CJA's garden soil is Unique

We have all kinds of soil at CJA. We have unfinished composed, which is soil that is not soil yet but is going to be one day.  

We also have soil that's in our chicken coop which is good for our compost. 

 Also, we have compost that's done decomposing and we use that for planting in our garden.  These are tools that give us our garden soil and also to help us plant in the spring and fall.

Transplanting Eggplant, by Casimir, grade 6

This is an eggplant, which is the plant I transplanted in the CJA garden.  We did this so people can eat healthier today, but you can only get our eggplants at CJA's great farmers' market on certain days.

We first got water and tools so we could plant.  Then we dug holes with trowels.  After that we pulled out the soil and seedling from the pot and finally we planted it.

A good recipe for eggplant is a salad.  First, cut up eggplant, lettuce, greens, and tomatoes, and make a great salad.

Transplanting Tomatoes, by Jaquel, grade 6

This is a tomato plant.  Today we transplanted the plants that Mr. Dwyer assigned us.  We did that so that the plants can be ready for summer.  You can use tomatoes in salads, hamburgers, and tomato soup.  One tasty recipe is spaghetti and meat balls:

1. Get a pot of boiling water

2. Put your noodles in there

3. Let it sit for five minutes

4. Drain it

5. Add the spaghetti sauce

6. Get some ground beef and fry it in a pan

7. Mix it all together and add spices

8. Enjoy

Transplanting cucumber

This is a cucumber plant.  Today in ATF we took the cucumber plants and put them into the garden boxes.  We did it because it was time for the cucumbers to join the garden.  The roots were getting too big for the pot and it's getting warmer outside.  Cucumbers like warm weather.  You get food from the fruit and the seeds.
--Cecil, grade 6

Here are some crops growing in our garden

Mint

Peas

Pineapple

Photos by Alzario, grade 7

Strawberry update

"This is a very young strawberry.  This strawberry is white, young, and it is very sweet.  This strawberry has changed since last Thursday because it has gotten bigger and the strawberry almost looks eatable in a way.  I think when the strawberry is ready it will be very tasty indeed.  MMMM..."

--Cecil, grade 6 

Lettuce Update

This is lettuce.  Lettuce goes well on multiple things.  Lettuce is very tasty.  It can be best used for a salad.  Lettuce can come in all colors, like purple or dark green.  Lettuce grows in a bunch which is easy to wash and eat.  In the last week the lettuce has changed a lot by its growth.  Last week it was a little short but now it's growing a little at a time.  I am lettuce crazy: I just love lettuce, it's the best.  I think It's going to be our top seller.

Apple blossoms

This is an apple blossom.  It has to be pollinated by a bee.  You can think of it as the bee carrying the sperm cell that is fertilizing the flower's egg cell, which will allow the tree to give birth to, or produce a delicious apple.  

The first step is spring, which allows the tree to make flowers.  Summer is when the apples are pollinated by the bee.  And fall is when the apples fall off the tree.

I felt great after learning about the delicious fruit known as the apple.  It was interesting how I felt happy that the apple was going to be eaten soon.  

--Casimir, grade 6

The Garden Journal

"This is Mr. Dwyer's journal, which contains the plans for what we'll plant this year. Even the plans for 2012 are still in Mr. Dwyer's journal.  The plans for 2013 are important because if we didn't have the journal then we wouldn't know where we planted what, and what fruits and vegetables we decided to plant this year.  The information about what we'll plant in the future is important because if we didn't have it, we'd forget what we wanted to plant and what we didn't want to plant."

--Cecil, grade 6 

Readying the garden to plant

"We replanted the gardens and mixed compost, sand and peat moss to make soil.  We did that so we can get the garden beds ready for this spring and summer."

--Jaquel, grade 6

"I drove the wheel barrow to and from the compost bin.  Also I helped strain all the wood chips from the finished compost.  I helped prepare the soil for the garden bed by putting sand in the wheel barrow and mixing peat moss in it."

--Alzario, grade 7

The crew transports sifted compost to be mixed.

Jaquel pulled weeds before we cultivated the beds.

"My job during all of this was to stir and shovel the new soil so that it was ready for the garden."

--Cecil, grade 6

"I think we did awesome and we worked really hard to get things right and to get in on a great head start."

--Jaquel, grade 6

We also planted herbs and ornamental plants in pots.

Transplanting seedlings

"In ATF we transplanted baby cucumbers and eggplants."

--Jamari, grade 6

"We had to transplant the plants because some of their roots were getting very long.  Thinning is taking out the weak plants and keeping the strong ones.  We do that so that the weak ones will not drag down the strong ones."

--Terrence, grade 6

Terrence, Casimir, and Terrell sift compost to add to our potting mix

"I noticed that all the plants are foods we eat."

--Terrell, grade 6

Cecil shows off a cucumber transplant