What the students are missing

CJA students are away for a few weeks of summer break.  They're missing quite a show in the garden...

A Zestar apple ripening on one of our apple trees

A seed from the cucurbit family (squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers) somehow made it into a landscaped area, and is doing a nice job of climbing the fence.

After harvesting a napa cabbage to the root, a new head is developing.

Beet seedlings are thriving...

...so are the carrots.

Beans are climbing the fence.

Pepper plants are setting fruit.

Red cabbage is developing its head.

Black Krim tomatoes are developing.

Unfortunate Avocado News

A few days ago, we posted a picture of our thriving avocado plant.  Unfortunately, it was no match for what appears to be a hungry squirrel.  Failures have much to teach an observant gardener.  One must be prepared to pick up and start again, with squirrel-proof netting this time.

How to take care of chickens: our daily chores

Taking care of egg-laying hens is fun and rewarding!  CJA students demonstrate four easy steps to daily chicken care:

Step one: Always be ready to get your hands dirty early in the morning, with an awesome positive attitude, like Justin...

...and a healthy level of curiosity, like Esuseni.

Step two: give the chickens food.

Step three: pour fresh water into the waterer...

...and secure the lid on tight, as Isaiah demonstrates.

Step four: check for eggs!  If there are chickens nesting...

...gently lift them to see if they're sitting on an egg...

...and enjoy fresh, tasty eggs!

Already thinking ahead to next season

We let some of our arugula plants go to seed, which means we left them in the ground long enough for them to produce flowers, which were fertilized, and turned into seed pods.  When these seed pods mature and dry out, we'll collect the seeds so we don't have to buy arugula seeds next year.

At the end of 2013's growing season, we had to dig up our strawberry plants and move them to pots, where they spent the winter.  This spring when we transplanted them, only three leaves survived out of five plants.  Those three leaves have started to show signs of life, sending out runners that will become new strawberry plants.  This means we have a good chance of a nice crop of berries next year.

Thursday's Farm Stand

Rakeem, DuShawn, and Jamari harvested crops that we sold at the farm stand Thursday afternoon.  It was a big success!

DuShawn with Basil

Jamari with collards

Rakeem with swiss chard

The crew with the harvest

At the farm stand

A garden update

Here are some updates of the happenings in our garden...

Curtiss poses with his ginger plant. Compare it to June 24th, only three weeks ago.

The leaves on our garlic are starting to yellow.  That means that it's almost time to dig it up and cure it for storage.

Our potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes are really thriving.

Amazing Avocado!

When Ms. Lucy suggested that we try growing an avocado, the students were excited, but Mr. Dwyer was skeptical.  A month later, however, the seed has sprouted and is looking very healthy!  We'll have to bring it inside during the winter and re-pot it when it gets bigger.

Thursday Farm Stand

This Thursday, July 17th, the Garden Club will hold a farm stand during dismissal.  Here is the produce that's on our pick list.  We'll harvest Thursday morning at sell on Thursday afternoon.  It doesn't get much fresher!

Rainbow Swiss Chard

Tom Thumb lettuce

Vates Dwarf Blue Kale

Genovese Italian Basil

Bunching Evergreen White Onion

A second planting

We harvested some of the vegetables in our garden two weeks ago for our farm stand, so now we have some space for second plantings of onions, beets, and swiss chard.  It's still early enough in the season that these crops will have enough time to ripen before the fall.

Ruler and DuShawn planting beets, chard, and carrots

Jamari planting sunflowers

Rakeem working on onions

Building new compost bins

Healthy food begins with healthy soil.  We keep our soil healthy by composting chicken manure, used bedding, and food waste, and adding it to our garden soil.  A group of alumni who are working at CJA as a summer job built two new compost bins and moved compost into empty bins.  Turning the compost pile incorporates oxygen, which helps composting bacteria break down waste.

Jamari, Marques, and Sherman

Jamari and Marques consult on the construction of a new bin

Summer squash is setting fruit

Thanks to the hard work of students like DuShawn...

...and Kameron...

...and a healthy amount of rain, our summer squash is looking healthy and setting fruit.  It won't be long before we can enjoy this delicious treat.

Our basil is also looking very hearty.

A lesson in running a small business

Before the 4th of July holiday, the CJA Garden Club held a farm stand outside the school.  Today, DuShawn and Kameron got a lesson in running a small business.  They counted the money we made from the stand, and compared the money we have made this year with how much we spent.  They connected the prices we charge for our produce with profit and loss.

Cooking our beets

Ms. Lucy took home a batch of beets from CJA's garden.  She reports that they had a unique white color and a delicious flavor!