Not down to the ground that is.
So the veggie garden is down to broccoli raab, lettuce, and leeks ... things were getting a bit slow. Then the leaves began to fall on campus.
It brings on the season of comments like
"raking again!"
"a leaf blower would be easier"
But I see it as my personal mission to get some exercise into the lives of my students. Two beds planted with garlic have a nice cover of leaves. And three giant piles a spread about the garden and soon we will cover all the beds for winter. It does much for the garden in my view.
nutrients for one, organic matter for two, and thirdly ... weed control till we plant in the spring time. All free, if we work hard. The piles seem to show we have done some work. Weather permitting we will be busy moving leaves till Thanksgiving break. Will get some photos when the rain stops.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
taking a break gets out of control
It was springtime some eleven years ago, and I had just been assigned to start a horticulture program in the fall. I decided to take a break from haircuts while on summer break. Eleven years later I have developed a program, but have only cut my hair twice. On 8/25/09 I announced that I was taking a break from the blog, now the first quarter of the school year is about to end...
Maybe I would have to admit my lack of passion for gardening at home. Spring is when I love gardening. The return of colors to a Pennsylvania landscape rich in grayish browns. The sun, the colors, the emergence of life draws me outside. This year, not only the heat of summer but the tiredness of Lyme disease kept me inside.
Then there was the rain. The rain. The rain. It has been a bit wet here and when it was no longer too hot, it rained many a weekend.
But mostly it was a greater passion. The day after the 25th I went on my annual 8 day silent retreat with Jesuits. I emerged with a desire to spend time in my stained glass studio ( a small but sacred place in my house). So since September, I have been trying to be there as much as possible. Prepping for my physics and zoology classes, stained glass, and time with my wife have ruled over the home garden. It would be a lie to say I have done no gardening. It would be the truth to say the garden has never been such a mess.
At school I have gardened. But maybe my lack of gardening at home made me feel unworthy of writing a garden blog post. So there are things to blog about here, and this blog is not about my home garden. Horticulture at Pathway has been happening at the school.
Do you have a hard time getting back to something if you take a break?
Maybe I would have to admit my lack of passion for gardening at home. Spring is when I love gardening. The return of colors to a Pennsylvania landscape rich in grayish browns. The sun, the colors, the emergence of life draws me outside. This year, not only the heat of summer but the tiredness of Lyme disease kept me inside.
Then there was the rain. The rain. The rain. It has been a bit wet here and when it was no longer too hot, it rained many a weekend.
But mostly it was a greater passion. The day after the 25th I went on my annual 8 day silent retreat with Jesuits. I emerged with a desire to spend time in my stained glass studio ( a small but sacred place in my house). So since September, I have been trying to be there as much as possible. Prepping for my physics and zoology classes, stained glass, and time with my wife have ruled over the home garden. It would be a lie to say I have done no gardening. It would be the truth to say the garden has never been such a mess.
At school I have gardened. But maybe my lack of gardening at home made me feel unworthy of writing a garden blog post. So there are things to blog about here, and this blog is not about my home garden. Horticulture at Pathway has been happening at the school.
Do you have a hard time getting back to something if you take a break?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The end of summer
So the ESY program at the school has come and gone and I would certainly tweek some things next year...
give up on afternoon horticulture clubs... just too darn hot and humid half the time.
have greater success with cucumbers, just a pitiful year????
change my schedule a bit, if possible.
no Lyme disease taking me out of the action for three weeks.
But...
keep the mass of students that flowed through my classroom and our gardens.
and whatever I did with the eggplants... do it again. Best year ever. Covering with row covers from the start really kept insect pests away.
keep cooking and baking...
Keep up the hope we will learn from our mistakes.
keep making flower arrangements.
So that's a really quick review. probably won't be blogging about the school garden much for a week or so. But I am excited by the prospects of the fall season. Feeling healthy and cooler weather could make for one tired teacher/gardener.
give up on afternoon horticulture clubs... just too darn hot and humid half the time.
have greater success with cucumbers, just a pitiful year????
change my schedule a bit, if possible.
no Lyme disease taking me out of the action for three weeks.
But...
keep the mass of students that flowed through my classroom and our gardens.
and whatever I did with the eggplants... do it again. Best year ever. Covering with row covers from the start really kept insect pests away.
keep cooking and baking...
Keep up the hope we will learn from our mistakes.
keep making flower arrangements.
So that's a really quick review. probably won't be blogging about the school garden much for a week or so. But I am excited by the prospects of the fall season. Feeling healthy and cooler weather could make for one tired teacher/gardener.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
rebound
about a week ago I noticed a bounce in my step. It told me two things...
how bad I had been feeling fighting off the Lyme disease, and
that it wasn't the antibiotics that were making me feel so ill.
I still had several days of antibiotics to go, so while I pushed myself a bit harder, I did avoid long periods of sun and thought rest was still in order.
Today with a few drug free days behind me and a small class, I sent the students selling (fingerling potatoes, peppers, garlic, eggplant, zucchini, and a single cucumber) and I went out into the heat and sun to weed two 20 foot beds of green beans... our fall harvest. Later in the day we baked rosemary bread and ate it with oven roasted veggies.
It was wonderful to come home exhausted from working hard.
I have been overwhelmed with paperwork at school and doing a craft business newsletter at home, but hope to get caught up on all my favorite garden blogs this weekend and early next week.
how bad I had been feeling fighting off the Lyme disease, and
that it wasn't the antibiotics that were making me feel so ill.
I still had several days of antibiotics to go, so while I pushed myself a bit harder, I did avoid long periods of sun and thought rest was still in order.
Today with a few drug free days behind me and a small class, I sent the students selling (fingerling potatoes, peppers, garlic, eggplant, zucchini, and a single cucumber) and I went out into the heat and sun to weed two 20 foot beds of green beans... our fall harvest. Later in the day we baked rosemary bread and ate it with oven roasted veggies.
It was wonderful to come home exhausted from working hard.
I have been overwhelmed with paperwork at school and doing a craft business newsletter at home, but hope to get caught up on all my favorite garden blogs this weekend and early next week.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
need energy
I am looking at another 7 days of antibiotics and I am waiting to feel energized again. With two weeks left in the summer session, I will try to keep some hope, but it may not be till we come back in September before I can garden as I was gardening a month ago. Hope is there.
The job also requires much energy to be aware of what is happening with the students and with how I am responding to them. By the end of the day I am reflecting on where I need to focus my energy.
Blogging has not been one of them as well as weeding my home garden. The weeds are getting stronger, while the blog waits.
And just when my blog was featured in the parent's newsletter for the school. Since I began this blog I have always listed my URL in my blurb. This time it caught the eye of a parent who was editing the letter. She asked if she could use my photos and words. Since getting this blog to parents has been my hope, it was a great thing. Great things are energy producers. I need to keep a look out for more.
The job also requires much energy to be aware of what is happening with the students and with how I am responding to them. By the end of the day I am reflecting on where I need to focus my energy.
Blogging has not been one of them as well as weeding my home garden. The weeds are getting stronger, while the blog waits.
And just when my blog was featured in the parent's newsletter for the school. Since I began this blog I have always listed my URL in my blurb. This time it caught the eye of a parent who was editing the letter. She asked if she could use my photos and words. Since getting this blog to parents has been my hope, it was a great thing. Great things are energy producers. I need to keep a look out for more.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
state of the union e-mail and a very cool thing
at work I sent out this e-mail...
The need….
plastic grocery bags
The bad….
The cucumber plants look great, tons of flowers, tons of fruit forming… then what???? Who knows… rabbits? And the zucchini … maybe now that it is hot we will get some.
The good…
we harvested one bed of fingerling potatoes this morning and I am quite happy with our yield. Info on fingerlings check out this web site. And now we have an empty bed for a fall crop (our four varieties of winter squash are also thriving and taking over their space quite nicely)
The hope…
the eggplants are taking off in the heat that has finally arrived. No bugs. Tons of flowers.
The unintended neglect…
If you have not had our garlic, onions, peppers, green beans, and/or Swiss Chard. Send an e-mail
the very cool thing...
as we were harvesting the potatoes (OK, I was outside in the sun for a few more minutes than I have exposed myself to since being diagnosed with Lyme disease), we were visited by two fine folk from the department that keeps our students fed. During the winter they had expressed an interest in serving the garden veggies in the school cafeteria. Not really swamped with what I had expected, zucchini and cucumbers, I had not approached them. But by the time the school day had ended, a bag of onions had been passed their way. very cool, if I have to say so myself.
The need….
plastic grocery bags
The bad….
The cucumber plants look great, tons of flowers, tons of fruit forming… then what???? Who knows… rabbits? And the zucchini … maybe now that it is hot we will get some.
The good…
we harvested one bed of fingerling potatoes this morning and I am quite happy with our yield. Info on fingerlings check out this web site. And now we have an empty bed for a fall crop (our four varieties of winter squash are also thriving and taking over their space quite nicely)
The hope…
the eggplants are taking off in the heat that has finally arrived. No bugs. Tons of flowers.
The unintended neglect…
If you have not had our garlic, onions, peppers, green beans, and/or Swiss Chard. Send an e-mail
the very cool thing...
as we were harvesting the potatoes (OK, I was outside in the sun for a few more minutes than I have exposed myself to since being diagnosed with Lyme disease), we were visited by two fine folk from the department that keeps our students fed. During the winter they had expressed an interest in serving the garden veggies in the school cafeteria. Not really swamped with what I had expected, zucchini and cucumbers, I had not approached them. But by the time the school day had ended, a bag of onions had been passed their way. very cool, if I have to say so myself.
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