Friendship, Live, Love

For the third year, Mrs. Diaz's class has made a stepping stone for the garden.  At the final morning meeting on the last day of school, the children brainstormed words to describe their fourth grade experience.  Then, they voted on three words to encapsulate the year.  Mrs. Diaz used stamps to press the words into cement, and then each child chose a marble or stone to complete the design.  Friendship. Live. Love!

From Here to There

Here, I'll post some flowers in the Panther Patch that have not yet bloomed and a photo of them fully unfurled.  How close will the actual flower be to the image posted?



Asters in the Patch



Asters in bloom
 http://www.schmidtbrosinc.com/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/Aster%20Milady%20Mix-2.jpg

 



Hollyhocks in the Patch

 



Hollyhocks in bloom
http://grasshopperhillfarm.net/planting-and-caring-for-hollyhocks/



Snapdragons in the Patch

Snapdragons in bloom
http://georgedidden.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/157/index.htm

 

 



Fennel and Dill - Similarities and Differences

Dill and fennel look very similar with their feathery fronds, and this peaked my curiosity.  Do they share any other common traits?  It turns out they do!  They are both valued for their medicinal and flavorful properties, they were cultivated by English colonists here in Virginia, they are both members of the carrot family, they both have yellow flowers loved by pollinators, and they both fall prey to swallowtail butterfly larvae.  The two plants are different in many ways, however.  First, fennel is a perennial, which means it dies back in winter and grows back from the root in the springtime.  Dill, on the other hand, is an annual.  Once it dies, more seeds must be sown for it to grow back.  Chefs use dill leaves to flavor foods like salmon, pickles, and cucumber salad.  The entire fennel stalk is used in cooking, especially the base.  Fennel is especially yummy in fresh salad, and has a strong licorice taste.  Finally, fennel grows a bit taller than dill - up to six feet!  Dill typically grows three to five feet tall.  I found the information on dill and fennel at the following web link: http://herb-lady.hubpages.com/hub/Herb-Series--Dill-And-Fennel .

 

Here is an Epicurious link to cucumber dill salad: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cucumber-Dill-Salad-51238020

 

Here is an Epicurious link to chickpea, fennel and citrus salad.  The recipe calls for grapefruit, but I'd substitute oranges or blood oranges:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chickpea-Fennel-and-Citrus-Salad-51147440

 

The fennel is already taller than the dill, but six feet tall is hard to imagine at this early stage!

Here is a dill plant.  You can see how the leaves are similar to fennel.

 



Week One

This is one of our three sisters gardens (We have two!).  As you can see, only half has been planted.  Mrs. Diaz planted the rest with sunflowers to create a Vincent Van Gogh garden.  Everywhere you see a rock, a sunflower has been planted.  How long will it take for the flowers to grow?

This is our colonial kitchen garden.  The foreground includes two different types of tomato plants.  The tomatoes would not have been planted in a colonial kitchen garden.  Most colonial gardens had old world plants brought over from Europe.  The tomato is native to the New World.

This is a marigold/veggie/herb garden.  It's hard to decide what makes this garden stand out more, the bright colors or the fragrant herbs.

The Peter Rabbit garden is teeming with veggies, flowers and herbs.  Mrs. Diaz is doing some repairs on the scarecrow.  Hopefully he'll be back in business soon!  What we really need is something to scare the deer away.

Finally, here we have the pollinator garden.  The bee balm and marigolds have bloomed.  The bee balm came all the way from Pennsylvania.  Ms. Fenton brought it from her parents' yard.  It seemed a bit shy at first, but now it seems quite used to our southern ways.  Thanks Ms. Fenton!  We'd have more blooms in the pollinator garden if the deer hadn't raided it twice already!  They ate sunflowers and zinnias.  Mrs. Diaz planted more sunflowers to fill in the empty spaces.

How Do You Start a Garden?

The first thing you need is inspiration.  Kids at Parklawn have found inspiration in history; geometry; love of plants, birds and insects; storybooks; community and our bellies!  Next you need to do research about what plants grow well in your area.  Decide on the plants you want and then buy some seed packets at the store.  Read carefully to find out how deep to plant the seeds and how far apart to plant.  Fourth graders started their seedlings inside.  They have been growing for about three weeks.  The classroom has everything little plants need - a huge window that lets in afternoon sunshine; a grow light for rainy days; a sink for watering; seventeen curious, responsible children; one excited teacher; a cute black gerbil and a lively goldfish.  Our seedlings have a cozy home right where they are, but we look forward to planting them in the Panther Patch as soon as they get big enough to survive on their own.

coriander

carrots

dill

hollyhock

lavender

radishes and fennel

snapdragons

chives, columbine, asters

the over all set-up

Colonial Kitchen Garden

The fourth graders from Mrs. Diaz's class found inspiration for their garden while on a field trip to Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason.  Gunston Hall, like most Virginia colonial era plantations, had a kitchen garden close to the main house.  Primarily, medicinal herbs and vegetables were grown in such gardens.  Gardens of this style  followed strict symmetry.  The symmetrical designs were echoed in the house itself and the overall layout of the grounds.  Here are three designs for the fourth grade garden.  See if you can find the symmetry.  Which elements do you think work well?  If you designed a symmetrical garden, what would it look like?  What shapes might you include?  How would you use the colors of the flowers and leaves to create symmetry?

Welcome Back!

We are embarking on another season of the Panther Patch.  Each garden has a theme this year.  We have two three sisters gardens, a veggie garden, a Peter Rabbit garden, a pollinator garden, and a colonial kitchen garden.  Teachers, students, parents and custodians are all sharing the joy of working in the garden this year.  Our snow make-up days stretch to the end of June, so we'll have plenty of time to play in the dirt!  Enjoy our photos.  Y'all come back now!