First planting complete

May was a wet, cold month with lots of thunderstorms and variable weather. Getting all the rain was lovely and we so desperately needed it – believe me, there are no complaints here. But, the cool temps and heavy rainfall delayed planting in the bales. Seedlings are tender and delicate and needed a span of warm, mild weather for me to feel confident to plant outside.

Once the SELS Board approved the garden in April, I reached out to two different nurseries / garden stores for supplies. Peaceful Valley is a nursery and garden store in Grass Valley that is committed to fostering organic gardening – and with one email to their staff they sent us a large box of free seed packets of all varieties. They have a wonderful online and brick-and-mortar store that always inspires me when I manage to get there.  Peaceful Valley approved our application to get SELS registered as an official school garden – which opens up the door for more discounts and donations for supplies we may need in the future.

Eric Larussen at The Villager is an amazing font of knowledge on how to manage growing things in our challenging climate. The Villager generously gave us a discount on potting soil and fertilizer which we used liberally to get the straw bales cooking and ready for plants.

During May & June, I had 8 kids in an elective called ‘Getting Your Hands Dirty’ where we worked in and learned about the new SELS garden. The kids started keeping a journal that they would record in each meeting: current outside temperature, maximum and minimum temperature from the last 24 hours (using a handy weather guage), and the temperature within the bale (using a compost thermometer). They also recorded observations about the weather over the last several days and the N-S-E-W layout of the garden area. We made a number of conclusions about the weather and location and how that would affect which plants were planted.

The kids and I also potted and seeded: blue hubbard squash, green zebra & cherry tomatoes, romanesco, sumter cucumbers, and a number of other varieties. After nurturing these pots in my cold frame at home, we got them planted in the bales on June 5th. I also brought over some kale and raspberries from my backyard.

I checked on the plants the next day – and the fat and happy squirrels that I’ve seen running around the area had already munched some of the leaves! We put some security in place: netting and milk jug covers. So far, it seems to be working … but we’re going to have to aggressively cover and net all beds and plants.

I hope to continue with work parties over the summer, potentially one in mid-July, where we install some covered garden beds. Stay tuned and sign up for the garden mailing list so you get the emails!