Summer is coming...maintenance plans for the gardens

Okay, the summer weather may not be exactly summer but for kids, they are counting the days until school is out. For the school food gardens, this means they'll need help from neighbours or mobile "GuARDi(E)N" angels to take care and use the garden space during the summer weeks.


So what exactly do "GuARDi(E)N" angels do?


















Watering: Water plants 3x a week (if it rains, I guess that means a day off!). The general rule of thumb is water, water, water. Too much is better than too little. Each garden will be equipped with water tools.














Weeding: Keeping the weeds out of the garden gives our plants a much better environment to grow. If you see that weeds are overgrown, or simply growing, pull them out!

Thinning: Just like people needing space to grow, so do plants. Leaving the plants spaced too closely together reduces yields and make plants compete for nutrients and water. In the thinning process, try to save the strongest seedling and remove excess plants. Where seedlings are very close together and pulling disturbs the roots of others, simply pinch or cut the extras.

Harvesting/Eating: Enjoy and share the veggies of your labour.

Other things to keep in mind:

• If you find that some plants need structural support (tomato cage, bean or pea trellises), let us know and we'll provide material to do so.
  
• Return all tools/equipment to proper storage places.
• Lock any gates or storage facilities that you unlocked.
• Be an educator and share your knowledge with others.
  
• Have fun!
• Oh, yes--Wear sunscreen (sorry, the mother is me is coming out).

Summer maintenance schedules coming soon.