Where does all the food go?

Today we visited the Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries Food Bank off of Vivion Road We took two buckets of produce to donate. The volunteer had us put all the tomatoes in one box, the cucumbers in another and the squash and other produce in another. She took us to the food and commodities room and told us they were an emergency food bank only. She explain how much each person gets if the have run out of food. The director said that last year they were serving about 25 families but this year the total has grown to about 100. We were given a list of other food banks in the Northland.
We went back to the church and weeded. For snack we had Chocolate Zucchini Cake and apples.

What's it worth?

On Wednesday, July 22, we calculated the worth of the produce we are growing. It was hard at time to figure the amount of produce times the price per pound that the grocery stores would charge. We had lots of produce to calculate. A big job weel done.
We had pineapple zucchini bread for snack and played ladybug toss and had caterpillar races.

Picky! Picky! Picky!

When Peter pick a peck of pickled peppers, he had to be very picky! If he picked them too soon they could be hard and bitter. If he pick them too late they might be too large or mushy. We learned that now is the time to watch your plants. Each plant has a slightly different set of rules to determine when it is mature. One guide is the seed package that give a general amount of days until maturity. The most important rule is vigilant observance of the fruit. Surveillance is important to maturity as well as bugs and diseases. This is the time that the plant is most venerable.
We had lots of cucumbers, some peppers and two of Nate's 8 ball zucchini were ready to be picked and sent home. I took a bunch of cucumbers and one zucchini to the food bank.
For snack we had pineapple/zucchini bread.

The verdict is in

After learning about the insects that can ruin our garden on Monday, we learn about the diseases that can also devastate our garden today. By looking at the conditions of the plant and the other factors such as weather, we can try to detect what's ailing our plant. We are lucky to have plant doctors such as Fred, Jeff and Marlin to help.
The garden had peppers, cucumbers and zucchini to be picked. The Food bank cucumbers were ready to pick. I took 3 cucumbers to the Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries Food Bank. I know there will be more.
We had bugs for snack. Lady beetles(Apples with chocolate chip spots) and ants on a log (Celery with peanut butter and raisins)

Find out what's bugging us

Today we learn about the good and bad insects that inhabit our gardens. Knowing what to look for is essential in keeping our vegetables producing. We learned by identifying the different mouthparts of the insects we can tell what kind of bug did the damage. We can also be proactive by looking for the bugs and its eggs.
The garden is coming along very well. The banana peppers were looking good.
We ate 'dirt and bugs' for snack. (Crushed chocolate graham crackers with chocolate sprinkles(ants), Gummy worms and raisins(beetles).

We are in the Sun Tribune

In the Community Living section of the Sun Tribune today is a very nice article with pictures about us. Sebastian and Reilly are shown in a bigger picture while Tosh and Nate are in a smaller picture with Marlin. Enjoy!

Rice Crispy Treats

For snacks when we studied the parts of a flower I made Crisp Rice Flowers. Here is the recipe. Line a 9x13 pan with foil. Butter the foil, set it aside. Over medium low heat in a large pot, melt together a 10 oz pkg of marshmallows and 3 tbsp butter.
Stir in 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam and 6 cups crisp rice cereal. Mix well.
Press cereal mixture into the prepared pan. Brush the top with extra jam if desired and refrigerate 1 hour of til set.
Lift mixture for pan and cut out treats with flower shaped cookie cutter. I decorated the center with green sugar but the recipe from Ladies Home Journal, May 09, g 134 says to 'place a pink or white candy coated chocolate(M&M) in the center of each flower'.

On Monday I made Chocolate Crispy Squares adapted from a Weight Watcher magazine. The recipe is mainly the same,except after you melt the butter and marshmallows add 2 tablespoons cocoa. Then add the 6 cups of crispy rice and stir. Press into a 10x13 greased pan and refrigerate. In the WW magazine they were 2 point for a square.
Hope you enjoy!

Plotting out a great garden

Today we learn how to plot out our garden. Knowing how much space is needed between each plant is vital to creating a garden that has enough room for all the plants we want to grow. Efficient use of space also helps us raise more vegetables in the same garden space allotted.
In my reading I have been fascinated with reflective mulches. I had never heard or seen them used. In my research I learned that reflective mulches in Louisiana produced 58% more peppers than other mulches. So we cut up an emergency storm blanket(cheap reflective mulch) that I brought at Walmart. We put a square around one of each of their peppers to see if we could get more peppers. We weed and watered our garden .
We had apples and bananas for snack, then played 'Fly Away Ladybug' and had caterpillar races.

Zoning Out

July 6, 2009 Today we had a casualty in Nate's garden. One of his Eight ball zucchuni plants was infected by cucumber beetles. It had to be pulled out. Several little squashes and peppers were found through the gardens. Nate's Burgundy beans were blooming and Reilly's peppers had more blossoms.
Our lesson was on zones. We found out that seed and plant information need to say Zone 5 on it for the plants/seed to grow well here. We learn when is the date of the last frost in the spring and the first frost of the fall. Our plants need to be able to grow and mature in between those days.
We made ladybug beans bags and played 'Fly Away Ladybug'.