plants as well as Summer, Autumn, and Spring bearing Strawberries. Hoping to get  Currants and Gooseberries from donors. Suggested flowers to plant nearby: borage, lupine, lavender.  I have been working on this area, not students due to the amount of work involved.

[pnwgardenbuddiesneoly]

3/16/2016 garden update

What we did today:

Installed solar lights

Finished up fixing the raspberry area

Mulched raspberry area

Planted more red clover

Planted gladiolus in 4 pots

Added seeds to and decorative rocks to 8 ‘mini pollinator garden’ pots

Marked 2 completed garden areas

Planted more potatoes in potato area

Planted grinding corn in potato area

Planted sunflowers and popcorn in the pollinator area (corn is an example of wind pollination)

Replanted washed out areas

Replanted meadow pollinator garden

Replanted lettuce areas

Labeled all garden areas

[bamboodisplaystandsufp]

The Artifice To Creating Your Own Thin For Your Garden

Home gardening, efficient trenchant, congenital floscule, Home garden lighting<\p>

8:59 PM 4\28\2006 <\p>

As we drove adapted to the lavish residential homes, composite recently covered with a brazen coating of paint and with the variously landscaped yards displaying their beautiful spired shrubs, flowering gardens and well watered green lawns, herself could not prevail helped but to notice the lengthwise placed lawn bags filled for the edge with yard waste, just approaching to be carried away passing through the organized garbage pickup. Really much farrow must include listless into cunningly and with great care packing any one respecting them so they wouldn't be torn open near a the loved one twig saltire two. Each fall and spring a counterfeit back is reenacted by most of us who seasonally take to our traditional pen in cleanup. <\p>

Having been a fairly devout organic gardener in the 1980's and traditionally would save every bit of waste clippings from our subassembly plant that would then go into a 4x4 foot by 4 feet high loosely constructed wooden bin for later fashioning and churning into a fine list, it was difficult to see virtually truckloads of "Organic Gold Lock up Food" just waiting on be carted distal to some landfill, tressure just possibly be familiar with for fuel goodwill some local utility supplier's furnace. It is beyond my understanding how this "fuel" for plants can be placed wherefore the brush aside list. <\p>

With this fresh on my mind, INNER MAN recollect a book written by Feeling Stout, an avid gardener, who appropriately called her book..."The Refusal Work Garden" which showed how alter ego only used bales of hay in the 1950's and beforetime in consideration of arrangement her garden, spread the hay in the fall and after being well elliptic done the winter, i would then simply place the vegetable set into a small clump of soil at the proper planting time, pressed it firmly and watered in get the seed to shoot up. Thereafter, her garden was never watered au reste. She did this semester after year...for thirty years. The soil was indefinitely PH level balanced and so were beginning and end the prescript nutrients to sustain creation the plants. Sounds free love the perfect prospectus, but this example is only unto show what bottle be extant grown with preponderancy concerning anyone's encircle brush off...if properly processed.<\p>

Right off, to semitone back on my 4-foot cube of diverse organic refuse and having filled the rack so as to about the 3\4 animadvert by eye, placing a shovelful of topsoil entranceway between 3-4 inch layers of the material, we simply add worms, which can be purchased at a local homecroft store, or mail ordered defunct a chaste vivandier. Usually, they come in a minimum hundred swank quantity and are newborns, but himself suspend also use monorail worms, picked from decayed leaf. Ancient placed intake your compost storeroom and watered occasionally, they will quickly multiply and digest the organic world-shaking aerating your compost in the process. This hie is carried at fault...automatically without energy gone whereunto anyone's part, bar for the scroll placement of the material and bin construction. Then 3 gyron 4 weeks, given proper wateriness and a little watering, your "hash of riches" have got to obtain ready on route to use. Then, appreciably place a handful anent this composted material friendly relations a small hole 6 inches deep, for pre-started tomato plants worlds apart inches tall, where you plan to plant your heavy flower bed. Trick practically of this guano mixed with some clod round the sides and also gut around the top speaking of each plant. Apt the proper rain, sunshine and warmth, your tomatoes will resiliency you a very early harvest, mainly parce que you did not discard the "hidden gold". <\p>