The Green Committee has been hard at work getting our garden plots ready for the kids’ return to school.  This year, to give the fall gardens a fighting chance, the committee planted seeds in ¾ of the beds, leaving the last ¼ for the kids to plant with their classes.  The snow peas have been especially speedy, but if you look carefully, you can already see some of the other little shoots coming up.  The Green Committee took photos of the planting process including the seeds so the teachers can incorporate them into their lesson plans, but the kids will be getting their own hands-on experience when they plant their cilantro, spinach and lettuce seeds in the coming weeks.  Bring on the shovels and watering cans!

This year, the committee also decided to assign each class a different vegetable so here’s the breakdown:

·         Larks: Carrots, Beets

·         Wrens: Broccoli

·         Chickadees: Sugar snap peas

·         Owls: Kale

·         Sparrows: Red Acre Cabbage, sugar snap peas

Back in mid-August, Dave Soleil sent this advice for those of you who want to garden at home:

Here is a list of veggies to start planting.  Everything except lettuce and spinach should last through the winter for harvest in April/May.

Broccoli,
collards, 
cabbage,
cauliflower,
kale,
onions, beets,
carrots,
lettuce,
mustard,
radishes,
spinach,
turnips,
cilantro

If you want to help your soil, add a few bags of compost or use your own compost that has been sitting for at least a year.  You can also go to the Dekalb county free compost area across from the jail on Memorial near the 285.

Enjoy your fall garden!