More on the Kids' Garden

Melinda Smith, garden coordinator is explaining to Olee how the beds will be realigned.

My friend Olee Jobe, from Spring Fever Greenhouse in Republic, Missouri and I, drove down to Jonesboro, Arkansas a few days back. Olee had not seen the kids' garden and was interested, and he was donating potting soil and pots for their greenhouse. He was as inspired and impressed as I had thought he would be. It was a 4 hour drive for us each way to make the delivery, and well worth the trip.

Melinda was explaining the work in the garden coming up this week. The beds, currently done at an angle, (which she said looked like a good idea at the time 2 years ago) were going to be straightened. A local nursery is coming to realign the beds and add 2 additional ones, as well as put paving blocks around the beds to help keep the Bermuda grass somewhat at bay.

These are the beds that will be aligned along the pathway to make room for 2 more beds.

Pansies are in bloom in one of the beds and tulips are coming up in another. The nursery folks will transplant the bulbs, so nothing is lost. With the work progressing this week, the kids will be able to start planting some of the seed Renee's Garden Seed have donated.

This is the entrance to the school. Some of you have asked to see what it looks like. Melinda Smith said they have about 600 students in grades 1-6.

This is one corner of the science lab. In another corner there are several lizards, a snake, some birds, fish, plants and lots of books. I think Olee and I could have enjoyed sitting in class if we'd had such an interesting school room!

Several of the teachers stopped and thanked us for taking an interest in the kids' garden project. It was fun to see how the kids reacted to the teachers. I saw kids on numerous occasions come up and hug a teacher and say thank you for something. Olee said, and I heartily agreed, if we had ever had a teacher in our past who would hug a kid, we might have actually liked school when we were that age!

This is a recyle-robot. One of the classes had a contest with the kids to see what kind of projects they could come up, using all recycled materials. This was the winner. He's about 5 ft. tall, made totally of plastic bottles, milk cartons and similar materials. 

Would you like to help this amazing school? Here's a really simple, and totally painless way. Our friend, Renee Shepherd, owner of Renees.com (Renee's Garden Seeds), is making a wonderful offer. If you go to her website and order seed, and use this code when you order: FR556A, she will donate 25% of the price of the seed you order, to the Jonesboro School to Kitchen Garden Program. Isn't that great? So, go to her website and order some seed, being sure to use the FR556A coupon code.

We have been fans of Renee's seed collections for years. I love her selections of salad greens, squashes and herbs. She also offers something I really like, which is combining several varieties together. Like her Summer Scallop Trio, for example, which has 3 different colors of patty pan squashes in a packet, that way you don't have to buy several packets just to get 2 or 3 plants! And she tests her varieties first and only offers vegetables and herbs that will perform really well in your garden. She has very generously donated seed for the kids' garden this year and the kids and teachers will be planting in a few days. Meanwhile, order some seed for your garden and know you are also helping out this wonderful kids' garden project! (You can also go to our website and order from the link on our home page, using the same coupon code).

You can also follow the kids garden blog by going here.

I'm off to the Michigan Herb Associates annual conference, starting driving this weekend to give programs on March 9-10, then on to Toronto (Michigan or Ohio, I'm not sure) for programs on the 11th, driving home in time to repack and drive to Roundtop, Texas to speak at the annual Herbal Forum at Festival Hill (look at the link, you'll be impressed at the photos of this amazing garden!!) I'll be driving from the upper reaches of Michigan where it's going to be COOOOLD, then head south to sunny Texas where spring is already well underway.
Happy gardening!