Help Is On The Way

Today is our last Garden N Grow class of 2014.  The summer has flown by!  Our harvest yield was disappointing this year.  We had a little over 100 lbs, compared to over 300 lbs last summer.  The cool, wet start to the season and pest damage took their toll.  We'll learn from it and do some things differently next year.

Today the class learned about being a scientist and about jobs in horticulture.  They also wrote thank you notes for the folks at Fairview Christian Church for their hospitality this summer.

THANK YOU!

Harvesting

Found a lace wing!

Writing thank you notes

The Garden N Grow team

Trading Traits

We got some rain over the weekend, so we didn't have to water the gardens.  We had a really good cucumber harvest this morning.

More squash bugs?

Today the students learned how plants develop new traits - selection, breeding, mutation, and genetic engineering.  Then they designed their own monster plants.  Playing with their food was allowed - as long as they ate it!

Friend Can You Spare a Tomato?

Today the class visited a local food bank.  The young gardeners took some of this morning's harvest as a donation.

There is only one more week of Garden N Grow 2014.  We were surprised by this sign from our hosts this morning.

Thank you, Fairview Christian Church!

Here are some of our gardeners.

What's Up Doc?

Today we learned about plant diseases and pest management.  The class was led by Lala Kumar, horticulturalist with University of Missouri Extension.  Lala diagnosed bacterial wilt on our squash plants.

Bacterial wilt affecting squash plant

Squash bug nymphs

Sara's Eightball Zucchini

Snack was a special treat today.  Lexi made this butterfly cake

What's It Worth?

Today the young gardeners learned the value of the produce they have harvested.  They looked at grocery store ads to determine the cost of their produce by weight.

Fruit or Veggie

It was hot and dry in the gardens this morning.  We weeded, watered and looked for bugs.  Today's harvest included zucchini, onions and bell pepper.

The lesson today was "Fruit or Veggie".  The students learned that true fruits have seeds.  Many of the foods we call vegetables are really fruit - tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are botanically fruit.

Working in the garden

Painting picture frames

Bountiful Harvest

It was a beautiful morning to work in the gardens.  We harvested, weeded and squished squash bugs.

Cultivating the garden

Teamwork!

Garden N Grow

The class learned about harvesting and preserving their harvest.  They sampled canned, frozen and dried produce.


Class has been so busy, we haven't finished our garden signs yet, so we worked on them today.

Painting garden signs

Sand, Silt or Clay

We got some work done in the gardens this morning before the rain came.  The gardeners removed more squash bug eggs from the squash leaves.

The class learned about soil properties.  They did an experiment showing the different sizes of sand, silt and clay particles.

Good, Bad and Beautiful Bugs

Today's lesson was all about bugs.  Ms Chris - "the bug lady" - taught the class about good and bad bugs. They learned about the parts of an insect, insect mouthparts and how an insect grows - metamorphosis.

Squash bug on the zucchini

Looking for bugs

The dreaded squash vine borer

This little guy can kill a squash in a couple of days

Shine On!

This morning was hot and dry in the gardens!

Something has been eating our beans.  The scarecrows aren't doing their job!

 

What is causing these squash leaves to curl?

Today's lesson was photosynthesis - how a plant turns sunlight into food.  The young gardeners covered part of some leaves to show the affect of sunlight on plants.

Zoning Out

Most of the students were off for the Holiday.  The rest of us enjoyed a 

beautiful morning in the garden!

After gardening, the students learned all about hardiness zones.  They looked through plant catalogs to see the zone designation on different plants, and picked some plants that will grow in our zone - zone 6.

With Ms Ty's help the girls made scarecrows for the gardens.

Teamwork

The girl scarecrow

"Planting" the scarecrows

Our scarecrows!

Pistils, Petals & More

Today was a nice day to work in the garden.  The young gardeners weeded and watered.

The lesson was Pistils, Petals & More - all about the parts of a flower and their purpose.

The students dissected day lilies to see the parts, and learned the purpose of each part.