Monthly Archives: August 2014
Late August in Squirrely Garden
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…
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.
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…
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!)
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.
Downhill from Squirrely Garden…

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!)
Very interested to see how this solar dehydrator works out; might have to have Smoochie build one for us if it is successful!
Late August in Spy Garden

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
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.