Preparing for Summer: Some Thanks

Thank you to Liz, Steve, Kim, Lisa (and Max) for working in the garden today! Stubborn weeds in the Smoothie Garden were coerced by shovel, hoe and brute strength, but we can now see the trees from the weeds - and it's looking good! One Jamaican papaya tree flowered and fruited, while another boasts tiny buds. The banana trees are gaining inches in height and have sprouted one to four pups each. Surrounded by dry, sandy soil, the banana trees enjoyed a deep watering this morning only to be topped off by afternoon storms.

While parents worked in the Smoothie Garden, SPE students minded the Organic Edible Garden beds. Thank you to our energetic students and their enthusiastic (and very patient) teachers! Ms. Brisuela and Mr. Londono's classes tilled the vegetable beds, pulled many weeds and turned the soil countless times, while Ms. Hendrickson's class finished the job and checked the almost-ready compost. The compost will be used to fertilize the Smoothie Garden before school breaks for summer (next week!).

Last, but not least, thank you to the hose-and-nozzle-fairy family, the Weavers. It was a great surprise yesterday morning to find two extra-long hoses and two brand-new nozzles by the garden shed! Thank you!

Last Work Day

Please join us this Wednesday, May 26 at 8:45am for a work day! There will be coffee, sweet things to nosh on and lots of laughs.

On our roster: weeding and mulching the smoothie garden; weeding and covering the sunflower bed; building another vege bed; and, turning the soil and planting cover crops in the vege beds.

We may finish some of the smaller jobs between now and then with the help of our garden teacher, Roger, but for the rest we'll need your help! This is the LAST time this year we will ask for your brains and brawn. Please, please, please come! We love you!

May

May is here and the heat is rising. This marks the end of our main growing season in South Florida. This month, we’ll add a few more beds - so more classes can be involved in the garden next year - mulch what’s left and sow a cover crop. Cover crops are mulched right back into the soil, adding vital nutrients which will make the soil more fertile for the next growing season. The cover crop is like a blanket, which we’ll lay down as we put our beds to sleep for summer.

As for the Smoothie Garden, we’ve planted some pineapple heads, a guava tree and Bermuda cherry and some small mulberry trees. (You’ll notice a few mulberries around the vegetable beds as well.) Although all of our trees are native to warm climates, we plan to add some irrigation to the Smoothie Garden soon so our trees survive the summer - and we’ll have a crop of bananas to look forward to in the fall!

Thank you to SPE’s administration, the PTA, Geane Brito, our teachers, students and volunteers for making the gardens’ first year a great one!