The next CSG garden club meeting is TODAY right after school! Although the ground may be a bit damp, the weather forecast appears to be shower-free for the afternoon. Below is a summary of today’s activities. See you there!
To begin: after the kids sign in and pick up their name tags, we will be starting more seedlings (tomatoes, peppers and more) for the garden.
**Speaking of seedlings, you may have noticed that the seeds your child planted at our last meeting in April are ready to be repotted to a larger container. Repotting the seedlings will allow the plants to establish a healthy root system before being planted outdoors in the ground or a container. Some seedlings may even be ready to be planted outdoors; just be sure to “harden off” all seedlings before planting outside to avoid shocking them! To harden off your seedlings, place the plants outdoors in a shady, protected area for a few hours a day, increasing the amount of time spent outside each day until the seedlings remain outside overnight. Once the plants have been outside overnight for 3 to 5 days (do not leave the seedlings out overnight if the air temperature drops below 45 degrees), they are ready to be transplanted into a garden or container.
Snack: Our snack today will be pretzel sticks and local honey generously donated by Joe Sybertz of Kingston, MA!
Main Activity: Out to the garden! After our singing of the garden song, we will head out to the garden! Each member will have the chance to participate in planting beet, carrot, radish and lettuce seeds; moving and spreading much; and helping committee member Susan Levasseur move her worms to new bins (the kids love the worms!).
**REMINDER: Field Trip to Soule Homestead in Middleboro on Saturday!
Join us at the beautiful Soule Homestead in Middleboro for a “Get to the Root of it” workshop from 1:30 to 3pm on Saturday, May 14th 2011. Participants will learn to identify different parts of a plant, understand what plants need to grow, and discover how they help people. Play clothes, old, comfortable shoes and a jacket are strongly recommended for all participants. There is no charge for current garden club members! The admission for adults accompanying members is $2; all participants must be accompanied by an adult. For siblings and those students not in the garden club, the cost is $6 per child. If you plan to attend, please contact Korin Zigler at mskzigler@aol.com or (508) 378-4836 with the garden club member’s name and number of people attending. For more information about the Soule Homestead, please visit their website at http://www.soulehomestead.org/ or call (508) 947-6744.
Directions to the Soule Homestead:
- Take Route 106 East into Halifax.
- Turn right onto Route 58S/Monponsett Street. Follow Route 58 for 3.5 miles.
- Turn right onto Parsonage Road and travel 0.8 miles.
- Take a slight right onto Winnetuxet Road.
- Travel approximately 495 feet and take a slight left onto Prospect Road.
- Go 0.9 miles and turn right onto Soule Street.
- Soule Homestead will be on the right (46 Soule Street, Middleboro MA 02346).
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the CSG will be on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 (rain date is June 1st).
The Central School Gardeners 