Finally the teepee is getting covered with winter squash (“upper ground sweet potato” and “Jarrahdale pumpkins”)
At the top of the teepee
Hartman’s Giant Amaranth
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Mums
Atlantic…
…Giant Pumpkins
Spirals
A Heart Shaped Atlantic Giant
Turtle Stretch
Rouge de Vif d’Etampes…
Blooms
Mexican Sunflower
Squirrely Garden is the garden at Baby’s school (and was named by the preschoolers). I am the CEO of Squirrely Garden, but have taken a bit of a break from my executive duties as of late. We went to Colorado, had to spiff up Spy Garden for a magazine photo shoot and most of all: it has been 100 degrees for two weeks. Today was the first day I’d even set foot in Squirrely Garden since July 17th…
Squirrely Garden July 17, 2014
Squirrely Garden August 28, 2014
There is a garden in there, I swear!
I meant to just take a quick look today, but confronted with this weedy jungle I was compelled to clean up least one of the beds.
For the record, these are not the proper shoes for impromptu gardening.
The weeds are rampant, but the heat seems to have just about let up, which means the kids (and teachers!) will be back in the garden regularly. We made a plan to get the whole garden weeded in the next couple of weeks and the other good news is that more than just weeds are growing…
Watermelons! (There’s about ten or so nearly ready to pick)
And more teeny watermelons just starting to grow.
Watermelon Blossom
The pumpkins got a late start in Squirrely Garden but they are growing well now!
The big grassy masses (among the weeds;) is lemon grass.
I will definitely be taking some lemon grass shoots for our garden from this mass next time I’m up there: lemongrass is such a great flavor (and the smell…mmm!)
And check this out!
This eggplant variety is called Fengyuan purple and I am so happy it is growing in Squirrely Garden; the ones I planted in Spy Garden have yet to fruit.
Beautiful!
Downhill from Squirrely Garden…
The playground awaits the kids (having breakfast in the dining hall in the background)
Playground Cave
Another view of the school from the playground.
Squirrely Garden is on the hill past the tree in this photo. And that corner of the school building is Baby’s classroom (well, her INDOOR classroom: the real classroom is the forest/garden/great outdoors!)
Seen on the bulletin board in Baby’s class.
But how nice to have a nice cool classroom when it is 100 degrees!
Origami Mobile
Solar Dehydrator in Progress
Very interested to see how this solar dehydrator works out; might have to have Smoochie build one for us if it is successful!
Before (can you see the monarch wing inside?)
After
Another After (and of course the monarch is flitting around the garden!)
Blazing Star wildflowers and marigolds
White spider on the blazing star wildflowers
Nasturtiums
(Purposely) blurry shot of the nasturtiums looking very painterly
Chinese long noodle beans. I didn’t plant these this year, but volunteers are popping up in a few places.
The variegated leaves are “upper ground sweet potato” (a winter squash) and the pumpkin is “Jarrahdale” (a blue winter squash). Both varieties are growing on the teepee
Yum!
A green dragonfly
A perfect “early fall” shot!
Evening Sky Over Spy Garden
Hope your week is off to a good start! A Squirrely Garden (the garden at Baby’s school) update is coming soon. In the meantime, I’m sharing a school-wide email with you as a little sneak preview of something cool in progress at her school (and because it’s hilarious)…
Dear Friends,Have you noticed the weird wooden box that’s been pretending to mind its own business by our front door? No, it’s not a penalty box for obstinate children. It’s a solar dehydrator! And it will help us reach our food goal of “all local, all year.”But there’s a catch. We need your cans. About 300 of them will do. We need them for the solar panel. Now we know that many of you would never own up to drinking soda or the various other…er…beverages that come in cans. But we all know there’s some in your fridge right now. So go ahead and tip ’em back. Then put on a brave face and bring those cans to in. No one will judge you.Oh, and don’t feel bad about the type of…er…beverage the cans are branded with. They will all be spray painted black to absorb heat from the sun and protect the innocent.
