Lettuce Challenge 2017- Finale

Today was the day. The winners were announced and heralded at a special ceremony at the Stamford Government Center. The Mayor presented the awards - a blue ribbon to Tyler Johnson for Best in Show. Lots of beaming faces - students and parents and teachers- all pleased by the lovely looking butter crunch lettuce plants. Now the plants can go back into the school vegetable gardens to grow into full heads and eventually be part of a summer salad. Many thanks to the members of The Stamford Garden Club for all of their work in organizing and funding this effort.

Lettuce Challenge 2017

 

 

 

 

 

Lettuce Challenge 2017

Once again, through the generosity of The Stamford Garden Club,  the Stamford schools have been invited to participate in the annual Lettuce Challenge. Each year involved students and teachers receive the tiny plugs and necessary materials to start the project. Each class decides on the method of nurturing their plugs. Some are grown under gro-lights indoors,some are boldly placed outside for nature to do her thing. Photos are from one school that believes in letting nature guide the process. On June 1st, Mayor David Martin will award the winners their blue ribbons and all will be able to bring home their entries to be planted in the school vegetable garden or their home garden. The carefully nurtured plants will grow into full heads of butter crunch lettuce to be enjoyed by all. Entries may be viewed at the Government Center lobby from Tuesday, May 30-Thursday, June 1st.

Snow White Oyster Mushrooms

What a thrill to glance at the "mushroom logs" and discover this gigantic oyster mushroom! Thanks to a "mushroom log" workshop conducted by Stephen Conaway of the Greenwich Land Trust on Feb. 27th, 2016, our group is now enjoying oyster mushrooms and shitakes as well. There's no end to the exciting experiences one can have in the garden. 

Time to start thinking about putting the garden "to bed" for the upcoming winter months. But, first, do plant your garlic cloves soon so you can enjoy your harvest next summer.

Garden in Full Glory

 

Since May, Nancy Juarez' garden project has zoomed along. But why explain all the details. The photos should give you a sense of what she has accomplished in 3 months: built raised beds, filled with soil and planted, added wood chips to pathways, added supports for vertical gardening,  fenced in the area, planted flowers in the border, and is now harvesting lots of vegetables and sharing with everyone who crosses her path. BRAVA!

What Should I Do as a Senior Project?

Here's what a student at Westhill HS in Stamford, CT decided to do. Nancy Juarez wanted to create a vegetable garden for the school community, something that she could "give" to her school as a parting gift. So she and her Dad built 9 large raised beds- about 4' by 13' by 10" deep. She  got rich soil to fill them, black fabric mulch to prevent weeds between the beds, and lots of wood chips to cover the fabric. Then she framed in the whole area to prevent the wood chips from spilling out onto the adjacent grass and road surfaces and to provide an area for a flower border as well. Next step: planting the beds- the fun part and the most creative element yet. Kudos to a young woman with great heart and great energy. What an honor to know her. Let's keep growing.

Seeds and Seeds and More Seeds

What would you do if someone said, "Give Designs by Lee a call. They have seeds left over from last year and are happy to give them to you to distribute to the schools' vegetable gardens." YES! I went over to the nursery - different feeling at this time of year- expecting to be given a small basket of seed packets. What I was offered was the equivalent of a full bushel.  I asked if they were to be shared with anyone else. "No, they're for you." Merci Beaucoup! How wonderful to know that others think of our school project and let us enjoy their kindness and generosity. I spent about 3 hours sorting, alphabetizing, and bagging them up for distribution. My dining room table is bursting with seeds. What a happy feeling!
Bottom Line: ask your local nurseries if they have leftover seeds. They can't sell them but most seeds will be viable for much longer than the year stamped on the packet.
Snow outside. Seeds on the table. Spring will come. Life is good!