I have been drafted to work in a Children's Garden.

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joel

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So what do we know about children's Garden.
Any help will be welcome.
 
Is it a new garden or one that is being reworked? Is it a garden where children will plant and care for plants, or is it more of a play area?
 
lilmissy said:
Is it a public garden for kids?
Click to expand...
Yes & no, It is on Clemson college of Agriculture land, anyone can use the garden by appointment.
The appointment is to stop drug dealers from slipping in to the woods behind the orchards & test plots, to sit up camps to sale drugs.
Schools, scouts, birthday parties will be by appointments.
 
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Weedygarden said:
Is it a new garden or one that is being reworked? Is it a garden where children will plant and care for plants, or is it more of a play area?
Click to expand...
The old garden was in the back in the woods, like a camp site, we took the club scout there sixteen years ago.
Moving it to the front & fencing in the whole land, at least thirty acres, to stop vandalism.
Now the garden will be behind the local farmers market, the market is about an acre, the state farmers market is across town.
 
We will be putting up Mason bee nest made from bamboo.
I just got the call today, so I am not sure what I will be doing.
 
lilmissy said:
To bad they just wouldn’t let you go to town on it. You could make arches that cukes and trellising plants climb up so the kids can walk thru. But if its for parties and such you need to plant things that they maybe can pick for their party appetizers.
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I can ask, but it has to be deemed safe & educational, will let you know when I know more.
Cukes will need a water source & I am not sure what they have or want.
 
joel said:
I can ask, but it has to be deemed safe & educational, will let you know when I know more.
Cukes will need a water source & I am not sure what they have or want.
Click to expand...
Are you drafted as a grunt advisor or somewhere in between?

Ben
 
I was told, I would be an advisor, but also that there are a lot of jobs, some grunt jobs & I could pick what I wanted to do.
Because of Afib, one of the woman, make out like I might die if I had to do any heavy lifting. So I can do what I feel like & point a lot.
 
joel said:
Yes & no, It is on Clemson college of Agriculture land, anyone can use the garden by appointment.
The appointment is to stop drug dealers from slipping in to the woods behind the orchards & test plots, to sit up camps to sale drugs.
Schools, scouts, birthday parties will be by appointments.
Click to expand...
Then good fencing and a strong gate will be important, won't they? If something that has thorns on it is planted around the perimeter, that would also keep unwanted people from getting in. Roses might be a good thing to plant, or berries.
 
dademoss said:
at least the "3 sisters", back to the old ways, along with cherry tomatoes, flowers for mom.

https://www.nativeseeds.org/blogs/blog-news/how-to-grow-a-three-sisters-garden
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Squash bee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Genera
Scientific classification e
Squash bee
Peponapis pruinosaCane-12.JPG
Peponapis pruinosa
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Apidae
Subfamily:Apinae
Tribe:Eucerini
Peponapis
Xenoglossa
The name squash bee, also squash and gourd bee, is applied to two related genera of bees in the tribe Eucerini; Peponapis and Xenoglossa. Both genera are oligoleges (pollen specialists) on the plant genus Cucurbita and closely related plants, although they usually do not visit watermelon, cucumber, and melon plants.[1] They are small genera, containing only 13 and 7 described species, respectively, and their combined range is nearly identical to the range of Cucurbita in the New World, from South America to North America. Their range has become somewhat expanded along with the movement of cucurbits into other areas (as crop plants).
Species such as Peponapis pruinosa have been in decline due to several reasons, probably at least in part to pesticide sensitivity.[2]
Contents
Description[edit]
Squash bee, top view, ''Xenoglossa strenua''
Xenoglossa strenua
These bees are of moderate size, equal to various bumblebees. Compared to honeybees, squash bees are larger and bulkier, with longer antennae and rounder faces.[3] The pollen-carrying hairs on their legs (the scopa) are unbranched or nearly so, to accommodate the exceptionally large, coarse pollen of the host plants. These hairs may be sparse, however among Peponapis, the hind legs are fuzzy and brushlike.[4] Males lack these hairs, as they do not carry pollen.[3]
Squash bees have also evolved a matinal daily activity cycle, flying before sunrise. Some Xenoglossa species have become morphologically specialized to fly while it is still dark, with greatly enlarged ocelli to allow them to fly in near-darkness.[citation needed]
The two genera are sometimes thought to be sister taxa, but enough differences occur between them to suggest the similarities may be due to convergent evolution, based on their adaptation to use the same host plants.[5]
Life cycle[edit]
Squash bees build ground-based nests; they are solitary and do not live in colonies, but are sometimes gregarious.[4] Each pollen-gathering female digs her own nest, which consists of a vertical tunnel terminated by a loose grouping of individual nest cells.[3]
As pollinators[edit]
Studies have been carried out to compare Peponapis and honey bees regarding their effectiveness in pollinating cucurbits. The findings point to the squash bees being more effective and suggest the current practice of renting colonies of honey bees to perform this task may be unnecessary.[6][7]
Squash yield is fully dependent on insect pollinators. Plants pollinated by squash bees include summer squash, winter squash, zucchini, pumpkins, and many gourds excepting cucumbers.[3
We do not know how long the bee & the squash plant have lived together, we only know how long site digs say man has profit from them.
 
There is some psychological research (unsubstantiated) that the inverse of the delay in positive feedback is proportional to the effect of conditioning.

Let them eat as they go. Evererbering strawberry. raspberries. ...

Ben
 
That sounds like a great opportunity, @joel
See about a book called Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, written by Sharon Lovejoy. It has ideas for children's gardens to get ya started. Try to find free stuff to add to it, ask for donations from the big box hardware stores, independents stores. Plants, seeds, sand, concrete mix, wheelbarrow, tools. Have a butterfly garden too.
 
Herbs. Fragrant, culinary and tea herbs. Plants to touch, pinch, smell and taste. Edible flowers.
Nothing stingy, scratchy, poisonous or prickly.
 
Try to involve the kids in planting, weeding and watering and harvesting and eating something really quick growing. For me the miracle of planting something as a seed or start and then being able to eat the food produced is a on going miracle.
 
The gardens are Butterfly, sensory garden, Old McDonald, Reading garden & a out door class room for teaching garden stuff, like sun loving perennial
flowers. There will be beans & they like the Three Sisters garden ideal.
My home work is to find things that will work in the sensory garden for sound, wind chimes or wind spinners.
 
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Pole beans or cucumbers could be planted so they climb and enclose some structure. I saw something like a teepee of lots of poles, with pole beans growing on them.
 
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