We're Back!

Well, after taking a little time away from the blog I have made my way back to recording our garden progress. The difference this year is that I am no longer an AmeriCorps Service Member. I am now working full time as a special education aide at the same school. The care of the garden also shifted over from being a part of AmeriCorps and Boys & Girls Club to our special education classroom.

Today and tomorrow we will be starting our seeds as part of our morning social skills group. We are using egg cartons for our "pods." First we cut the cartons in half to make them 2x3 cells. Then we soaked them in water for a bit and placed three of them in clear plastic containers about the size of a shoe box. Then the students filled the cells with potting soil, planted one kind of seed in each row and watered them.

We started: watermelon, cukes, beefsteak tomato, broccoli, cherry tomato, peppers, and marigolds. Supposedly the marigolds can be used as pest deterrents. We haven't had any issues yet, so it will be hard to tell if it really works that well.

We also "planted" seeds in plastic sandwich bags with  wet paper towel in them to see the seeds germinating.  It will also give us an idea of gap between germination and when the plants start to emerge from the soil.

Should be fun!!