Summer Update!

Tacoma Jobs 253 and the Reach Program have been taking care of the garden this summer like never before! It is trimmed, weeded, watered and harvested regularly. It is actually a little ironic that the final year of the garden in its current state it is looking better than ever.

Pictures, updates and more information to come !!!

Hope you all are having a great growing summer.

Sincerely,

Mr. I and the garden team.

Strawberries and radishes

Thank you card from the Family Renewal Shelter

Former Garden Student Olivia's Home Garden!

Garden Olympics Categories and Rubric

Judges Name: __________________________ or Anonymous.                  Date Judged: _____________________________

Category	Blue Ribbon	Red Ribbon	White Ribbon	Notes/Observations
Best Leafy Greens (spinach, lettuce, chard, kale, cabbage and kohlrabi)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Roots (beets, carrots, turnips, onions)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Flowers (broccoli, cauliflower, sunflower, other)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Herbs (mint, cilantro, oregano, lemon balm, other)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Fruits (tomatoes, peppers, strawberries)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Legumes (peas, beans)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Squash (zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, squash)	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Excellence in Plot Aesthetics	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Maintenance Award for Excellence in Plot Care	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Best Use of Space for Food Production	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:
Garden Coordinator’s Choice Award for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture	Bed#:	Bed#:	Bed#:

RUBRIC	Blue Ribbon	Red Ribbon	White Ribbon
Best in category (leaf, root, fruit etc.)	Labeled, Larger than others, Disease free, no dead parts, trimmed nicely, spaced properly from each other, spaced properly from other plants, weeds free, supported correctly using wires and sticks, mounded and covered with appropriate dirt	Labeled but unreadable, Average size compared to others, Mostly disease free, some dead parts, some untrimmed parts, somewhat spaced properly from each other, somewhat spaced properly from other plants (some crowding), some weeds apparent, supported somewhat using wires and sticks, mounded and covered with dirt appropriate dirt mostly	Unlabeled, smaller size compared to others, apparent diseases, noticeable dead parts, appears untrimmed, spaced improperly from each other (crowded), spaced improperly from other plants (crowding), weeds very apparent, not supported when needed, not mounded or roots covered with appropriate dirt
Excellence in Plot Aesthetics	Labeled clearly/thoroughly, spaced in a deliberate pleasing way, multiple vertical levels, plants in phenomenal shape, pleasing variety of plants, OR IS SIMPLY THE MOST BEATIFUL PLOT TO YOU. This category is a personal judgment on what is aesthetically pleasing to you.	Somewhat Labeled, spaced mostly in a pleasing way, some vertical levels, plants in good shape, pleasing variety of plants, OR IS SIMPLY THE SECOND MOST BEATIFUL PLOT TO YOU. This category is a personal judgment on what is aesthetically pleasing to you.	UnLabeled, spaced in some way, some vertical levels, plants in fair shape, simple variety of plants, OR IS SIMPLY THE THIRD MOST BEATIFUL PLOT TO YOU. This category is a personal judgment on what is aesthetically pleasing to you.
Maintenance Award for Excellence in Plot Care	Far less weeds than other plots, soil evenly distributed, borders and edges are trimmed or weed free, plants are in phenomenal shape, plants are supported and planted correctly, look of bed is sharp and clean.	Average weeds to other plots, soil somewhat evenly distributed, borders and edges are somewhat trimmed or weed free, plants are in good shape, plants are somewhat supported and planted correctly, look of bed is maintained somewhat.	Far more weeds than other plots, soil unevenly distributed, borders and edges are untrimmed or full of weeds, plants are in fair/poor shape, plants are unsupported and planted incorrectly/croweded, look of bed is cluttered/unkempt
Best Use of Space for Food Production	Every part of plot is planted and or producing healthy plants, variety of plants produce high yielding edible food crops that a shelter could use, bed maximizes horizontal and vertical space efficiently, plants past yield are removed	Most parts of plot is planted and or producing plants, some variety of plants produce medium yielding edible food crops that a shelter may use, bed uses some horizontal and vertical space, some plants past yield are removed	some parts of plot is planted and or producing some plants, little variety of plants produce low yielding or inedible food crops that a shelter may not use, bed does not use horizontal and vertical space effectively, many plants past yield are not removed

Getting ready for garden Olympics judging

Trying to get beds all ready for judging.

Experience Learning Project

South Sound FEAT ELP program showing off all their hard work and their three newly planted beds!

Food bank donation grounds and maintenance frustrations growing beds

SAMI Starts are here!

I like big starts and I cannot lie

McKenzy w/ some radishes

Azaziah harvesting radishes too!

Linda and Jade with their radishes!

Potting plants for the upcoming Pacific Avenue Business District Street Fair in June here at Stewart!

an assortment of sproutlets

more sprouts and plants in the giving garden

Spring transplanting, sprouts and planting

Matthew with the first radish of the season

pea ladders for climbing

planting!

Kalysha watering some onions

McKenzy thinning some radishes

making a pea ladder, Rayshon, Matt and Azaziah.

Spring sprouts in the sun

Matt and Zazers pulling weeds 

SOIL: Dry on top, moist underneath, compacted

Water: Lot's of rain lately Warm Today No Rain

Pest: Lady bugs out protecting, flies, lots of good worms and centipedes, no signs of pests

Weeds: Crab Grass sprouts OMG!

Vandalism: People stepping in gardens and taking out of plants.

Work Ethic: A little unfocused

TO DO: Plant Plant Plant in spots that haven't germinated, thin out crowded rows.

Linda admiring radish starts

Spencer checkin out pea starts

Rainy Day Spring Garden Warriors!

Linda Lauren pulling weeds around their new sprouts and planting carrots

Azaziah, Zeke, Zac, Matt, Rayshawn, pulling these pesky little weeds that look like sprouts and are very tricky to identify!

The Ducks are back! A breeding pair returned to the pond to enjoy straining food materials out of the water with the filters in their beaks. They mate for life!

Troy, Spencer and Sedric's onions have a head start as they grew over winter!

Russian Red Kale and Chard starting to really make a push in spring!

Of course radish is the first to come up!

scatter plant method in the front line/row plant method in the back. We'll see which one is more productive.

Lonely Troy on a rainy day turning a bed...alone.

Panorama shot!

Ms. Tyree!

Sunny spring preparations

Repairing some beds that are starting to loosen up. Salem on the hammer, McKenzy there to support

Some beds really needed some help, this one needed a whole board removed and reattached by Linda and Lauren

    Today we planted beets in the garden and it beats being inside! As you can see it is March 5th in this photo by the date marking on the popsicle stick. We planted beets today because the weather and soil temperatures are finally warm enough for germination. Mr. Iverson planted these beets in the Giving Garden to later donate them to a shelter when they are harvested. Beets need to be planted in 1/4th inch of soil and in can be spread in rows or scattered in a box area. They take about 40-60 days to mature and form deep red edible roots underground. Additionally they can be susceptible to various worm pests and grubs that feed on the roots. 

      Additionally, beets have many uses. Some people dehydrate them and make beet chips. Beets are grown for their high sugar content also. Mr. Iverson prefers to put them in his stir fry because they turn the entire dish pink! Early humans used beets as a clothing dye and ink source. They are also a favorite for a eastern European soups called "Borscht."

     Beets are part of a group of vegetables that are eaten for their roots. Others in this group include carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, and radishes. There are many varieties of beets that range from deep red to golden. Because they can live through the winter they can be grown in many climates year round. For all these reasons above, it should be said that you can't beat a beet!

Spencer checking out the compost full of old cabbage.

It looked worse out than it was! Really nice work day