Gardens Organization

Planning a Garden - Florida Garden Calendar

Good gardening requires good organization. The following chart will help students plan tasks to be done between now and the harvest of each vegetable.

Spring Planting – March 15, 2012

Seed
Days to Germination:
Expected Date
Depth to Sow (in)
Seed Spacing (in)
Row Spacing (in)
Days to Harvest:
Expected Date
Carrot – scarlet nantes
12-18
(3/27)
¼
½
12-15
60-80
(5/15)
Radish – sparkler white tip
7-10
3/22)
¼
½-1
6-12
20-30
(4/5)
Pepper – California wonder
10-21
(3/28)
¼
1
2-21/2
70-75
(5/25)
Tomato –
beefsteak
15-20
(3/30)
¼
½
36
55-6
(5/10)

Carrots

  • Sow in well worked stone-fee soil, after danger of heavy frost.
  • Thin seedlings when the are 2-3 inches in height, with the final spacing of the plants 3 inches apart.
  • Garden Hints: thin ruthlessly. If your carrots are to grow well they must have room. The garden should receive an inch of water per week.

Radish

  • Sow in sunny location as soon as the soil can be worked.
  • Thin seedlings when they are 2 inches in height with the final spacing of the plants 1-2 inches apart.
  • Garden Hints: Keep moist, lack of moisture will case hot flavor and woody texture.

Pepper

  • Sow seed indoors about 4-6 weeks before last frost date and transplant outdoors after danger of frost. In warm climates seeds may be down directly outdoors.
  • Thin seedlings when they are 3 inches in height with the final spacing of the plants 15-20 inches apart.
  • Garden Hints: Fruits can be picked green or allowed to ripen to the sweeter red stage.

Tomato

  • Sow seed indoors in a warm, well-lighted area, 8-10 weeks before last frost. In warm climates seeds may be sown directly outdoors.
  • Thin seedlings when they are 3 inches in height with the final spacing of the plants 3 feet apart.
  • Keep moist. Your garden should receive about an inch of water per week.

Marigold: Gypsy Sunshine

  • Dwarf bush plants are loaded with golden-yellow, double flowers.
  • Sow in place in spring, or start plants indoors and grow for several weeks, setting out after last frost, transplanting carefully.
  • Plants require full sun, rich soil and moderate soil moisture.
  • Space plants about 12 inches apart.
  • Picking spent booms prolongs bloom season.

Dianthus: Romance Mixture

  • Hardy perennial. Plant fall or spring. A fine strain of single-flowered pinks with a very broad color range. this species was introduced from Europe during colonial times.
  • Like full sun and a moist, well-draining soil, which need not be especially rich. Sow seeds either indoors early and plant out or directly into the garden after frost danger has passed. Barely cover the tiny seeds and keep evenly moist until germination occurs and plants are well established.
  • Mulching keeps the weeds from overwhelming the delicate plants which are otherwise quite hardy

Seeds in the Soil

Grade 5 students planted their seeds today. Each group of 3-4 students had a package of seeds and a portion of a row. They read the directions for depth for the seeds and spacing between seeds, then worked together to get the project done. They marked the area with small plastic posts indicating who was in the group and what they planted. Since we had time and energy, we created 2 short rows, perpendicular to the other rows. Students brought fresh soil from the pile at the end of the garden and put mulch down between the new rows. Flowers were planted in these rows. Students know it is necessary to attract pollinators to the garden and we appreciated the colorful flowers that the grade 8 students had planted in their area last the fall. At end of the process, we watered the garden. Now we wait.

Grade 5 Garden

Spring Renewal – Starting with the Soil

We have the grade 5 section of the school student garden ready for planting again and with a lot of help from students. It never fails to amaze me that when I step outside with garden tools, students coming running to see what they can do. Three weeks ago after school, I entered the garden area with shovels and a bag of compost. Students in the school aftercare program were on the nearby playing field but I had 4 volunteers leave their game to help before I even started to work. The grade 5 science classes had removed the weeds the day before, so the aftercare group turned over the soil to loosen it, mixed in the compost and turned it again. They also added mulch to the walking paths between the rows.

Early this week at recess, I went out to work and again instantly had students volunteering to help, this time leaving their recess games to work. We have a new pile of soil beside the garden that the students used to build up the rows where we will plant. The garden was rained on since then, has had time to settle, and is ready for planting.

Tomorrow students will plant their seeds – the seeds that they gave me during Catholic Schools week. We have tomato, pepper, radishes, carrots and lima bean seeds. They are anxious to get started and anxious to see the first seed leaves poking through the soil.

Grade 5 section of the garden is ready for planting.