Demonstration Garden

The Peninsula School returned this fall to harvest the crops they had planted in the spring. The garden grew big throughout the summer. The Edge camp form Milbridge came to the garden to weed and hill the potatoes. In the end, we had a harvest of winter squash, (kabocha and delicata varieties), many Tennessee dancing […]

The fourth grade is the last class to visit the garden and it is the last full day of school! This class fills in the last two furrows with more seed potatoes and also plants gourds and watermelon. These seed potatoes had some extra long sprouts which were fun to explore and examine before planting […]

The second grade was next to the garden. They were the first to plant seed potatoes into two of the furrows made by the horses. They also got the chance to plant zucchini from the soil blocks the first grade planted. See more photos of the second grade in our photo gallery.

Potatoes are planted under ground and need the protection of the soil to grow to their maximum potential. In order to get the potatoes to a good depth, it is necessary to plant them into a ditch or furrow. It is possible to do with a hoe, but it is much easier to use horse […]

The squash the first grade planted in soil blocks is still growing. Most of it has already been planted by other classes, but there are a few flats left for the last two classes scheduled to come to the garden. It now has a true leaf and is going to be happy for some more […]

The sixth grade arrived next. Their job was to transplant a row of tomatoes. These were in bigger pots and required a bigger hole to fit the plant in the ground. The plants were laid out along their bed and then dug in and watered. This class planed a second row as well. The second […]

We used the horses to spread three loads of compost and lime onto the garden. This will give the plants nutrients and help them grow.

The fifth grade is the next class to plant a row in the new demonstration garden. The seeding that the first grade did several weeks ago is giving all the other classes plants to transplant into the garden. The fifth grade is planting Kubocha winter squash. This will be ready to harvest when school is […]

The spinach so carefully planted by the kindergarden has come up. Little green leaves are poking up among the brown dirt. How exciting to see the first rows of plants in this new garden.

The third grade is the next class to visit the demonstration garden. The corn that was planted with first grade is now big enough to transplant. The class measured the bed and each child got to take several soil blocks and plant them along the length of the bed. They dug the hole and tucked […]

The seeds that the first grade planted have germinated!! The squash, corn, guards and watermelon have emerged from the soil blocks and are growing bigger by the day.

The garden has been tilled and the first seeds are planted in the soil by the kindergarden class. The class marked the bed, makes a furrow and plants their spinach seeds. They carefully cover the seeds and water them. See more of the kindergarden’s visit to the garden in our photo gallery.

The kindergarden class was the first to come to the garden. Their very special job was to measure and lay out the garden in a section of pasture. They also seeded summer squash and winter squash into soil blocks which will germinate in the greenhouse for a later class to plant into the garden.  See […]

Our Demonstration Garden is a reality! Thanks to a generous grant from the Quimby Family Foundation, we broke ground on a Demonstration Garden located at Mandala Farm. This garden will be used for students to explore and experience agriculture in a garden of their own making. We had students from the Peninsula School, K-8, help […]