garden news-school garden revisited

GARDEN NEWS-SCHOOL GARDEN REVISITED

in march 2020 this was a thriving green school vegetable garden for the kindergarten class at a local elementary school
i helped maintain it for three years

on that last day mid march 2020 the 20+ kindergarteners or as i call them kindergardeners moved freely through the garden digging through a pile of compost for worms and rolypolys and hidden treasures

they also harvested sweet peas and carrots and lettuce and swiss chard and kale to snack on right out of the garden

that was the last day the garden was opened
it was the last day i volunteered there in the garden
about a week later things got all shut down
i got sick and i feel like whatever illness i got that march that made me so sick i caught while working with those kids that day

there were two points where i thought i would progress with my illness and die
one was the first few days i was sick
then later a year ago in my recovery from my illness which i think was covid 19 my weight bottomed out at 148 lbs and as i asked the gastroenterologist am i going to starve to death
as my wife told me later you didnt look very good during this time 
the medical term is cachectic
i was really worried about you she said

i went through a whole year of zoom kindergarten school with ms b
i regained my strength
i gained back 20 of my almost 45 lbs i lost
i feel better than i did before the pandemic hit

last late spring i went over to the school garden and cleaned up the beds and put them to rest

i am now double covid vaccinated and am looking forward to getting my booster when its recommended
ms b will start first grade at this same elementary school
the one she did zoom school with but never attended

i have agreed to reactivate the garden but will do it only when no students are around
once i have had my booster shot and mr hudson has had his two shots and ms b gets her two shots and the kids get theirs at school
and
when the covid delta surge subsides i have agreed to return to live kindergarten garden class
and
i will wear my mask and if they are wearing their masks

if that doesnt happen i will continue remote school garden


this is the area to the left of the chain link fence that will be the butterfly garden
this whole garden will be the home of a 100% outdoor tk class
thats 4 year olds
they will be outside everyday all day
note it doesnt rain much here so very few days will be inside
and the weather is usually nice here most of the year

all four beds were full of flowers that bees and butterflies and hummingbirds loved
this hasnt had any supplemental water since march 2020
our last rain here was probably february of this year

the only plant left is a lantana that is growing well and is being regularly visited by butterflies
we will keep it 

we will loosen up the soil with a garden fork then add more raised bed soil to bring the soil level up to the top of the beds since it has settled down a lot in a year and a half

we will add native monarch milkweeds and lots of butterfly plants
i will transplant several flowers from our community garden like borage calendula poppies lemon verbena etc 
this fall we will scatter a wildflower mix on the beds

this area should become a butterfly bee and hummingbird haven
so
soon this will return back to its butterfly loving garden


then looking at that picture at the beginning of the blog
the pvc wire covers over the raised beds keep all the varmints out that will devastate a garden if you dont keep it covered

we will remove the covers
fork up the soil
add a deep layer of compost
add a scattering of a good organic vegetable fertilizer
fork all of this in together
rake it out smooth 
then add a good soaking of a mixture of fish emulsion seaweed molasses to help reactive the life in the soil
then
slowly this year the kids will replant the veggies in the garden
sweet peas carrots swiss chard kale lettuce spinach onions radishes broccoli strawberries and more
yes they will harvest and eat all these

there are several large whiskey barrels beside the raised beds that have herbs in them
oregano rosemary lemon balm mints
we will add lavender and lemon verbena and sage to the empty barrels
the kids like to grab the leaves and smell the fragrance of the leaves

also that green lid tub along the fence is the worm composter which will be reactivated also 
i have thousands of worms in my buried worm composters in my garden i will donate

then finally 
here are the five 60 gallon rainwater tanks all hooked up in a row like i left them
they are all full of water
we plan to clean the tanks up and began to reuse the water in the garden

the rainwater education begins
this generation will be facing severe water shortages in their lifetime
hopefully this will help them spark an interest in water conservation

i see kindergarteners become kindergardeners after being in the garden for a school year
some wont even get their hands dirty much less touch a worm
at the end of the year they go right into the compost after the worms without any hesitation

i must say they all seem to love being in the garden

this classroom would be the one that mr hudson will have an opportunity to be in 
im already training him to be ready for this outside classroom

its sad though that ms b lost her year of exposure to this environment 
luckily for her we duplicated some of it at her home garden and her trips to our community garden
she will have some access to this area in her first grade class

i do look forward to seeing this be all reactivated and to hear the laughter and to see the smiles of the kids as they enjoy this outdoor environment

the organicgreen doctor