First Sign of Spring...

The first sign of spring here at Middlebrook Farm School is the sixth graders in the gardens with Mrs. Priest. They will spend the first part of the second quarter learning about how to plan out a garden and then starting seeds indoors. Then after the frosts have gone they will start planting what will grow into what next year's sixth graders will use.

This Is A Test...

Spring is in the air and that means sixth graders are back in the gardens with Mrs. Priest.  Today, a beautiful and sunny and warm March Wednesday, they were out there depositing leftover microgreen stems to the compost and collecting soil samples.  After a night of dissolving in water to remove sand and small stones the students will test the samples to determine what amendments need to be made to be sure we have a successful growing season.  It only takes two or three seasons, depending on what you plant, to exhaust a garden plot's fertility, and with our successful compost system things should be up and running in no time.  In other news, it sounds as if the new greenhouse has gone out to bid and that we should be making progress on that soon as well.

Be sure to check us out if you are in the neighborhood

Green Is The Color of February

So once again a considerable amount of time has passed since our last post here at Middlebrook Farm School.  With so many new initiatives, such as new curricula and unit designs, around the building it has been kind of a challenge documenting the gardens in the winter.  But, now it is March The First and time to start the planning and plotting for our upcoming plantings and harvests, and there is no better place to begin than with micro greens in the Culinary Arts room with Mrs. Priest.

The students will be harvesting the snap pea sprouts to use in Culinary Arts as a part of delicious salads, garnishes, and other interesting creations for sure.  If you get down there you might even be able to pick a few for yourself to nibble on as a late winter treat to remind you of all the crisp and fresh produce that is soon to be upon us.  

Here is a collection of some of the other shots we got over the last few months.

Pretty soon the gardens will be getting planned out and seedlings started indoors so if you are in the neighborhood of Middlebrook Farm come and check out our progress.  Speaking of progress, it looks like the plans for our greenhouse are moving along and we may have it up and functional before next winter.  

  

First Frost

This morning was the first noticeable frost to kiss the plants here at the Farm School, and now the row covers will be necessary to extend the growing season.  Mrs. Priest and the sixth graders have been doing an outstanding job with their successive plantings since we started this school season, and if the winds don't blow the covers off the gardens we should have fresh greens through the cold season like we did last winter.  Some of the plants that continue to thrive into the cold season actually start to taste better after a frost or two.  This is because plants such as kale and and Brussels sprouts produce sugar, making them sweeter, after being "frost cured."  Leeks, carrots, celeriac, and chard all can produce similar effects, and carrots that have over wintered can taste like candy.

Enjoy the photos and stop by sometime to check us out.

Middlebrook Farm School In The News

This is cool.  We were in Good Morning Wilton detailing the garden program.  Check out the link for the entire article.

As The Sun Sinks Slowly South

It has been another two, very busy months since we updated everyone on the progress here at the Farm School.  The school season got off to a running start with a lot of new mixed in with the not so new, and our new crop of sixth graders have been busy tending the gardens and harvesting whatever is available for the Culinary Arts classes.  This has been especially true for scallion pancakes since there was such an abundant crop of green onions.

From what we could see everyone enjoyed that well known, fast food snack.  Mrs. Priest has had the sixth graders out in the gardens a lot tasking them with harvesting, cultivating, and seeding late season greens.

Overall it has been a successful growing season despite the significant lack of rain through the summer.  The sixth graders were able to also harvest a good amount of produce to freeze for students in the second and third quarters.  Before we know it it will be winter and we will be riding around on the season cycle with seed catalogs and graph paper once again.  Until then enjoy these...

sweet potatoes

 red peppers

 purple tomatoes

 The Old Green Grasshopper

 marigolds

 kale burst

 green peppers

 carrot forest

 cherry tomato rainbow

 chard

 beet

 in the gardens

Even now though we have new seedlings coming up for a late season harvest, and hopefully with row covers and box covers, we can continue the harvest through the winter.

spinach

 lettuces

Check back with us when you can, and if you are in the neighborhood stop by.  We would be happy to give you a tour and answer any questions you might have.