02/17/15

This week we talked about starting seeds- how to sow, the contents of soil compost/seed starting medium, germination, and the importance of water and good fluorescent lights.

Then students began working on some art that we could display in the garden this Spring.

 

2/10/15

Sometimes, when the gardening season is done, the next year you have packets of seeds left over and need to see whether or not these seeds are viable. This week we used ziplock bags, damp coffee filters/paper towels and ten seeds. We used ten so that when the seeds germinate it will be an easy percentage to work with. If 70-90% germinate, we will plant thickly. If less than this number sprout, we will discard the seeds. We will check on our seeds in a week.

We also started seeds for our tower garden. We put kale, lemon mint, lettuce and basil in the small holes and covered with the vermiculite medium.

1/3/2015

This week we elaborated on the square foot gardening method (a simple method for planting seeds in a specific way in raised beds). The most convenient size for school beds is 4x4. The grid is then marked every foot with small wooden dividers so that there are 16 squares total. There are four spacing guidelines...

Extra large seeds- one per square for 12 inch spacing (eg. broccoli, cabbage and pepper).
Large- four per square for 6 inch spacing (eg. leaf lettuce, swiss chard and marigold).
Medium- 9 per square for 4 inch spacing (eg. bush bean, spinach and beet).
Small- 16 per square for 3 inch spacing (eg. carrot, radish and onion).

For more information on Square Foot Gardening, the book "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholemew is an excellent resource. See also http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/square-foot-garden.html

5th graders had also had a gardening class during school and so we talked about how different factors (moisture, seed depth and temperature) affected plant growth. We identified terms such as control in the scientific process discussed the best conditions for overall optimum plant development.

We took a little walk outside to enjoy the snow :)