planting beans July

This morning was warm and a bit wet after evening showers….just the right time to plant beans and beets for a September harvest. We plan to flood the salad bar with pickled beets and beans. (They were a big hit at lunch time last year. )If all goes well,  we’ll hold some community pickling bees at the start of school.

Meanwhile, the summer campers this morning compared seeds and guessed which was which, beet or bean, before planting them. In pairs, they planted two rows of each vegetable. It will be interesting for them to see which is the root vegetable when they harvest in the fall. After planting, campers harvested sweet crispy sugar snap peas. Some of these same kids had planted them during After School Science in the Garden Club. Where does your food come from? These kids have a good idea.

harvesting sugar snaps

sugar snap bean

a look inside a sugar snap

This year our school garden was included in the Westminster Cares garden tour. Over 100 people visited the garden, adding their rich stories to our collection of garden tales. We were delighted to have visitors from all over the globe. The two young ladies pictured above are new to Vermont and will be attending area schools in the fall. Many thanks go out to teachers, staff and community volunteers for readying our garden for this event. Westminster Cares provides programs and services for seniors and adults with disabilities in Westminster, Vermont and surrounding towns so that they can be healthy and independent in the community. Visit their website at http://www.westminstercares.org or visit their Facebook page!