Open House at Grandma's Garden

It was Tuesday and the Scholars were surprised to see me.

There was a lot of work to be done to ready the garden for the Open House for donors.

Although some were disappointed by the emphasis on work,

after a little bit of cheer-leading

the empty pots were filled with aloe

and random seeds harvested from those spilled on the bench.

The hanging garden received a careful hand watering.

And there was raking.

Lots and lots of rakiing.

There was also mischief.

The rules are few and simple.

1.Don't climb on and don't fall off the rocks.

2. All tools must stay below your shoulders.

Sometimes you just have to stare at Grandma and see how far she'll let you go.

Big smiles and giggles go a long way toward mitigating my wrath,

specially when my heart is soothed by a kid who found a quiet place to dig with a pint sized trowel.

Grandma's Garden is a good place for that.

Wednesday was warm and partly cloudy, perfect for showing off our space.

TBG and Lady Jane were regaled with stories and scallions.

while Beth Hargrove, from Rilllito Nursery

explored the onion sets and the irrigation system.

She showed a Gardener how to find and spread the marigold seeds hiding within the moribund flowers remaining on the stalks. They never really recovered from the freezing nights. Beth showed us how the garden reseeds itself, with just a little help from its friends.

Grandma's Garden is lucky to have lots of friends.

Comments

Worms, Rakes, Fertilizer and The Hole

The 3,4,5 combo class was finished learning about worms. The teacher wondered if they might find a good home in the garden. I love freebies. I love worms in the garden. I love the teacher. Getting to "YES!" was easy.. After careful and proper examination, interrupted only occasionally by an eeewww or frantic jazz hands waving the creature away, we set to preparing their new abode. We deposited the worms fairly deep, in lines we drew in the soil. ("No, we don't need gloves. It's good to feel the soil on your hands.") Then we covered them gently, to protect them from the sun and predators. Escaping their cover, these squirmers were busy pooping, or so the scholars showed me. Yes, there are small black dots at the back end of the dusty worms. Gardeners call that castings ; the scholars much preferred poop. Later in the day, it was all about the rakes. It's a congenial activity, with lovely piles created slowly an

Retiring the Garden for the Summer

School ends this week. With no one around to tend the raised beds, it's time to retire the plants. There was giant lettuce (yes, those stalky things are lettuce run amok) and an alium looking flower atop what we took to be an onion..... until I remembered that alium are part of the onion family so why wouldn't they share a similar blossom? As with all good retirements, planning was crucial. Grandma Suzi thought that 50 pots would take care of all the plants fit to share; she was off by a factor of 4. There are no 3" or 4" plastic or ceramic pots left in Tucson - unless they cost more than fifty cents a piece. After three days spent cleaning out all the Dollar Stores within a 10 mile radius, I can confidently assert that this is true. Everyone wanted a plant to take home. Scholars who had never set food in the garden before were suddenly bound and determined to be farmers over the summer. Big kids and little kids, they were all interested

GRINning

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