The Colton Youth Garden teamed up with the Pinon youth garden at Navajo Nation, part of the Regional Lifeways Sustainability project for a weekend of service learning in the garden. Students helped to build rainwater catchment systems and planted lots of native perennial plants and fruit trees. We shared dinner made in the outdoor bread over, told stories and ate way too many smores around the campfire!
Nothing beats the monsoon season in Flagstaff, Arizona! The welcome rains have brought new life, color, and growth to the garden, and we are happy things are finally taking off. Our mustard greens, kale and swiss chard are very happy, and the pumpkins and cucumbers are also doing well. The grasshoppers and praire dogs have enjoyed our roots crops and corn, but you win some and you lose some :)
With the June 15th frost date past, the summer garden interns have been hard at work transplanting our greenhouse starts in the garden. Pumpkins, squash, watermelons and cucumbers are in ground, with many other plants still patiently waiting their turn Our root crops sprouted, and in no time fell vicitim to hungry grasshoppers. We have since re-seeded, and remembered to cover everything with remay to protect our seedlings from any further munching.
Residents from the neighboring PEAKS Senior Living Community have also been hard at work in the garden, planting flowers and tomatoes in their raised garden plots adjacent to the youth garden. Only three days into our summer program, and the garden is already buzzing with new energy, life, and laughter!
Volunteers hard at work! On a sunny Saturday afternoon, over 20 student and community volunteers worked in the garden. Projects included: building raised beds for a native plant research garden, finishing the garden fence, double digging garden beds and spreading compost, planting potatoes, spreading mulch, and having fun! It is amazing how much work can be accomplished with lots of helping hands (and lots of new tools!!).
Putting gate on fence.
Thank you Fiskars! We are both excited and proud to have received the 2008 Orange Thumb Garden grant! We have been hard at work in the garden and greenhouse, gearing up for a successful growing season! Seeds are just starting in greenhouse and we are taking care of 3 new chickens and a new duck. We have focused on planting varieties that will survive the challenging growing conditions of Northern Arizona; this includes, pickling cucumbers, moon and stars watermelon, mustard greens, spinach, heirloom varieties of tomatoes, summer squash, and many different types of herbs. When the wind dies down a bit, we will start transplanting these plants in the garden. In the meantime, we are patiently waiting, preparing the garden beds with compost and manure, and building an herb spiral.
