Grandma's Back in the Garden

The CDC says it's safe for me to be outside with a few people.  It rained yesterday and the soil was more supple than usual.  The sun was out and I was ready - I was back at Prince Elementary School.

The raised beds were a disaster, but we were able to save some aloe and one random plant that looked promising.  It's now surrounded by stones to remind others not to pull it.

Palo Verdes have seeded themselves, taking advantage of the irrigation and lack of attention to thrive where they should not be.  It took 30 minutes of digging and wedging and cooperating, sacrificing a plastic tool or two along the way, but the baby tree and its roots are no longer embedded in the raised bed.  

It helps to have strong 5th graders to do the heavy lifting, especially 5th graders who can dispose of garden waste with such style.

The younger kids came in and wanted to plant, so we set up the vertical garden provided by our friends at the Department of Agriculture.  They used my very old Cornell cups to fill their planters with soil, then placed amaranth and edible flower seeds just as deep as the packet directed.  

There were labels included in this year's gift bag, and they were filled out carefully - Spelling Counts so the descriptions were copied with care.

There was a minor kerfuffle over the fate of the two lizards who have taken up residence in the plastic bench, chomping happily on the roaches and assorted other bugs crawling around on the bottom.  I left the lid open, stacking the contents neatly on the side.  The garden helpers had raked and swept and carted and dumped and it would have been disrespectful to leave a mess.