A Good Gardener is an observant and inquisitive Gardener ...

Children’s Vegetable Garden Program - Fall 2015 Session
September 26, 2015

Agenda 6: Gardening Session #6 for Fall 2015
Instructors: Please review with all children together in each section.

A Good Gardener is an observant and inquisitive Gardener. He or
She is always looking, studying, finding out the correct answers and
wanting to learn more.

For instance, this past Sunday I noticed in OUR Children’s Vegetable Garden Program a
tremendous amount of honey bees harvesting pollen from the cedar elm tree that is located near
the Sunday House. It was exciting to see a wide array of beautiful birds flying around the
garden such as blue jays, robins, lesser gold finch, cardinals and mocking birds (bad guys that
peck on blushing tomato fruit). A spectacular site was watching an enormous amount of
‘Garden Fairies’ flying throughout the garden. Really they are lacewing insects that are good
guys, especially their larvae. Cucumber beetles feeding early on the cucumber flowers (we need
to smash them today). I saw my first praying mantis in ten years. And lots of flags, but no fire
ant mounds? What will you see today?

Friendly Reminders for Children, Parents and Volunteers:

 Please read the agenda before each session and come prepared for that day’s activities!

 All volunteers, children and parents please sign-in and out every week
and check with Ms. Mary before you leave.

 Take care not to walk in or on any of the beds. It’s very hard to replace irrigation lines
and broken boards, plus we do not want to compact the soil. This includes the perimeter
and center research beds. If there are any concerns, please notify your Section Leader(s).

 Pick up debris in-and-around your section and walkways. This includes any weeds, palm
saplings, rocks or trash. Throw material away in assigned trashcans. Do not put anything
in the compost bins unless instructed. Please make every effort to stay on top of weeding
during the entire session. Pay close attention to the plots and the walkways.

 Coffee Campaign: Everyone is encouraged to bring coffee grounds, disposable coffee
filters, tea bags, vegetable scraps and egg shells from their homes or from their local
coffee shop. This compostable material will be added to the backside of our compost pile
until further notice. The compost pile is located behind the brown-fenced area marked
with a red pylon. This is where the approved material should be dumped. Has anyone set
up a pickup of coffee grounds from your local coffee shop like Starbucks? 20 pounds a
week added to our compost pile would be a huge help! Remember, this is compost that we
all use throughout the garden.

 Visit and like us on Facebook and follow the Bexar Youth gardens blog for updates on the
Children’s Vegetable Garden Program (CVGP) and more.

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bexar-County-Youth-Gardens-Program/1447247425548890
AND https://bexaryouthgardens.wordpress.com/
 FLAG ALL FIRE ANT MOUNDS OR ABUNDANT ANT ACTIVITY. INSTRUCTOR’S
DO NOT TREAT FOR ANTS TODAY.
 Please: don’t return any dirty tools to the tool shed. It is everyone’s responsibility to
keep that area clean.

Today’s Junior Master Gardener Activity is ‘Plant People’
conducted by Master Gardener Margaret Bass.

How Are Our Plant’s Growing?

‘Tycoon’ and BHN 968 Cherry Tomatoes:
□ Are your plants straight and contained inside their cages? Some of the ‘Tycoon’ tomato

plants may need a large bamboo stake to help straighten them up some within their cages. If the
stems are too large to tuck back into the cage, then we need to start tying the stems to the cage.

Take care not to snap off the stems. Trim any leaves off the plant that are touching
the soil. Be careful not to remove the entire stem or pull hard on the plant. Examine your

plants for any adult insects (bad ones) and eggs or any other potential issues. Fertilize each
plant with one cup of Ladybug natural derived organic fertilizer, evenly distributed on the
outside lip of the tomato cage.

‘Cheers’ Cabbage, ‘Green Magic’ Broccoli, ‘Snow Crown’ Cauliflower and
‘Kolibri’ Purple Kohlrabi:
□ All your plants should be nice and straight. We still have a few cauliflower plants that need to

be ‘dirted up’ on their main stems. Examine the backside of your plants’ leaves very carefully
for any caterpillars and their eggs. Gently smash them by rubbing your thumb across them.
Apply one cup of Ladybug naturally derived organic fertilizer evenly on the ‘outskirts’ of
both your cauliflower plants and not close to their crowns.

Bunching Onions:
□ All 8 clumps should be sneaking out of the ground by today. If necessary, or if you did not

do this last week, carefully dig out no more than two nice healthy clumps per plot to reset.
Gently divide them and replant them as substitutes. Take care to replant them at the same soil
level as they were originally planted. Firm the new plants in real well and water them in
sufficiently. If your plot doesn’t have enough to do this, then share some within each Section.

‘Sweet Slice’ Cucumber:
□ How is your plant looking? A few cucumbers might be ready to be

harvested at the end of the day today. Make sure that nothing is eating the
flowers or leaves of your plants like cucumber beetles. Properly dispose
of any insects by smashing them. Go through your plants two or three

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times today for cucumber beetle control.

‘Provider’ Bush Beans:
□ Your plants should be looking pretty nice today. Are they ready to be tied up?

Fall Marigolds and Zinnias:
□ How do your plants look? After fertilizing with Hasta-Gro (see chart), make sure that they

get hand watered in real well.

‘Babybeat’ Beets:
□ Any up yet?

‘Santo’ Cilantro:
□ Any up yet?

Today’s Planting

Follow the Planting Guide and the Example Plot located in Section 3, Plot 14

Today we will be planting three rows with 30 pelletized each of ‘Nelson’ Carrots.

‘Nelson’ Cilantro:
□ 3 rows of carrots will be planted between the cucumber and broccoli plants.

□ The first row of carrots will be planted a foot away from the outside of the cucumber trellis.

The second row should be spaced eight inches from the first row and the third row should be
spaced eight inches from the second row.

□ Really scratch up the planting zone of the carrots to a debt of about 3 or 4 inches. When

doing this, remove any rocks and large debris as well incorporate one full cup of Ladybug
natural derived Organic Fertilizer. The final planting zone should be nice and level with very

loose broken up soil. Take your time with this process. Only scratch up where you are

planting. Stay clear of the cucumber and broccoli plants’ root systems to avoid damage.

□ Designate the three planting rows in your carrot planting zone. Each row should have a two

inch wide planting band that is about 1/2” deep. Within that planting band, space 30 seeds
evenly out at about an inch apart. All three rows should have their seeds evenly spaced out from
top to bottom and left and right. Once all the pelletized seeds have been evenly spaced and laid
out, then gently/barely press them into the soil.

□ Finish this process by gently and slowly watering in all three rows a couple of times, making

sure that none of the seeds are visible afterwards. If they are, barely push them in a little.

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□ Don’t forget your plant tag. Remember, you only need one for the whole planting area.

Water Management

□ Without getting anyone wet, water the planting area with the irrigation system using low
pressure for 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure that every orifice in the irrigation line is
unclogged with a paper clip. Due to the water pressure in the garden, no more than

two sections should be watering during any given time frame.

□ Be observant not to flood plots or walk-ways. If the plots start flooding, let them drain a

little, then proceed in watering again. DO NOT RELY ON THE SYSTEM TO WATER
NEWLY PLANTED TRANSPLANTS. If your irrigation system cannot be fixed (Instructors,
try first), flag it and then provide Miss Mary with the section number and problem.

A volunteer or two may need to supplement today’s watering at the end of the
day by hand watering with the hose.

Fertilize

Fertilizer: please refer to the table for amounts of fertilizer mentioned in the agenda.

Fertilizer Amount Where When

1 cup Around outside lip of During pre-plant
Tycoon and BHN 968 chores
Lady Bug natural
tomato cages

derived Alfalfa based 1 cup Evenly around the During pre-plant
Organic Fertilizer
two cauliflower plants chores

1 cup In carrot planting Before planting
zone begins

Hasta-Gro 1 gallon per plot cauliflower, kohlrabi, After watering with
2 ounces per gallon marigold and zinnia the irrigation

plants

Please use one bag of fertilizer at a time so we don’t have so many bags open. When you return

a bag of fertilizer to the shed, please close the bag tightly.

□ Fertilize your cauliflower, kohlrabi, marigold and zinnia plants with a gallon of Hasta- Gro

starter mix after they all have been watered. Instructors will mix two oz. of Hasta-Gro with half
a water can (about one gallon). Do not get any of this fertilizer on the leaves, just on the soil
around the plants.

Special Projects for Garden

Everyone needs to participate to maintain the beauty of the garden.

□ Before leaving today, please check with Miss Mary for your Section assignments.

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□ Are you completely finished? Make sure your Instructor walked your plot and section,

everything looks neat and clean (no weeds, trash, rocks, etc.), all plants are watered and all your
tools are cleaned and placed neatly in the tool shed.

□ Remember: your ending time at the Children’s Vegetable Garden is around 12 noon.

Thanks Everyone!
It’s going to be a great fall.

David Rodriguez
[email protected]

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