Welcome to Guilford County Cooperative Extension School Garden Network team blog! We hope this can be a space for everyone involved in school gardening in Guilford County to share their experiences. Lets let each other know about what works, and troubleshoot what doesn't!
Hampton Gardening Update
The gardening event on Saturday June 4 was a TERRIFIC success, as evidence in the attached photos:· 4 raised beds installed in new area to the west (notice – no sun in that area until about 9 AM, but I am thinking that we will get 6 hours starting around mid-day)· 3 new raised beds, including one creative triangle!, in the existing gardening area· Cardboard under the beds should retard grass through the summer· Soil in the new beds contains fertilizer; we will need to provide some supplemental nutrients for the other beds· Plantings, current area: tomatoes, peppers, bush beans and sweet potatoes· Plantings, new area: cucumbers, squash and one tomato
TO DO:Monday June 13 – clear the two beds of pansies and daffodils, save daffodil bulbs; add supplemental soil; separate transplants that are too crowded and spread them into these beds.Monday July 18 (tentative) – interactive day with students as follow up to their reading assignments; need produce from farmers market to show what the vegetables will look like at time of harvest
Harvest – around August 4, we should have the first green beans, squash, cucumbers, and early tomatoes.Harvest of these plants should continue for 3 to 4 weeks, if they are cared for and harvested regularly
Sweet potatoes should be harvested right after Labor Day, and must be cured in a dark place for six weeks before eating.
Suggestions for the use of additional grant money – we need analytical instruments to measure soil temperature, moisture, pH AND weather station to measure rainfall and temperature.
It would be nice to have an outdoor classroom sitting area – perhaps benches on the opposite side of the walkway facing the gardens.
