Harvest Time Is Here Again

The Longfellow School Garden's fall harvest took place on Wednesday, with dozens of kids yanking, pulling, digging, scraping and washing off huge numbers of potatoes and carrots. Many of the children who took part in the harvest were responsible for planting the very same vegetable seeds several months earlier.

Before the harvest, our garden beds were full of carrots stems. But it didn't take long for Longfellow kids to empty them.

The carrots were easier to pull out than the potatoes, which students had to dig through the dirt to find. But they were up to the challenge. With plenty of gloves to go around, kids were sifting through the soil like gold-diggers searching for precious stones.

 

After the carrots and potatoes were dug up, off they went to the washing bins, where children diligently cleaned off the soil.

 

In all, 112 pounds of potatoes and a record haul of 140 pounds of carrots were harvested, which will go to Portland School's Central Kitchen to feed the district's schools on Maine Harvest Lunch Day.

Don't Fall Back: Garden Harvest!

Now that the school-year is back in session, it's time to begin to reap what we have all sown. Thanks to everyone who helped maintain the garden during the summer--lawnmowers and weeders, you know who you are! Your help was an essential part of the success of our growing season.

And a special thanks to all the children who planted in the Spring. We will enjoy a bountiful harvest of carrots and potatoes this October in the school lunch. Look for exact dates on the school menu in October.

But the harvest can't happen without your help. On Wednesday, September 25th, immediately after school (with a rain date of the 26th), our garden harvest will take place. Please mark your calendars and join us for our annual afternoon of pulling carrots and digging potatoes.

As you can see from above, our sunflowers are also soaring into the sky. And our Three Sisters garden--corn, beans and squash--is also flourishing. We also have greens for the Fall spaghetti supper, as well as kale, and even a few tomatoes.