Teaching Square Foot Gardening: Pre K - Kindergarten

The Lang sisters are
ready to work.

Dad was there with nourishing water for the plants
and support for the effort. Little Sister is wondering
why her watermelon has found a home
in a different box.

Esther Santiago-Babb gives a lesson
in hammering.

Dylan is trying the art of  hammering on his
own, while Ayanna watches her little sister
learn to use the hammer.

They used a 12 inch ruler to mark the wood.

They hammered in a nail on each line.

Arnold Brown and Esther Babb watch the
progress on the Square Foot Challenge.

Dylan, Cheyenne and James help mark the
12" squares.

After all of the  nails were
hammered in they tied string
across the box making
12" squares.

The soil has been amended
with manure and peat moss.
The soil is ready for planting.

The proud ladies pose beside their hard work.

A job well done is a great reward.

Green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers
and watermelon were planted.
We later moved the watermelon
to a bed alone. I explained
how watermelon grows
and the large amount of space
that is needed. Gardeners
must keep their crops
within the confines of the
box. That is a challenge for
the future.

Xavier is in Mrs. Rosensweig's class at Quarles.
He proudly added the Pole Lima Beans that he
sprouted on a napkin in class to the
Pre K- Kindergarten bed. We placed it
in the center and he gently wound the
running vine up the dry branch
and onto the metal stake that
his Mom donated.

It is a very healthy plant. We
will make a trip to water it
every day until the roots catch
on to the soil in its new home.

He is looking to his right now,
because he wants to transplant
his seedlings from beneath
the hoop garden cover.
We decided to leave
that for another
day since
he used
all of
the water
to quench
the thirst of the plants 
set out the day before.

The Pre K- Kindergarten age bed has room for more seedlings and seeds. plumwalk2@gmail.com or join us on Saturday morning for another volunteer session.