Organic Kids in the garden: Pesky bugs!

Keeping Pesky Bugs Away

Organic Kids in the garden: Let’s plant potatoes!

Planting cut organic seed potatoes

60 feet of seed potatoes in one raised bed

Organic Kids in the garden: Let’s find rocks!

There are so many rocks in the garden.
How many rocks can we find?

So each kid got their own large orange pail on which they wrote their name and drew a garden picture.

Then the pails found their own special spot along the new fence. It was much easier this way because rocks, stones and pebbles can get very, very heavy.

When they filled their pails, they planned to count the rocks to see how many fit into their pails.

What else could they do with the rocks?

Help fill up the spaces under the fence to keep the wild rabbits out?

Make a pretty design in the middle of the garden?

California Rock whimsy

Make a cobblestone pathway with them if they can lay them flat?

Put them in a row with the smallest first and the biggest last?

Group them by color to play a game?

Who has the shiniest rock?

Who has the smoothest rock?

What or who was hiding under your rock?

Stone sculpture at the Fells

Organic Kids in the garden: Let’s find bugs!

A big cut worm and a huuuuuggggeee Pupae

First they wanted to find bugs … wiggly bugs, flying bugs, pinchy bugs….big ones, small ones; white, black, brown or yellow ones… And so they did. They found many, many cut worms turning up in the newly turned garden soil and placed them in their own containers. Under the sand they also found a huge ????? We think it is a Pupae.

It sat in a small pail under grass with rocks/sand at the front door, awaiting a trip to school the next day. During dinner time, something came and ate the pupae, leaving only a tell-tale clue that it was there.

Starting an Organic Garden

Sunny location, workable soil to rototill

Find the right spot

Sunshine for 6-8 hours

Soil with a promise

Access to water

Simple garden tools

A soil test from a reputable lab

Helping hands

Decide what you want to grow

What do you like to eat?

What vegetables are your favorites?

What would you like to try?

Determine your final size. What is really possible to build the first year?

We created raised beds to give us greater control
Each row is 20′ long by 3′ wide.

This allows us to use 25′ soaker hoses buried within each raised bed,
leaving ends to connect in different combinations to meet individual water
needs.

20' x 3' with 2'walking paths

We developed a plant map for the garden.This helped us manage the type of soil conditions each raised bed would need for that particular plant.

Protect your project

Add fencing when necessary to discurage unwanted visitors.
(After rototilling we found deer tracks all over our newly loosened soil)

Add fencing when necessary

Remember to fill in spaces along the bottom of fences with rocks; wood; dirt, etc
(There are wild rabbits in the area)

Consider creating an old fashioned scarecrow to discourage the birds from eating your seeds

Invite the children

What would they like to eat?

What would they like to grow?

How would they like to help?

Growing a Green Generation

Library of Congress

It is springtime in New England. Though Mount Washington still boasts snow on its mountaintop, the land below is bustling with life and regrowth.

Songbirds fill the morning air. At dusk wetlands come alive with sounds of spring peepers. Little green buds pop up in woodlands, fields and roadsides. Young children once again scamper outside to feel the warm sun and the wet spring rains.

Children’s play is children’s work. Springtime is when kids play with mud, worms, frogs and bugs. It is time for puddles, bird songs and buzzing bugs. Their noses remember the smell of blossoms and wet woodlands after the rain. Some children are also getting ready to plant their gardens.

Change for children is underfoot. There is a renewed interest in school gardens and natural playgrounds. One such program at the University of New Hampshire is in its 10th year. Its success comes from the collaborated effort of plant professionals and early childhood educators. The Department of Plant Biology, the Child Study and Development Center (CSDC), and UNH Cooperative Extension are continuing to develop gardening experiences and a horticulture curriculum for young children.

Information for teachers, parents and community programs is available at the UNH website Growing a Green Generation

NH Public Television provides a video clip of these activities.

Library of Congress

A historical overview of School Gardens can be found in an online video by Constance Carter, Head of the Science Reference Section, Library of Congress, who describes The History of the School Garden in America and offers reasons why school gardens are making a comeback. All over the United States asphalted school yards fenced in metal are being replaced with the gleeful sounds of young children chasing a butterfly, tasting a cucumber, or finding a worm in rich garden soil during their recess or after-school programs!

Hello world!

Welcome to Organic Kids Blog.

Today was a cloudy day in New England with alternating mist, rain and sun. Temperatures were a chilly 40+ degrees but the local Concord Coop drew hundreds of children, families, and individuals of all ages and walks of life to celebrate Spring!

Concord Coop Spring Celebration

Children met beautiful Highland Cows. Hens strutted in display cages near their fresh eggs now for sale.

Children decorated canvas grocery bags with butterflies, cows, and happy sun faces. The tents were filled to capacity with vendors, coop members and the general public. There were local farmers to meet and opportunities to join the coop as well as community supported agriculture programs. Organic vendors offered samples of cheeses; grass fed meatballs; home made potato chips; kombucha; home-made ice cream; organic yogurts; organic pizzas and organic coco-covered raspberry truffles.

There was raw wool being spun; popcorn being popped by the new independent theater and music by the Laufman contra music team “Two Fiddles”.

Here was a celebration of generations .. from infants to elders…all feeling the renewal that Spring brings. Listen to some of the sounds..…. that got young and old into a toe tapping rhythm under the tents of a misty afternoon.