Spring Garden Planting

Passing out parsley seeds

Planting peas

Watering!

We had plenty of hands on deck to plant the first round of seeds and transplants before spring break. Mr. Rich and Mrs. Boston's 6th grade classes along with Mrs. Stoverink's 1st grade and Mrs. Fanson's Kindergarten classes helped plant peas, beets, broccoli, cauliflower and parsley. Mrs. DeMere helped organize everyone for the spring planting. Watering was the hands-down favorite event that day.

Since then, we've planted leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots and strawberries. We'll be planting some summer vegetables soon too!

Check back soon for updates on our veggie progress!

2012 Spring Plot Layout

The first two plots will be used for the Seeds to Salad Spring harvest. The third plot will get us started for our fall Soup Garden.

Garden Bed Construction Complete!

Due to weather and volunteer availability, the bed construction began on Friday, but was completed on Sunday. Over six cubic yards of a topsoil/compost mix was delivered Friday. That day we were able to construct 2 1/2 of the structures, and fill just one. It *snowed* some that day!

Sunday however was much more agreeable, and we were joined by several more volunteers from the community. Special thanks to Central "neighbors" John Walker, Gail Babcock, Sue Odell, Angelique Kidd, Gene Stephens and Sharon Brandt for several hours of shovel and wheelbarrow duty! We managed to finish construction of the 2 strawberry tiers and the 3 4'x8' vegetable beds. Leftover soil mix was moved over to the lower landscaping tier across the school yard.

The soil will get a few weeks to settle before we begin planting our Seeds-to-Salad veggies!

February 2012 Committee Meeting Notes

Central School Yard - Landscaping and Community Garden Committee
February 8, 2012 Meeting

Attendees: Ron, Kelley, Melva, Belinda, Larry, Heather

Landscaping Information
Jack from Waldbart Nursery joined our meeting and we showed him the areas that we would like landscaped. Larry will fax him the dimensions of the areas, and Kelley will fax Patti's original ideas. Jack indicated that he will look at everything and come up with a plan before our next meeting.

Community Garden
Construction materials have been picked up and are ready for an upcoming work day: Friday, February 24 from 10am-4pm. We hope to construct 3 4'x8' raised beds, the strawberry bed and the compost bin. We will reach out for volunteers to assist in the construction and filling the beds with wheelbarrows of dirt (to be delivered the same day.)

Becky and Jen Redd started seeds for broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in their classrooms. The seedlings are growing and will be ready for transplant in March! Becky also got commitment from teachers for planting duties in March.

Next Meeting
Wednesday March 7, 2012 4:00pm - 5:00pm

January 2012 Committee Meeting Notes

Central School Yard - Landscaping and Community Garden Committee
January 18, 2012 Meeting
Attendees: Ron, Becky, Kelley, Melva, Patti, Belinda, Jennifer, Ruth, Larry, Heather

Funding Information
Heather applied for the following grants for Central School Yard: 

• Home Depot Garden Club's 2012 Youth Garden Grant 
• Whole Kids Foundation 2012 School Garden Grant 
•  The Food Chapter of the Awesome Foundation

We do not qualify for the Jamba Juice Grant as we are not within 50 miles of the nearest location. The Alton location is no longer in business.

Landscaping Information

• Ron spoke with Jack from Waldbart Nursery and Jack will come out to assess the landscaping areas and offer suggestions. 
•  Ron asked that the "stepped" landscaping along the front also be given consideration.

 
Community Garden

• Larry is going to get a materials list to give to Kelley and Ron to build the initial 2 beds. If Ron agrees, we would also like to build a separate strawberry bed for spring.
• Becky is going to get the Broccoli and Cauliflower seeds planted by the end of January so that they may be transplanted in mid March. Becky is also going to canvass teachers to assign spring planting by vegetable/class.
• The committee would like to get approval to build a compost bin on school grounds and teach students what can be composted. Compost bin/s will follow the City of Ferguson's compost ordinance.

Next Meeting
Wednesday February 8, 2012 4:00pm - 5:00pm