With the help of Ms. Schenck and Mrs. Andrews, our organic garden has been started. Each class will have their own potato bin to grow a variety of potatos which will then be given to the students in the fall. Recycled pallets are being used to create the bins. Recycled bags from feed are being used under the dirt as a weed barrier. The soil has come from a neighboring farm that donated the composted manure. We are also starting our own compost bin by taking certain foods that the students don't eat and placing them in the compost bin outside the school. A vegetable garden will also be planted along side the potato bins.
**Organic gardening has been described as several things: chemical-free gardening, Earth-friendly gardening, natural gardening are just a few. And it is all of these things, but these phrases tend to be so ambiguous they end up causing confusion. For example, “chemical-free gardening” is a total misnomer, because whether you are using organic or synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in your garden, they are all “chemicals.” “Natural gardening” espouses images of weeds run rampant and hornworm-infested tomato plants. “Earth-friendly” gardening works, except that everyone has a different view of what they consider to be “friendly” to the planet.
So, to try to narrow it down, organic gardening consists of three main tenets:
MAY 2011
PLANTING THE POTATOS
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
HARVESTING THE POTATO GARDEN
Thank you to Mrs. Andrews for volunteering her time and energy in showing the students how to plant and harvest the many different varieties of potatos.
