In the photo above, Nola and Sabin Sciacca and their Librarian and Garden Guide, Mandy Walsh are uncovering the heirloom squash the fourth graders planted last month. It’s amazing how fast weeds can overrun our garden. (Note the beautiful mulch straw in the background. We’ll put that down as soon as we uncover our plants. it should help keep the soil moist while discouraging weed growth.) Equally amazing is the work these two children put in for our garden. We’re lucky to have them. Here they are gathering zucchinis for our chef, Harley Sterling. He used them in his meal preparation that same day.

Also joining us was Paula Borochoff, one of our hard working Kindergarten teachers. We hope to have many more community weeding gatherings during the summer. Again, in praise of community spirit, Mandy’s husband, Chris and her son, Oliver volunteered their time and expertise in our garden last month. Thanks, Chris, for tuning up the rototiller. It now purrs.

Above, are Paula and the beginning of the sunflower house. To the right is one of the peanut plants that the Kindergarteners sowed in early June.

And here are our sweet potatoes, one month into the growing season!

Our sweet potato slips arrived a month earlier than they could be planted here in Vermont, so we kept them indoors  in a Mason jar by a window for a month. On a warm afternoon in June, the After School kids planted them spaced about 2 feet apart. Afterwards they helped weed the zucchini squash we had planted a few weeks before. you can see how many weeds have grown since our All School Planting day in mid-May. The ASP kids also built fairy houses under a shady tree. You can see our Kale Smoothie experts handing out their garden treats to the fairy house builders.

You can compare the size of our sweet potatoes with their growth almost a month in the next entry.

WEEDING SQUASH

FAIRY HOUSES AND KALE SMOOTHIES