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.
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 tomato 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!
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.
Any questions about your growing? Email me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu