Mission Accomplished!!!

What a fantastic day... the weather was perfect, families were together, and the garden is now complete! Thanks to everyone's hard work, our garden is now a reality with peppers, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, and pumpkins to follow shortly. Here is a photo recap of the day, start to finish!

Finally, this blog wouldn't be complete without a picture of our little gardeners!

Farmer Jones Visits The Garden!

On Monday, May 26th, Jamie Jones from Jones Family Farm visited the St. Jude First Grade class for a tour of the garden. Farmer Jones spent about an hour with the children teaching them about soil, the importance of sun and water, and sharing a little about life on the farm.

Jamie Jones is a sixth-generation farmer from Jones Family Farm in Shelton, CT. Their 400-acre farm offers seasonal crops such as strawberries, blueberries, pumpkins and Christmas trees. They have also recently opened their own winery; please visit their link at http://www.jonesfamilyfarms.com/

The children had an opportunity to hold seeds of various sizes -- lettuce, pumkin & string bean.

The children were also introduced to a 4-year old Christmas tree, and Farmer Jones welcomed questions from the class. It was a fun and educational day, and we appreciate the visit!

The Fun Begins!!

What a fantastic day! The weather was beautiful, the kids had a half day of school, so we decided to put them to work! Today's project was to haul landscaping stone for the garden border, and to paint the boards that would surround the garden. The children didn't disappoint, and they worked so hard!! All in all, everyone had a great time, and we got quite a bit accomplished.

Once the children were dismissed from class, they had a picnic lunch in the playground. From there they lined up and headed over to the garden.

Fr. Skip did a great job prepping the area... the boards were neatly layed out waiting to be painted, and the area for stone was clearly marked.

The children were organized into two groups... half were assigned to painting for 30 minutes, the other half moved landscaping stone. Everyone worked together so well, and we accomplished the job in a few short hours. What follows are a few pictures of the fun day we all had together...

The weather couldn't have been better, and we look forward to more fun days ahead in the garden!

St. Jude School Garden... The Beginning

The First Grade Class at St. Jude School in Monroe, CT now has a garden to call their own! Thanks to the efforts of Fr. Skip, dedicated parents, and the support of the school administration, their garden is currently underway.

The first crop is scheduled for September, 2009 and will hopefully yield plenty of tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro to make several batches of salsa. Also planted will be pumpkins, just in time for Autumn fun.

The St. Jude Building & Grounds Committee selected a prime location that will allow for plenty of sunlight and easy access. The garden is already posing a problem to the local raccoon, however, as it's infringing upon the raccoon's ability to get to the dumpster!

On Tuesday, May 12th, several parents met with the class to share the details.

Maureen Minnick hosted a sychronization exercise with the children, that helped them better understand the process of creating a garden, planting the seeds, and harvesting the fruits.

The kids seemed to have a great time with the exercise!!!

Everyone then took a trip outside to see the garden IN PROGRESS! Fr. Skip met us and explained what the garden would look like, showed where everything would be planted, and explained the steps that needed to be complete.

Several parents and Mrs. Cassin joined us outdoors, and garden gloves were presented to each of the children!

The children will get a chance to use their gloves on Thursday, May 21st when we begin preparing the soil for planting. Information regarding this event will be distributed to the class parents... please check back to this blog for more pictures and updates, or contact Christine Peterson for project details (christine.peterson@snet.net).