More from the Garden!

Check out the sunflowers YOU planted!



A Monarch stops for a visit.



Sunflowers and Blue sky. Extra points if you can spot the bee coming in for a landing.



Red.





Seeds are visible on this sunflower head.



Close up. These seeds have not hardened yet. They will continue to grow and change even though the petals are off the flower.



Close up of seeds on another type of sunflower.

Prolific Produce!

Hey Huegel Eagles! Look at your Garden! Thanks to Amy Montoya for all the great pictures!

We grew a lot of things to sample this fall: 5 varieties of Cherry Tomatoes in 3 different colors - Orange, Red, and Purple, Sugar Snap Peas, and Green Beans. They were timed to be ready on September first and I'm pleased to report we hit that date! We also grew a number of things in a small Oddities garden bed. These included purple cauliflower, painted corn, green zebra tomatoes, round yellow peppers!

Thank you so much to all the Garden Volunteers for all their hard work over the summer. Without your time spent weeding and watering the garden never would have looked this good!



Your Garden on the first week of school!


Sun Gold cherry tomatoes!

Red Peppers.

Pumpkins are looking very orange and round - good signs!

Sugar Snap Peas.

Green Zebra tomatoes. They are ready when the white strips turn to yellow, and they're soft to the touch.

Green Beans!

Eggplant. Ever wonder why it's named Eggplant? Now you know! (Purple is just the more common variety in this country.)

Amish Paste tomatoes.

Broccoli! Tastes great right off the plant.

At the end of Summer

Hi All - Just a few pictures from the end of August.



Autumn Beauty sunflower.


Corn tassels.


Earthwalker sunflower.



Violet Queen cauliflower!


Rose Hibiscus.


Sunshower, er...I mean Sunflower!



Peas starting to form in their pods.



Beans in Blossom!

August Boom

It's August and things are really starting to happen at the garden. Cherry tomatoes are ripening, and the green beans are forming. There are pumpkins bigger than basketballs, still dark green though. Peppers and tomatoes in the Oddities bed are ready and the purple cauliflower should show up right around registration day. Please stop by and look for the Garden table.





Look at the size of the sunflowers! Great work planting them. When will they stop growing? They're almost over the roof in some spots!




And the Corn!



Ears are forming. These aren't sweet corn, but a variety called 'Painted.' They will be used as decorations.

Check back soon!

THANK YOU

The garden at Huegel Elementary has been a huge effort by many people. We've received many donations of time, money, plants, and materials.

The Huegel PTO granted us our seed money. Thank you to Dr. Bray for his support as well.

Additional donations of money by:

Jung's Garden Center

The Home Depot

Whole Foods

Those who donated plants:

K&A Greenhouse

Felly's Flowers

Johannsen's Greenhouses

Arneson's Auto (Really. Thanks Tom!)

Those who donated time (and got dirty doing so):

Laura Anderson
Leanne Avilia
Neil Burmeister
Marquis Childs
Vicki Hruska
Amy Montoya
Sherri Schwartz
Emily Sheffleman

And finally thanks to Barb Perkins out at Vermont Valley for the advice and the seeds!

Hey Huegel Eagles, it's July and 92 degrees. What is your garden up to?

The answer? Growing like Crazy!


Cherry Tomatoes are growing!


The sunflowers YOU PLANTED are booming!


Note the excellent vasculature in this leaf!


This cauliflower is called Violet Queen. It will have a purple flower instead of white.


The Hibiscus at the end of the Tomato row loves the heat.

As do these pumpkins.

The corn could not be happier. Need proof? Look in the previous post to see how it's changed!



Blanket Flower.

Green Beans were planted today!




Finally, in the Oddities bed, the tomatoes (Green Zebra, Mr. Stripey, Amish Paste, and Black Krim) are bushy and adding lots of fruit. Tomatoes a fruit? Why yes...more on that later. Check back soon Huegel Eagles!

Please stop by anytime for a look! If you would like to volunteer at the garden please contact via the email address at the top of the page, or call Corrie at 957-4469. Hope to see you soon!

New Planting!

The sunflowers are continuing to grow.


Flowers have been added at the end of some of the beds. These are 'Blanket Flowers.'



Some pumpkins have been planted.



A hibiscus has been added.


In the demonstration bed, 2 types of eggplant, 'Fairy Tale' and 'Cloud 9' have been planted as well as a variety of cauliflower called 'Violet Queen.' This will have a purple flower head instead of the usual white. Two types of peppers, 'Klari Baby Cheese,' and 'California Wonder' were planted too.


Also in the demonstration bed, four unusual varieties of tomatoes have been planted: 'Green Zebra,' 'Mr. Stripey,' 'Amish Paste,' and 'Black Krim.'


Finally some corn (almost indistinguishable from the tenacious quack grass at this stage) was planted along with some rhubarb. The soil is not very deep along the side of the school, but we'll see over the summer how they do.

Nearly all the plants seen here were donated to the garden. We have been very fortunate to have had such an enthusiastic response to our call for donations! A huge THANK YOU to K&A Greenhouse, and Felly's Flowers, (who both donated vegetables and flowers), and to Whole Foods (who donated money for the corn and some sunflower seeds). More donated plants will be put out this week so check back soon!

If you're interested in volunteering at the garden please contact via the email address above, or call Corrie at 957-4469.

Sunflowers are up! There are 6 different varieties planted and all are looking fine. They're about an inch tall now.

A number of things were transplanted this week, including rhubarb, 2 types of eggplants, four varieties of tomatoes, two types of peppers, decorative corn, purple cauliflower, and broccoli. Soaker hoses and black landscape fabric were added to some of the garden beds as well.

Thanks much to the volunteers who showed up to hoe and weed this week. Great job! Your efforts make a big difference. If YOU would like to volunteer please contact the garden at the email address above, or call Corrie at 957-4469.

Thank you!

A big thank you to Huegel Teacher Vicki Hruska and her class for finishing hauling off the rest of the sod from the garden bed prep! That was a HUGE contribution! Your hard work really makes a difference!


Sunflower seeds have been delivered and planting is going on this week and next. Have fun and check back soon!

Breaking Ground

Ground was broken on the Eagle Prairie Garden on Saturday May 29th 2010. It all started very early in the morning. The garden beds were carefully measured and then a sod cutter (sample) was driven through. Afterward, the ground looked like this:



Next, the sod was pulled off (rolled up in places it was thick enough) and removed. Then compost was added:


You can see there is quite a difference between the soil existing at Huegel, and the compost. The current soil at the garden site is very sandy and it will likely take several more compost additions over the years to make a significant change. To start, three heaping pickup truck bed-fulls were brought in.
Some fantastic volunteers then showed up, and the work of adding the compost to the garden really began:


It was a hot, hot day, and everyone worked very hard hauling compost and sod.

After the compost was added, everything was mixed with a garden tiller generously loaned by the Macklin family. A HUGE THANK YOU to them, Huegel Parent Amy Montoya, her daughters, their friend, and Huegel Teacher Vicki Hruska for their efforts. Without them, it never would have turn out like this!




Quite a dramatic change from the very first picture of the garden site!

Anyone who would like to volunteer at the garden should email epgarden@gmail.com or call Corrie at (608) 957-4469.

Next up: Planting Sunflowers!