The Gardening Blog

This spring has proven bountiful. We are going on our fourth week of supplying lettuce to our School's cafeteria. No lettuce has been purchased from outside sources. We have been enjoying arugula, leeks, boston lettuce, radicchio and romaine lettuce. The students are learning how much work and time goes into properly cleaning it. The new greenhouse has provided a safe haven for sprouting seeds and ourselves in sudden rainstorms. The possibilities are so exciting!

April was an exciting month in the garden. The whole school worked beautifully on the grounds. Grades 1-3 planted marigolds in the garden for pest control and observed bees in their hives with a local beekeeper. The best news is that the hoophouse is finished. It has a solar panel for electricity.

The sugar snap peas are in the ground and vegetables are sprouting. We have elephant garlic, leeks, garlic and ny corn salad lettuce. All of these vegetables were overwintered. At Crossroads Farm the eighth grade started seed trays of kale, calendula, brussels sprouts, lettuce and swiss chard. It is time to start tomatoes indoors. The greenhouse is on its way too, so exciting.

The eighth grade is finishing up their farming block at Crossroads Farm in Malverne. We had a chance to study invasive pests, honeybees, basic organic farming and chickens. The 6th and 7th grade started preserving, canning and fermentation. We made pickles and strawberry preserves. Yum! In other news, I just returned from the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey 2013 Winter Conference. The keynote speaker was Elliot Coleman, who is always "on-the-cutting-edge" of farming all year round! Hoophouses and techniques like biointensive farming (planting closer together to utilize your space) were some of the highlights.