Growing Opportunities this Autumn

This October prepare for spring by planting bulbs and winter crops. Now is the time to dig up bulbs and perennial flowers to prepare for superior growth. Place bulbs in a paper or mesh bag in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks, storing them away from apples to prevent early sprouting. Bulbs should be planted once temperatures have cooled down, late October or early November here in the Bay Area. Be sure to plant them in full sun in an area with good drainage. Plant them three times deeper than your bulb is tall with the pointy side up. Organic compost placed inside planting holes ensures good blooming. Now is also a great time to plant winter crops! The Bay Area, California has the perfect autumn climate to plant winter crops such as onions, garlic, broccoli, carrots, spinach, beets, chard, and lettuce. You need less space for your winter garden and can plant seedlings closer together to prevent erosion from rainfall. 

This fall Living Classroom's first grade students will plant winter vegetables while learning about photosynthesis in a lesson called "Powerful Plants". Students will plant their own seedling and will measure the growth during planting and throughout the seedling's growth to harvest. The children will harvest these vegetables during their winter "Growing Vegetable Soup" lesson. During this lesson they will make a delicious soup with the vegetables that they harvested from their own vegetable garden! 

Want to see what we do where we do it? Please join our Garden Tour on Wednesday, Oct 30, at 1pm at Landels School  to see our "Powerful Plants" lesson in action.
Space is limited, so please sign up at gardentours@living-classroom.org