Deer Damage (again...)

Our square-foot gardens are sprouting tiny lettuce leaves, but apparently, deer think a little dirt is worth the taste. Last night at least one animal stood on our spring onions and pulled up the lettuce seedlings. The critter cages were in storage, but obviously we waited at least one night too long in getting them back out...

The Greenhouse is a Reality!

On April 5, Puckett's Greenhouses delivered the parts for our new hoop-style greenhouse. Ms. Fajardo and her green math students worked all day, along with two employees from Puckett's, Mr. Bradshaw, our assistant principal, and Mr. Anderson, a parent volunteer. Despite the cold and wind, the day was a success due to the perseverance of those involved.

Hoop-style Greenhouse on its Way!

As a part of the Green Schools Challenge, Ms. Fajardo and Mr. Rohrback's second period Green Math class has spent this year planning and preparing for the expansion of the Glenvar Gardens into a new greenhouse. Thanks in part to Brenda Landes, an architect with CR Architecture and Design, and the rest of the committee members of the Southwest VA chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, students selected a hoop-style greenhouse as the best fit for our needs. With its sustainable passive design, we will rely on the sun's radiation to heat the greenhouse on cold days, and the prevailing wind direction to cool it on hot days. Construction is set for Tuesday, April 5th.

We're Expanding!

In anticipation of the coming hoop house to expand our program for more students and to extend the growing season, the 8th grade Green Math class built 8 additional raised beds.

These beds sit ready and waiting for installation in our new greenhouse!

Cold Frames from our 8th Grade Green Math Partners

Ms. Fajardo and Mr. Rohrback's 2nd period math class has become our gardening partners. Here they are designing and building two cold frames for our gardens. These are now installed and are functioning to warm our new spring carrot and beet seeds in unseasonably cold weather.

Dividing into Square-foot Plots

What would we have done without Chris, Alec, and Austin, who used their Boy Scout knot-tying skills to put in our new experimental string dividers? (in 30 degree weather!)

Adding New Soil

Michael mixes in the rich soil donated by Mr. Hodges, getting ready for spring seeds.

Mrs. Haley's Class does Green Math

While the gardens were waiting for the spring planting, Mrs. Haley's class used them to practice math skills. What is the volume of soil needed to fill a new 4' by 4' raised bed? We'll need to know soon!