Wednesday, August 3, 2011

summer garden scene


Summer in the garden - the beds are bursting, more wood chips have been spread, and we add to the  compost every week. Notice the use of wooden pallets, 7 of them rescued from the trash, secured by giant zip ties and, voila,  compost bins. New beds made of recycled lumber 2" x 8" are just what we needed. It's been a very satisfying season so far. Now if we could figure out who/what is nibbling at some of our chard and lettuce. Yes, rabbits are around and No, we're not fenced. Some evidence of deer browsing, too. But there's plenty to go around. Can't wait for the students to see the garden when they return at the end of August. 'Til then we'll keep up our weekly watering, weeding, and harvesting. This week we picked a green pepper and a few jalapenos, a white eggplant, cherry tomatoes,  uncovered a few potatoes, and a couple of onions, cut lots of Italian parsley, and enjoyed a few thornless blackberries, too.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Reader's Digest honors GIVE

Just learned that there's a feature in the June issue of Reader's Digest  on GIVE - pages 90-92- the Power of 1 and here's a link to a related item
Let's keep growing!
http://www.greentowns.com/initiative/green-initiative-for-vegetables-in-education

Friday, April 15, 2011

Sharecropping, anyone?

This was news to me but I suspect the idea has been around. A Master Gardener friend explained how her own garden does not have enough sun for vegetables. Solution: she found a friend with a sunny garden area, a friend who didn't want to create a vegetable garden, but who was happy to give up some space. Bottom line: both got to harvest the vegetables. Yours, mine, ours!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Fun Compost Cups

Here's a recipe for "compost cups" - a fun way to teach about the layers in a compost pile.
Thanks to Alexis, Dana and Stephanie, our MG interns.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5vNavmNHB6BZDY1YTc0ZGItYjJmZS00Nzc1LTg1MjgtNDIwZmZkMDY4N2Fj&hl=en

Friday, March 25, 2011

Butterfly Habitat

At our GIVE meeting yesterday we netted a neat presentation of a beautiful Butterfly Habitat being established at Hart School in Stamford, CT. Perfect for another school or an adventurous home gardener.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5vNavmNHB6BMjE2YzQ2ZjctNzM3Mi00ZmZhLWJkZWQtMDQyOWRmYTg4NWRj&hl=en

Friday, March 4, 2011

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Challenge

So here it is - late February- and we're aching to get into the garden. And just in time to satisfy that craving, the Stamford Garden Club announces a Challenge for the GIVE schools. How about growing a head of organic Buttercrunch, Lactuca saliva, to be exact, for the May 20-21 Flower Show, Timescapes, at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center? Two versions are available: start from seed and start from plugs. And 14 schools have signed on.  What doesn't make it into the show will make it into the school gardens and salads. Get ready! Get set! Grow!