Lush growth at the 4G

First summer for 4G

Lake View Fun Fair

Visitors to Lake View's annual Fun Fair could also stroll around our brand-new garden!

Seeding pickup

Community Groundworks at Troy Gardens was kind enough to donate tons of seedlings to us. We drove out and picked them up one sunny day in May. Nathan Larson, the education director, met us at the Kids' Garden. Lake View students who came along got to meet some friendly chickens as a dividend.

Lots of planting!

We got lots of planting done today at the Great Green Growing Garden.

Five Green Team Members came out in the afternoon and toiled for two hours under the warm sun. They were Mai Jai (someone please post the correct spelling!), Ethan, Devon, Lily and Lydia. Parent volunteers Vesna Kovach and Melissa Mooney were there, and so was teaching assistant Heather Reimer.

We got so much done, it was amazing! We finished building the square foot grids on the two remaining beds.

We caged the 12 tomato plants that Zivile and Vesna planted earlier this week.

We planted the 6 tomato plants and 6 sweet pepper plants that Melissa and Chris Mooney grew and donated from their home greenhouse and seedling operation.

We planted 12 squares of salad mixture.

We planted one square foot each of cimarron lettuce, radishes, basil, parsley, carrots -- and a square that didn't get labeled and I'm not sure what, if anything is in it but a blank craft stick sign!

Then we watered. And the kids went back into class.

Planting fun!

Planting Tomatoes

Mark Voss from Voss Organics donated a baker's dozen organic tomato plants to our garden!

Accompanied by her kids, Zivile and I planted them this afternoon.

First we plotted out the square foot system on two of the new raised beds. We placed eye screws at one foot intervals along the perimeter of the beds. Then we strung kitchen twine through the eyes to create the 1' grid that is at the heart of the square foot method.

After we planted the tomatoes, Zivile mulched them with straw she had brought.

Then we got to water them with the hose that Iris brought and installed along the side of the building.

It was the inaugural planting and watering of the brand-new beds!

Great Green Growing Garden

The Green Team voted on a name for the garden.

Behold the Great Green Growing Garden. Otherwise to be known as the 4G's!

Garden beds situated

Iris and Ulysses and I worked on the beds from 3 to 5 Monday afternoon. A parent named Mark helped us move them into place. His son will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and they had been attending the kindergarten preview. Bethney, whom many of us already know, was also there with Henry, who's starting K in the fall also, and Silas and George, her first-grader and newborn, respectively. She helped move beds, and took some great photos!

We filled 2 of them about 2/3 full of a mixture of topsoil and compost from the enormous piles Don trucked in.

The wood of the beds is flat to the ground. The extra length of post is at the top. It can be used to help attach covers or supports.

Garden beds built and soil trucked in

Don Drott and James built four raised beds. Each is 6'x3', and a whopping 24" deep. They are sturdy and beautiful!

He trucked them in over the weekend, along with massive piles of topsoil, compost, and wood chips.

Fantastic!

Now all we need to do is position these behemoths into place and fill 'em up. And we'll be ready for the kids to start planting.