How Did Our Gardens Grow? Our 2022 Recap
"Mr.Jared! Mr.Jared! They're red! They're REEEDDDD!"
That's what I heard recently as I walked into one of our schools for nature class. Kiddos at each of our schools have been growing veggies, herbs, and native wildflowers all Summer long. One of those veggies (technically a fruit) is Cherry Tomatoes! They've learned that their tomatoes will taste best if we leave them on the vine until they're red (although those green ones ARE mighty tempting for our younger friends!). The kids (and teachers) were very excited as we pulled off tomatoes, wrapped them in basil we grew, and popped the little fancy snacks in our mouths. Yum!
As I wrote in an earlier blog post, Cherry Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods to grow with kiddos: they're easy, teach patience with a clear sign that they're ready, and yield LOTS for everyone!
Along with the tomatoes, we've been growing Bell Peppers (only somewhat successfully... peppers are hard!), Basil (Italian and Lemon... mmmmm), Lemongrass (which went crazy... in a good way!), and both Pineapple and Chocolate Mint (pretty much everyone's favorite). At Harrison West, we planted in big barrel planters on the playground with great success.
Our garden carts at 5th Avenue and GVS have worked great too. There was a bit of a miracle this Summer: those carts actually got fried in some of our heatwaves and completely crispified... but popped back to life recently after rain and cooler temps... we did a happy dance!
Let's Rewind: How did we start our gardens?
Way back in May, we decided we were going to bring back growing produce with the kiddos. We had taken a hiatus due to the pandemic. So, I got some plants from local garden centers and we did some herb taste-testing. We then voted using pictures on other produce like Tomatoes.
After voting, we picked up the plants and it was planting time! Kiddos had different jobs: pulling the plants from their pots, digging the new hole, planting the plants, tucking them in, watering etc. With some well-timed rain and the watchful eyes of kiddos and teachers, we've kept our gardens green (mostly)!
Here's the best part...
...it's been delicious! Since planting, kiddos have been continually checking on their gardens... and eating them! They love snacking on the mint, basil, and even lemongrass! Sometimes our nature classes can resemble taking cows out to graze!
Besides all the munching, our Summer Nature Class curriculum has been all about bugs. We've been focusing particularly on Bees and how they help our gardens grow through pollination. Ask your kiddo about what food the bumblebees have helped us grow!
Speaking of bees…
We were so excited to plant food for us to eat, but we planted food for our buzzing brothers and sisters too! Our school have all planted various native wildflowers to feed the hummingbirds, bumblebees, butterflies and more! Even our youngest classes have enjoyed going out to our flower gardens and saying "Hi!" to the bees and butterflies. Bumblebees are a special passion of mine and it has been so fun to share this love with the kids! We've learned that bees (and even most wasps) are not aggressive unless you try to grab or smack them. So we say "Don't touch, just say "Hi"!". I love every time a kiddo runs up to me to excitedly share that they saw a be and said "hello"!
In addition to Ohio-native flowers for the bees, we also have some Milkweed patches at BFA Reed, LDBB 5th Avenue, and BFA Clintonville. This native plant is critical for the survival of Monarch butterflies... who we have enjoyed seeing at Clintonville!
Please stop by and enjoy the flowers around our campuses. Stand still by any of them... and meet a bee!
You win some, you lose some
We've had a lot of fun with our gardens this year... but it hasn't been all victories. Any gardener will tell you that no year is ever perfect! This year we had a few learning opportunities:
1. There was an issue with the nutrition in our soil, and thus our Treehouse wildflower garden and veggies garden were pretty stunted. Luckily, Kirk and I ran a soil test and were able to get the right safe and organic fertilizer to correct the problem. I look forward to bigger, better blooms in those gardens next year!
2. I worked hard this Spring prepping the two parking lot islands between BFA Reed Clubhouse & Playhouse to plant with tons of Ohio-native wildflowers. I prepped, planted, and.... watched it get run over by a semi... 3 different times. Oh no. This combined with the soil nutrition issue AND our crazy backwards Summer (with blazing hot temperatures in early June) meant that most of the seeds either went dormant (waiting for better conditions next year) or fried. We are hopeful for next year!
A Special Shoutout
I'd be silly if I didn't give credit to the one and only Miss Sydney from Treehouse! She was the driving force behind our lovely produce garden at BFA Reed! Featuring all sorts of fun foods like radishes, dill, carrots and more... the kiddos have been involved every step of the way. I'm so glad our BFA Family includes Miss Sydney!
How did your garden grow this year? Did you have Peter come out and install a native butterfly garden for you? I'd LOVE to see pics of those! Let me know on my instagram @jaredthenatureguy