Broom Scarecrows |
Gourds |
Loofa |
The UT Trial kohlrabi we had planted was doing well, until something ate all the leaves off! But we plan to have a kohlrabi tasting, hoping all the kids will at least try it dipped in ranch dressing. With summer winding down, so is our vegetable garden. The tomatoes and cucumbers are still plentiful and a few peppers. The late-planted sunflowers are blooming, and the dill is doing well, as are the lima beans. The popcorn is about ready to pick. We dug the potatoes planted in two of the tires, but unfortunately, we got no potatoes! Not sure what happened there and the kids were disappointed, as one little guy was counting on having a baked potato for dinner. The gardening lesson learned there is that Mother Nature can surprise you with a disappointing harvest or no harvest. The herbs, lavender and rosemary, love the hot dry weather and the butterflies love those blooms. The one plant of peanuts will be harvested soon, and we are keeping our fingers crossed for many peanuts. The milkweed and wildflowers are still blooming in the pollinator garden and are attracting many pollinators. Our healthy snack, which almost everyone liked, was tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden and cubed cheese.
We cleaned out one of the old strawberry beds and replanted it with escaping strawberry plants from both beds. Jerry and Joe are still busy keeping all the tomatoes tied up. The Greeneville City School System had to close the ESP (Extended School Program; the after-school program) due to lack of staffing and that doubled the kids attending the Boys & Girls Club, so we changed our start time until 4:30pm to allow extra time for all the kids to arrive. Joe, Michelle and Darlene travelled to Crossville, TN to the Cumberland County Master Gardeners Fall Gardeners’ Festival held at the Plateau AgResearch and Education Center. The Festival was great and we attended several very informative horticulture classes and brought home many ideas for the gardens at the new Boys & Girls Club. We highly recommend that everyone visit the Research Center in Crossville, as their gardens are amazing.
Submitted by Darlene Moore.
We cleaned out one of the old strawberry beds and replanted it with escaping strawberry plants from both beds. Jerry and Joe are still busy keeping all the tomatoes tied up. The Greeneville City School System had to close the ESP (Extended School Program; the after-school program) due to lack of staffing and that doubled the kids attending the Boys & Girls Club, so we changed our start time until 4:30pm to allow extra time for all the kids to arrive. Joe, Michelle and Darlene travelled to Crossville, TN to the Cumberland County Master Gardeners Fall Gardeners’ Festival held at the Plateau AgResearch and Education Center. The Festival was great and we attended several very informative horticulture classes and brought home many ideas for the gardens at the new Boys & Girls Club. We highly recommend that everyone visit the Research Center in Crossville, as their gardens are amazing.
Submitted by Darlene Moore.
Since 2011, the Big Spring Master Gardener Association of Greene County has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Greeneville and Greene County in promoting and maintaining an educational garden for the children on site. The original funding was from a grant from HEAL Appalachia. The project has also won two Volunteer Spirit Awards which have been applied to continuing expenses. Master Gardeners work with 12 children per session on a weekly basis during the school year and the summer. The children come voluntarily in the three age groups (5,6,7; 8,9; 10 and up) used by the Boys and Girls Club.
One of the first B&G/BSMGA projects included pulling weeds, using various fertilizers (including fish emulsion, compost, worm castings, 10-10-10 and Miracle-Gro), caging and staking tomatoes and spreading compost, humus and mulch to the garden plot. Three varieties of peppers were grown in which the children could take home. A section of the garden also had black plastic spread over the plot to illustrate to the children how the technique of solarization works to control weeds with a later planting of a fall crop of potatoes and cole-crop vegetables. Therefore, the garden was established to produce throughout the winter. Herbs were also planted to demonstrate to the children the effect of companion planting in the garden to increase flavor, yield, and beneficial insects to the garden. As the project has continued to grow, a hoop house was installed in 2012 to extend the growing season. Wind proved too much for that and now tunnels are being used on individual beds with jugs of water painted black to emit some heat at night. Water barrels with soaker hoses were installed. A small greenhouse was added in 2013. Groundhogs became a serious problem so in 2015, the Boys and Girls Club built a 20' x 50' second garden with chain link fencing sunk 2" into the ground. It now has four raised beds with more planned for 2016. This is now the vegetable garden with the old garden used for flowers, herbs, a small water garden, bird feeder, and butterfly water spot. The children have many opportunities to taste the “fruits of their labor” and take seedlings and produce home. They also participate in discussions of how to grow, what to grow, and why growing your own is a good idea. Some of their produce is used for snacks and they talk about how to make smarter food choices. And yes, they get chocolate with their fruit around Valentine's Day...
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Funding for the Boys and Girls Club Garden Project was made possible through a HEAL Appalachia grant:
Across the region, organizations with successful obesity programs are improving the health of our residents.
HEAL Appalachia wants to HELP! Grass-roots obesity programs are the driving force behind the HEAL Appalachia Community Grants Program. The program provides grants to community organizations to support new efforts and expand existing efforts to reduce childhood obesity. These funds are awarded through a region-wide competitive process. For additional information, please contact the following BSMGA B&G Garden Project leader:
Darlene Moore |
BSMGA was selected to receive a 2013 Search for Excellence (SFE) Award!
Read about it HERE!
Read about it HERE!
BSMGA Awarded "Spirit Award"
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Take a peek at what's going on at the B&G Club...
Beth Hembree and Virginia Williams work in the garden at the Boys and Girls Club.
July 2020 UPDATE
As you can see the Boys and Girls Club garden is looking good! All 20 beds have been planted and most are doing well. Peppers are producing, tomatoes should ripen soon and we have baby squash and cucumbers. The popcorn had to be replanted, and it is peeking out of the soil. Joe has completed the fantastic irrigation system, Darlene keeps planting flowers that mysteriously disappear ( birds???) and we all check on things, water and weed as necessary. As the kids walk by they ask about what things are and comment on how much they are growing! They want to be back in the garden too!