Spring Gardening is here! We are getting some sun and some nice weather. Right now is the time to start thinking about planning and planting. What seeds can we put outside and what do we need to start indoors under lights for transplanting? What about soil testing? What can we do right NOW! All this will be addressed at The Urban Farm Church on 3/20 at 6pm. This class is free and open to the public but does require registration (so they know how many snacks to make!) so bring your friends and your questions! If the weather is nice we can do a little garden walk too!
This is a weekly look at what is happening in the school garden to assist teacher educators engage their students in agriculture. It can be used by garden students of all ages however!
Send me some pics! I know we have some growing going on right now!
First up a weather report to get us through the week for planning on our season extension:
Outside in the raised beds:
What an odd Ohio weather weekend. Snow on Saturday, Sun on Sunday! The good news is that the future predictions look pretty darn good for growing. Once we get to the 50 degree days and the plants start to increase their growth rate, we will need to fertilize using either the Shake and Feed or the pink crystals that mix in with water that you got from Katie, not the Aerogarden fertilizer. Make sure to follow the label instructions. Check for your fertilizers now, and if you do not have any, then contact Katie.
Make sure you do not try to open your season extension garden cover if it is frozen! It will tear and decrease its ability to protect the plants.
This week:
Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday – Great rainfall for growing. Good days to take a harvest if it is not too stormy outside.
Wednesday night – gets cold again, make sure your raised beds are covered up tight.
Thursday/ Friday – looks a little chilly to harvest.
If you did not get a chance to plant spinach and kale last fall, you will have an opportunity to plant next week. I will add that to next weeks email. If you need spinach and kale seeds please contact Katie.
Have questions about how your plants are doing or if they are big enough to harvest? Just send me questions and pictures to mcdermott.15@osu.edu
Inside under LED lights:
We should have some good growth in the 2″ pots. You may need to start fertilizing your plants under the LED lights. Add fertilizer to the bottom watering according to the package directions. Email me or Katie if you have questions.
This month’s seed starting under LED lights is collard greens. If you and your kiddos really liked the bok choy and you have the space under your lights and have some bok choy seed left then you can plant that as well. It can be a little crowded under the lights right now! Make sure you have some space to start your collard greens however as they will need started indoors now for a spring harvest. Email questions to me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu
We have been creating videos to support this project and have 4 done so far at our OSU Extension County YouTube channel. We get lots of questions about seed starting under the LED lights. Check out the video below for a super quick, kid-safe (can show in class to your kiddos) seed starting video using the materials you have for the pilot: The same technique as for kale in the video below works for spinach, collard greens, lettuce, and bok choy.
All of the seedlings we are planting now can will be able to be transplanted outside later on, or if you want to let them grow indoors until they are harvested you can do that too. Collard greens may get too large under the lights so plan on a later transplant date.
Plant just one tomato pod in the Aerogarden Harvest.
Keep the small plastic dome on the pod until germination.
Remove the small plastic dome after the seed sprouts.
Thin to only one tomato plant in the system.
Keep the other holes covered with the black or white plastic caps to keep light from entering into the reservoir with the nutrient system.
If you started in January you should have some tomato seedlings coming up. Make sure to thin to one tomato plant per pod and with the Aerogarden Harvest, it is best to only have one in the system although I have seen some teachers do two. Keep in mind if you keep two growing, they will use up water twice as fast and you will need to check and add water twice as much!
The Aerogarden website has a tremendous amount of content to assist with maintenance of the units, troubleshooting problems, or how to take care of the plants in the system.
Hopefully you have some good tomato growth in your Aerogarden. Once the yellow flowers open up, have your kiddos pollinate them according to Aerogardens instructions.
Do you need seeds or seed starter for your project? Contact Katie.
One of my favorite local partners that I do programming with is Mt. Carmel Healthy Living Center in Franklinton. I have a class on Seed Starting coming up on February 27th, 2024 @ 2pm at the center. While the class is free and open to the public, they do ask for registration to ensure enough space. They offer a ton of other programs as well.
This is a weekly look at what is happening in the school garden to assist teacher educators engage their students in agriculture. It can be used by garden students of all ages however!
Send me some pics! I know we have some growing going on right now!
First up a weather report to get us through the week for planning on our season extension:
Wow!! This looks like some great growing and harvesting weather upcoming.
Outside in the raised beds:
Well that was an unexpected snowfall! The good news is that the future predictions look pretty darn good for growing. Once we get to the 50 degree days and the plants start to increase their growth rate, we will need to fertilize using either the Shake and Feed or the pink crystals that mix in with water that you got from Katie, not the Aerogarden fertilizer. Make sure to follow the label instructions. Check for your fertilizers now, and if you do not have any, then contact Katie.
This week:
Monday/Tuesday – looks a little chilly to harvest.
Wednesday/Thursday – good days to harvest around mid-day when it warms up. Make sure to replace the cover when done.
Friday – looks a little chilly to harvest.
If you did not get a chance to plant spinach and kale last fall, you will have an opportunity to plant next week. I will add that to next weeks email. If you need spinach and kale seeds please contact Katie.
Have questions about how your plants are doing or if they are big enough to harvest? Just send me questions and pictures to mcdermott.15@osu.edu
Inside under LED lights:
We should have some good growth in the 2″ pots. You may need to start fertilizing your plants under the LED lights. Add fertilizer to the bottom watering according to the package directions. Email me or Katie if you have questions.
This month’s seed starting under LED lights is collard greens. If you and your kiddos really liked the bok choy and you have the space under your lights and have some bok choy seed left then you can plant that as well. It can be a little crowded under the lights right now! Make sure you have some space to start your collard greens however as they will need started indoors now for a spring harvest. Email questions to me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu
We have been creating videos to support this project and have 4 done so far at our OSU Extension County YouTube channel. We get lots of questions about seed starting under the LED lights. Check out the video below for a super quick, kid-safe (can show in class to your kiddos) seed starting video using the materials you have for the pilot: The same technique as for kale in the video below works for spinach, collard greens, lettuce, and bok choy.
All of the seedlings we are planting now can will be able to be transplanted outside later on, or if you want to let them grow indoors until they are harvested you can do that too. Collard greens may get too large under the lights so plan on a later transplant date.
Inside in the Aerogarden:
Hopefully your tomatoes are doing great. Let me know if you have any questions or problems. CLICK HERE for the Aerogarden planting guide. If you need tomato pods then contact Katie.
Basic Aerogarden Tomato Planting
Plant just one tomato pod in the Aerogarden Harvest.
Keep the small plastic dome on the pod until germination.
Remove the small plastic dome after the seed sprouts.
Thin to only one tomato plant in the system.
Keep the other holes covered with the black or white plastic caps to keep light from entering into the reservoir with the nutrient system.
If you started in January you should have some tomato seedlings coming up. Make sure to thin to one tomato plant per pod and with the Aerogarden Harvest, it is best to only have one in the system although I have seen some teachers do two. Keep in mind if you keep two growing, they will use up water twice as fast and you will need to check and add water twice as much!
Here is an Aerogarden Harvest with one tomato right in the middle under the lights looking great. All the rest of the holes are capped.
The Aerogarden website has a tremendous amount of content to assist with maintenance of the units, troubleshooting problems, or how to take care of the plants in the system. CHECK IT OUT if you are having problems.
Do you need seeds or seed starter for your project? Contact Katie.
This is a weekly look at what is happening in the school garden to assist teacher educators engage their students in agriculture. It can be used by garden students of all ages however!
Send me some pics! I know we have some growing going on right now!
First up a weather report to get us through the week for planning on our season extension:
I am out of the country on my laptop and my snipping tool is not working! For a look at the ten day for Columbus check out THIS LINK.
Outside in the raised beds:
It looks like the weather is good for growing, but not so much for harvest. Were you able to get a harvest last week with your kiddos? If so, send me some pics!!
This week:
Monday – Friday: I recommend unless the weather changes that you keep your beds covered. We will have a little sun and a little rain, but it gets to freezing overnight so let’s keep the beds covered unless it really improves.
Have questions about how your plants are doing or if they are big enough to harvest? Just send me questions and pictures to mcdermott.15@osu.edu
Inside under LED lights:
We should have some good growth in the 2″ pots. You may need to start fertilizing your plants under the LED lights. Add fertilizer to the bottom watering according to the package directions. Email me or Katie if you have questions.
This month’s seed starting under LED lights is collard greens. If you and your kiddos really liked the bok choy and you have the space under your lights and have some bok choy seed left then you can plant that as well. It can be a little crowded under the lights right now! Make sure you have some space to start your collard greens however as they will need started indoors now for a spring harvest. Email questions to me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu
We have been creating videos to support this project and have 4 done so far at our OSU Extension County YouTube channel. We get lots of questions about seed starting under the LED lights. Check out the video below for a super quick, kid-safe (can show in class to your kiddos) seed starting video using the materials you have for the pilot: The same technique as for kale in the video below works for spinach, collard greens, lettuce, and bok choy.
All of the seedlings we are planting now can will be able to be transplanted outside later on, or if you want to let them grow indoors until they are harvested you can do that too. Collard greens may get too large under the lights so plan on a later transplant date.
Inside in the Aerogarden:
Hopefully your tomatoes are doing great. Let me know if you have any questions or problems. CLICK HERE for the Aerogarden planting guide. If you need tomato pods then contact Katie.
Basic Aerogarden Tomato Planting
Plant just one tomato pod in the Aerogarden Harvest.
Keep the small plastic dome on the pod until germination.
Remove the small plastic dome after the seed sprouts.
Thin to only one tomato plant in the system.
Keep the other holes covered with the black or white plastic caps to keep light from entering into the reservoir with the nutrient system.
If you started in January you should have some tomato seedlings coming up. Make sure to thin to one tomato plant per pod and with the Aerogarden Harvest, it is best to only have one in the system although I have seen some teachers do two. Keep in mind if you keep two growing, they will use up water twice as fast and you will need to check and add water twice as much!
Here is an Aerogarden Harvest with one tomato right in the middle under the lights looking great. All the rest of the holes are capped.
The Aerogarden website has a tremendous amount of content to assist with maintenance of the units, troubleshooting problems, or how to take care of the plants in the system. CHECK IT OUT if you are having problems.
Do you need seeds or seed starter for your project? Contact Katie.
Are you a beginning farmer trying to nail down all the resources and information you need to be successful? This series is designed to introduce you to some of the most important topics and resources of which a farm should be aware. OSU Extension, USDA and Farm Credit staff will present critical information on each of these topics allowing attendees to build relationships with these critical partners.
This series of events is free and open to the public but we do ask for pre-registration for planning purposes. You can click the QR in the flyer or THIS LINK to register.
This is a weekly look at what is happening in the school garden to assist teacher educators engage their students in agriculture. It can be used by garden students of all ages however!
Send me some pics! I know we have some growing going on right now!
First up a weather report to get us through the week for planning on our season extension:
Wow!
Outside in the raised beds:
It is Harvest Week!! We have great weather to get outside with your kiddos and take a harvest. Make sure that you try to do this around mid-day, do not try to open the cover if it is frozen underneath so it does not rip, and then replace the cover when you are done.
If you were unable to plant any kale or spinach seeds outside in the fall, you can try sowing some this week. Make sure to water the seeds after you plant and then consider one more watering before the end of the week, especially if the rain chances decrease that are predicted.
This week:
Monday – too cold today to harvest, good chance later in week.
Tuesday – potential harvest around mid-day, make sure cover is not frozen.
Wednesday – potential harvest around mid-day, make sure cover is not frozen.
Thursday and Friday – looking like they may be great harvest days!
Have questions about how your plants are doing or if they are big enough to harvest? Just send me questions and pictures to mcdermott.15@osu.edu
Inside under LED lights:
This month’s seed starting under LED lights is collard greens. If you and your kiddos really liked the bok choy and you have the space under your lights and have some bok choy seed left then you can plant that as well. It can be a little crowded under the lights right now! Make sure you have some space to start your collard greens however as they will need started indoors now for a spring harvest. Email questions to me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu
We have been creating videos to support this project and have 4 done so far at our OSU Extension County YouTube channel. We get lots of questions about seed starting under the LED lights. Check out the video below for a super quick, kid-safe (can show in class to your kiddos) seed starting video using the materials you have for the pilot: The same technique as for kale in the video below works for spinach, collard greens, lettuce, and bok choy.
All of the seedlings we are planting now can will be able to be transplanted outside later on, or if you want to let them grow indoors until they are harvested you can do that too. Collard greens may get too large under the lights so plan on a later transplant date.
Inside in the Aerogarden:
Hopefully your tomatoes are doing great. Let me know if you have any questions or problems. CLICK HERE for the Aerogarden planting guide. If you need tomato pods then contact Katie.
Basic Aerogarden Tomato Planting
Plant just one tomato pod in the Aerogarden Harvest.
Keep the small plastic dome on the pod until germination.
Remove the small plastic dome after the seed sprouts.
Thin to only one tomato plant in the system.
Keep the other holes covered with the black or white plastic caps to keep light from entering into the reservoir with the nutrient system.
One tomato pod in an Aerogarden Harvest centered in the middle to get the most light, with the rest of the holes capped off.
If you started in January you should have some tomato seedlings coming up. Make sure to thin to one tomato plant per pod and with the Aerogarden Harvest, it is best to only have one in the system although I have seen some teachers do two. Keep in mind if you keep two growing, they will use up water twice as fast and you will need to check and add water twice as much!
Here is an Aerogarden Harvest with one tomato right in the middle under the lights looking great. All the rest of the holes are capped.
The Aerogarden website has a tremendous amount of content to assist with maintenance of the units, troubleshooting problems, or how to take care of the plants in the system. CHECK IT OUT if you are having problems.
Do you need seeds or seed starter for your project? Contact Katie.
