The First Session
Friday, April 8
Eleven kids joined us for the first session of the Grymes Garden Club. They ranged in age from Kindergarten to Fifth grade. The class started off with introductions. The kids introduced themselves and told us what they knew about gardening. Tina told the kids about her background as a Master Gardener and how she had to go to classes to learn about gardening and then volunteer at least 50 hours a year. Can you believe it - over the past 5 years she's already done over 1000 hours of volunteer time! She says the most important thing is not to know everything about gardening, but to know how to find the answer.
Eleven kids joined us for the first session of the Grymes Garden Club. They ranged in age from Kindergarten to Fifth grade. The class started off with introductions. The kids introduced themselves and told us what they knew about gardening. Tina told the kids about her background as a Master Gardener and how she had to go to classes to learn about gardening and then volunteer at least 50 hours a year. Can you believe it - over the past 5 years she's already done over 1000 hours of volunteer time! She says the most important thing is not to know everything about gardening, but to know how to find the answer.
Planting ZonesWe talked briefly about the USDA Hardiness Zone for plants and how our area is a region in Virginia called the Piedmont area and our zone is 6B. When buying plants, it's important to check the recommended zones. Sometimes you can plant plants that are outside the recommended zones, but you may need to find a more sheltered location or take special care of them. Here's a site that let's you find out your USDA Hardiness Zone, number of days where temperatures exceed 86 degrees, ecoregion, and freeze dates by using your zipcode.
Last Frost DateWe talked about the average last frost date. For Orange, VA it's somewhere between April 11 - 20. We checked the ten day weather forecast and decided to go ahead and plant our cold weather plants today. If there is an unexpected frost, we'll cover the plants and they should be fine.
More to come...Tina was delighted there were special requests for plants. In addition to what we have already, the kids also want to plant strawberries, swiss chard, and beets. The garden club has also volunteered to take care of the planters near the little red school house. We're thinking about planting a mix of vegatable and herbs in them. We also have lots of seeds we will start that the kids can take home. The kids were also very interested in learning about worm composting. Tina is planning on bringing in her worm bin. And lots of other fun activities!
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Perfect Day For PlantingIt rained heavily all afternoon, but the rain let up for just long enough for us to get the plants in! The kids had fun getting their hands dirty planting lettuce, kale, and brocolli plants and radish seed! Southern Exposure Seed Exchange here in Mineral Virginia generously donated the plants and seeds for us to plant.
Before planting we talked about different types of soil and how different plants thrive in different types of soil. The soil at the school is mostly clay. We built raised planter beds and filled it with great garden soil from Rose Hauling. The plants are going to love it! Before planting the radish seeds, we also talked about how to read a seed packet to determine how deep to plant the seeds and how far apart. Tina explained that once the plants start to grow, we'll probably have to thin them by pulling some of them out. That will give them enough space to grow well. Plant MarkersThe kids made plant markers using popcicle sticks.
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