Tag Archives: soil

Seeds in the Soil

Posted on by rhondacarrier

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

Posted on by rhondacarrier

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.

A Bed for Pentas

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Who can’t resist the colorful flowers and deep green leaves of pentas? I decided to try to grow them although I knew I would need to amend the soil. Floridata says pentas like “moderately fertile soil that retains moisture”. I mixed a bag of top soil with the top few inches of the sandy soil and put cedar mulch around the plants to help hold the moisture. That seems to have been enough for the summer. The flowers, stems and leaves look healthy, but I’m already wondering if they will make it through Florida winter frosts. The first winter in the ground is the most difficult. Hopefully, the roots are strong enough to make it through to spring.

DSCF0125

DSCF0126