Lady Beetles And Mrs. Diggs

Our farm is so lucky to have expert volunteers on hand! We work with the Dallas Master Gardeners who volunteer countless hours on our farm. A special Master Gardener friend is Mrs. Diggs. She comes to farm club and works with all of our after school farmers. She taught us about the magic of lady beetles. The kids loved it!

Bright red lady beetles are always a hit on the farm! Mrs. Diggs is too! 

We Love Spring And Our Farm!

 

There has been so much activity on the farm. It is the best place to learn at our school. The beautiful weather has brought many classes out to observe, study and learn lessons on the farm.

Then there are our hard working farmers who keep things blowing and growing on our farm. We couldn't do it without you all.

So get outside and enjoy our farm or yours!

Spring Planting Day

Our Spring planting date was a little chilly, but everyone dug in and we got our beds planted and ready to go and GROW!  Our Principal, Mr. Henderson, got in the action too.

This class planted flowers and herbs in their garden beds.

Everyone cooperated and worked together to get the job done.

We are big fans of basil, which of course gives us delicious pesto sauce.

The kids learned how to take a plant out of the pot, cover them up and "tuck" them in the soil.

Teamwork was the theme of the day.

We welcomed our Master Gardener partners who helped lend a hand on our plant day. 

The teachers kicked off the planting day by digging in.

Marigolds were planted to keep garden pests away and attract beautiful butterflies and pollinators to the farm.

Each teacher planted a marigold in their class bed.

Two days later, the temperature hit 32 degrees. Fortunately we had many tarps to keep our seedlings wrapped up tight. 

We look forward to warmer weather and bountiful crops!

We're Mixing It Up With Expanded Shale

Our farmers are in full swing, getting the farm prepped for our Spring planting day.

Since we are working closely with our wonderful Master Gardeners, we have opted to choose the methods that they have perfected. They use a mix of soil amended with compost and shale.

A truck load of expanded shale was dumped on the farm this week. Expanded shale is used in making concrete. It is very porous and has cavities that can absorb water and release it slowly at a later time. This makes it great for gardens during long, hot, Texas summers.

The truck came a couple weeks early so my family came out to help me move the shale to the beds and our new farm field. Thanks guys!

Now we are in the process of mixing, stirring and turning the beds to get all the parts mixed well before we plant.

The farm club has a lot of work cut out for them, but there is always fun along the way.