Becky Griffin helps school and community gardeners succeed! This includes organizing school garden teacher training with county agents, assisting schools with STE(A)M goals, and creating resources on starting and sustaining successful gardens.
Becky is a Georgia Certified Beekeeper and works with community and school gardeners to increase beneficial insect habitat. She is the coordinator of the Great Georgia Pollinator Census, happening this year on August 19th and 20th, 2022. She is also part of UGA's Native Plants and Beneficial Insect Working Group.
It is June, the official start of summer and a very busy time in the vegetable garden. We have complied a list of chores to add to your list to keep your garden in peak condition. According to UGA’s Vegetable Garden Calendar:
Harvest vegetables such as beans, peas, squash, cucumbers and okra regularly to prolong production and enjoy peak freshness.
Bean trellis at the Stone Mountain Community Garden at VFW Park
2. Eat “high on the hog” this month and in July and preserve enough to last during the winter months ahead.
3. For best results, harvest onions and Irish potatoes when two-thirds of the tops have died down. Store potatoes in a cool, dark place and onions in a dry, airy place.
Onions growing at the UGArden
4. Clean off rows of early crops as soon as they are through bearing and use rows for replanting or keep them fallow for fall crops.
5. Water as needed.
6. Plant sweet potatoes and a second planting of Southern peas.
Sweet potatoes at the Victorian District Community Garden, Savannah
At Hickory Flat library in Cherokee County, Georgia they lend more than books. They have a seed lending library! Here is how it works: Someone who is interested fills out a “Membership Form”. They can then choose a package or two of seeds. The selection is large. These are seeds that Cherokee County Master Gardeners have harvested from their gardens and numerous community projects. Seed companies have also donated seeds. Instructions for planting and plant information is on each carefully prepared seed package.
Are you especially concerned about mosquitoes this summer as you work in your garden? Do you wonder how to care for your bird baths so that your birds are happy but you are not creating a breeding pond for mosquitoes? We had the opportunity to talk with University of Georgia’s mosquito specialist, Elmer Gray, and asked him for some research-based mosquito information.
St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church’s Food For a Thousand garden in Albany, Georgia is a true lesson in community. Dedicated church parishioners and Dougherty County Master Gardener Extension volunteers (MGEVs) maintain this space and harvest the produce. Dougherty County 4-H volunteers even lend a hand. All of the produce is donated to two local food pantries and a rescue mission. This is an impressive operation.
The Georgia Department of Education’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) day is May 6th. In anticipation of that day we want to make sure that schools know what STEM resources are available to them through UGA Extension.
According to information from Gilda Lyon, state STEM coordinator, there are 28 STEM certified schools in Georgia at this time. There will be many, many more applying for certification. The certification process is very involved and once a school is certified it will need to be recertified every five years.
I am celebrating with the butterflies and bees! As the force behind the Pollinator Spaces Project I decided I needed to step up the pollinator habitat in my own garden in time for Earth Week 2016. In one part of the garden I added three baby sage (Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’) plants. I have always loved the bi-colored flowers and they really attract butterflies.
Plant your choices of the following “warm-season” or “frost-tender” crops: beans (snap, pole and lima), cantaloupe, corn (sweet), cucumbers, eggplant, okra, field peas, peppers, squash, tomatoes and watermelon.
Plant tall-growing crops such as okra, pole beans and corn on the north side of other vegetables to avoid shading. Plant two or more rows of corn for better pollination.
Make a second planting within two to three weeks of the first planting of snap beans, corn and squash.
Within three to four weeks of the first planting, plant more lima beans and corn. Remember: for better pollination, plant at least two or more rows.
Be sure to plant enough vegetables for canning and freezing.
Cultivate to control weeds and grass, to break crusty soil and to provide aeration.
Maintain mulch between rows.
For the crops planted earlier, side-dress as described above.
Plant tender herbs.
Remember: Do not work in your garden when the foliage is wet to avoid spreading diseases from one plant to another.
This week we are happy to have UGA Hall County Extension Agent, Michael Wheeler, as a guest blogger to give us a refresher on growing tomatoes. Michael writes….
Homegrown vegetables are a must have for many Southerners during the summer.
The one vegetable, well technically a fruit, which makes everyone’s mouth water in anticipation is the tomato. The folks I know always say the first tomato of the season is the best.
It is a known fact that homegrown tomatoes are much better than anything you can buy from the grocery store. Nothing can beat it.
Whether or not you are trying to grow tomatoes for the first time, or this is your 30th season, there are some tips to follow to make sure your harvest is plentiful.
Tomato seedlings ready to go in the ground.
Before you plant, incorporate four inches of new organic matter. This will encourage the plants to explore and get established quickly.
Plant your tomatoes deep. At planting, remove the leaves from the bottom of the plant and bury about two-thirds of the stem. This deep planting causes the plant to grow roots up and down the stem that is in the ground. This extra root system will make the plant stronger and more stable as it matures.
As a UGA Extension county agent, I always tell my clients to use mulch when you plant anything. Well the same goes for veggies. A good 2- to 3-inch layer of wheat straw will go a long way to hold back weeds, keep the plants clean from rainfall and keep the soil moist in the middle of summer.
Speaking of rain and moisture, what if we don’t get any during the summer? This is where many of the problems in growing vegetables come from — improper watering.
Water your plants so the soil stays fairly evenly moist, avoiding the extremes of it being parched and then flooded. When you do water, keep the water at the base of the plant. Wetting the leaves will only encourage diseases.
Give your tomatoes fertilizer when they are first planted. After that, they do not need much fertilization until the first tomatoes are the size of a dime or so.
Pushing your tomatoes to grow will only encourage the growth of leaves and stems, but not much fruit.
If during the summer you have problems growing tomatoes, stop by your local UGA Extension office for help identifying pests or diseases.
This week we are excited to have Steve Pettis, UGA Extension Agent for Rockdale County, join us for a math lesson on raised bed gardening! Steve writes….
If you have have raised beds eventually you will need to add more soil. Over time soil compacts, organic matter dissipates, and soil erodes. So, what was once a box full of soil can end up half empty.
Raised beds at Green Meadows CG
Bagged soil is sold by the square foot. How do you determine how many square feet of soil you need to refill the beds?
I would suggest using the formula for determining volume of a rectangular prism –
vol. of rectangular prism = a b c or length x width x height
Multiply the width, height and length in inches. Divide that by 12 inches to get cubic feet. Bags of soil will say how many cubic feet of soil are in the bag. Divide the number of cubic feet in a bag into the cubic feet of your space and you have the number of bags needed.
In honor of National Horticultural Therapy Week (March 20th – 26th) we have asked Katrina Fairchild, a registered horticultural therapist (HTR), to share some thoughts on these types of gardens. Katrina writes:
Thinking back on my time of working with and developing a program for teenage at-risk students, I present you with a series questions to ask yourself when deciding to undertake this significant project of offering and developing horticultural therapy (or therapeutic horticulture).
Photo credit: ahta.org
What’s the primary purpose of offering the program and the garden?
Is it for profit? Social or emotional therapy? Educational opportunity, be it vocational or academic? Purposeful in terms of feeding local families in need, or teaching certain socioeconomic groups to eat healthier to keep certain diseases at bay? Simply aesthetic? This key question begins to address the size of the garden, its proximity (location), the people it serves, its longevity, community resources to assist you, and the big question of “how much will it cost?”
Do I have the time to dedicate to planning and running a whole year of gardening?
Who will help me keep the garden going when I have a class to teach? What happens in the summer? Will I need to do one-on-one supervising in the garden or as a group?
What’s involved in programming a school garden?
It’s not just planting veggies, herbs and flowers as the seasons arrive; it’s pre-planning what to buy, how much space to dedicate, the material used, finding available resources, the return on what goes in the ground (is there continuity, for example, like seed-saving that turns into yet another session/project), planting for the holidays, student’s birthdays, special causes, and educational opportunities, just to name a few.
Am I making it fun, interesting, stimulating?
It’s very important to make the whole or a part of the garden personal and relevant. It should reflect the kids’ personalities, age, character, and life. To avoid mental or physical disengagement, you may need to plan a special “personal” square plot versus group gardening. One student I had was only intrigued by goth, so we stuck with black pansies and tulips. Play their music (not yours) while gardening. Make it relevant now: for example, select seeds that germinate quickly, and bring in samples they can eat now. Make it tangible: buy seedlings instead of seeds.
What timing and program constraints must I consider to satisfy the kids with VAK learning modalities?
An hour’s worth of outdoor gardening may end up being three different projects to capture and hold the interest of those who are visual, auditory and/or kinesthetic. More programming means less time in the garden.
How can I make this less work for me?
Get them involved from the beginning! From concept to crop, it’s their place. Get them involved in the planning stages of cost, design, layout, building, selecting favorite or new plants, colors, garden art, and what to do with excess crop. Assign or let them pick jobs or lead roles. Ownership is key.
How can I get the parents and community involved (and funding coming)?
The program is only as good as its longevity and engagement. Post photos of the garden and gardeners on social media. Send press releases. Maintain an ongoing photo album of the garden and its gardeners that is readily viewed in the classroom as well as online.
Am I making all this too complicated and burdensome?
It can be…unless you keep it simple. Sometimes we get too excited and over-inspired by what can be. Remind yourself to stop and re-analyze often: most things can be simplified. This is true from the types of material used to build the garden to the selection of herbs and vegetable.
Katrina Fairchild, is a registered horticultural therapist (HTR), certified landscaped designer (APLD), GA Certified Plant Professional (GCPP), and avid gardener and nature lover. She can be reached at (678)314-9082 or via her website www.theflowerfly.com.
