Children s Vegetable Garden Program - Fall 2014 Session September 13, 2014 AGENDA 4 Instructors/volunteers, please go over this with all the children (together) in each section during your sections morning meeting. Check Box: Once completed Is everyone reading the agenda before Saturday morning? Following the agenda on Saturday? Looking at how the example plot looks first thing in the morning? Since it s still pretty hot, children please arrive as early as 8:00 am. Drink plenty of water and don t hesitate to wear a large hat, long-sleeved shirt and some sun screen. Make sure children as well as parents sign in and sign out each Saturday. If your information is incorrect on one of the sign-in or contact sheets, please notify your instructor. Children, how are your gardening journal and folder coming? Weeds are starting to overtake many of the plots and walkways. We need to pick them all and dispose of them correctly. Many plots could use some garden mix located from behind the brown fenced area to fill in low spots. Proceed with this today. DO NOT place any material or debris in the compost bins, unless otherwise told. How Are Your Plant s Growing? The best person in your garden is your shadow. This means you are out there often and looking at everything real close. Tycoon and BHN 968 Cherry Tomatoes: Are your plants straight and contained inside their cages? Everyone, please check if both of your cages are set correctly. The rebar stakes should be hooked in place at the lowest ring section/connector of the cage and not in the middle of a ring. These are very expensive cages that we want to use for many years to come. The cage should not shake at all when you are finished. Fertilize the very bottom outside lip of each tomato cage with one full cup of Medina s 1
Growin Green natural derived poultry based Organic Fertilizer. Has anyone asked, Why are we fertilizing so much? That s a great question. Remember it has been very hot and we are watering quite a bit, which has the potential of leaching out some of the nutrients from the soil. We have a very short growing season in the fall and we need to accelerate the plants with supplement and adequate nutrition. We are using a natural based organic supply of plant nutrition which is low in available nitrogen, thus we need to use much larger amounts of fertilizer. Sweet Slice Cucumber: How does your plant look? Has the plant attached itself to the supporting trellis yet? Does it need help growing toward the trellis? Is your bamboo support stake place correctly for that support? Are there any insects feeding on your plants like cucumber or Colorado potato beetles? If insects are present, eliminate them by grabbing and smashing them (might need to do this a few times during the morning). Instructors will possibly treat the plants at the end of the day for any insects. Cucumber beetle Leaf beetle Slug-larvae of cucumber beetle Bunching Onions: All 4 clumps of onions should be up by now. Some folks have more than 4 clumps throughout their plots? If that is the case, inform Miss Mary of this, just in case someone needs to replace some of theirs that haven t come up yet because they originally where planted too deep. Cheers Head Cabbage, Snow Crown Cauliflower and Green Magic Broccoli: Are all of your plants looking healthy? Are they nice and straight? Do any of the plants need replacement? If so, follow the exact guidelines from last week. Gently rub off any eggs or small caterpillars from the backside of the plant s leaves. Purple Bush Beans: Have all your seeds sprouted yet? If so, do all the tops of the plants have leaves? If not, Miss Mary will give instructions if we will be re-sowing today or waiting till next week. Trellis[trel-is] noun a frame or structure of latticework used as a support for growing vines or plants. word origin Late Latin trilicius (for Latin trilix) woven with three threads, Equivalent to Latin tri- tri + lici (um) thread + -us adj. suffix Spanish El enrejado 2
Today s Plantings We will be planting 7 zinnia transplants and 3 rows of Nelson carrot pelletized seed with 30 seeds per row. Look at your Planting Guide and the Example Plot as a reference point; located at Sec 3, Plot 14. Are we all doing this? Use the irrigation on/off valve as a guideline. Handle your transplants and seeds carefully at all times. Dreamland Fall Zinnias: http://today.agrilife.org/2014/08/22/fall-zinnias-named-texas-superstars/ 4 transplants will be planted in the very front of your plot as well as three at the very end. Does any garden soil need to be added in those two areas? If so, add what is needed before planting. Locate the on/off irrigation valve in the very front of your plot. Go six inches from the inside of the plot into the plot. Four zinnia plants will be planted in this area. Fertilize the area with one full cup of Medina s Growin Green natural derived poultry based Organic Fertilizer. One plant should be planted eight inches coming directly from the top of the inside of the plot and another the same distance from the bottom. Plant the plants level with the soil line and firmly tamp them in. The other two plants should be about 6 inches away from the first two that were planted. Follow the same planting procedures on them. Finish this process by hand watering the plants in a couple of times. Don t forget your plant tag. Locate yourself at the very back of your plot. Go six inches from the inside of the plot into the plot. Three zinnia plants will be planted in this area. Fertilize the area with one full cup of Medina s Growin Green natural derived poultry based Organic Fertilizer. One plant should be planted eight inches coming directly from the top of the inside plot and another the same distance from the bottom. Plant the plants level with the soil line and firmly tamp them in. The third plant should be planted in the center of the two plants. Follow the same planting procedures on them. Due to the spacing of their tomato cages and beans, Sections 1 and 2 and possibly 8 and 9 may not have room to plant zinnias in the backside of their plots. Check with Miss Mary to determine if you have enough space before planting. Finish this process by hand watering the plants in a couple of times. Don t forget your plant tag. 3
Nelson Carrots: 3 rows of carrots will be planted between the cucumber plant and last weeks planted broccoli plants. The first row of carrots will be planted a foot away from the outside of the cucumber trellis. The second row should be spaced 8 inches from the first row and the third row should be spaced 8 inches from the second row. Really scratch up the planting zone of the carrots to a debt of about 3 or 4 inches. When doing this, remove any rocks and large debris as well incorporate one full cup of Medina s Growin Green natural derived poultry based Organic Fertilizer. The final planting zone should be nice and level with very loose broken up soil. Take your time with this process. Designate the three planting rows in your carrot planting zone. Each row should have a two inch wide planting band that is about 1/2 deep. Within that planting band, space 30 seeds evenly out at about an inch apart. All three rows should have their seeds evenly spaced out from top to bottom and left and right. Once all the pelletized seeds have been evenly spaced and laid out, then gently/barely press them into the soil. Finish this process by gently and slowly watering in all three rows a couple of times, making sure that none of the seeds are visible afterwards. If they are, barely push them in a little. Don t forget your plant tag. Remember, you only need one for the whole planting area. Without getting anyone wet, water planting area with low pressure for about 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure that every orifice in the irrigation line is unclogged with a paper clip. Due to the water pressure in the garden, no more than two sections should be watering at any given time frame. Do not flood plots on walk-ways. If the plots start flooding, let them drain a little, then proceed in watering again. DO NOT RELY ON THE SYSTEM TO WATER NEWLY PLANTED TRANSPLANTS. If the Irrigation System is not working let your Instructor know and see if it can be fixed, if not, your Instructor will flag it and provide Miss Mary with the section number and problem. Fertilize all of today s and last week s plantings with a gallon of Hasta- Gro starter mix. Due to the weight of full water can (two gals); your instructor will mix 2 oz. of Hasta-Gro with half a water can (about one gallon, not a full water can, of water). Do not get any of this fertilizer on the leaves, just on the soil around the plants. At the end of the day your Instructor will drench ALL the plants that are green and growing in your plot with Spinosad insecticide. Instructors: mix liquid Spinosad insecticide at a rate of four tablespoons (2 oz.) per one gallon of water. Give special attention to the cucumber and Cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli plants) as well as any fire ant trails or mounds. There is no need to drench the zinnias or bunching onions. 4
Section Special Projects This is everyone s responsibility to maintain and keep the beauty of the entire garden. Learn an array of different gardening skills. Section representatives, please get with Miss Mary on today s special project assignments for the garden. Instructors Review with children. Cleanup, pickup and praise them. Don t return any tools dirty to the tool shed, let s keep that area clean. Make sure all volunteers and children sign in and out every week. Instructors, check with Miss Mary before you leave. It s going to be a great fall! Thanks Everyone! David Rodriguez 5