Green Thumbs Sprinkler Day

The June 3, and final Green Thumbs event for this year, was another success.  To keep with our tradition, the third program included a fun sprinkler day, where the kids got the chance to cool off by running through the sprinklers.  It was a great time and we all had a blast! 

 The theme for this year's Green Thumbs was color in the garden.  The program started with Prissy Rouse, McFaddin-Ward House docent, reading, "The Indian Paintbrush."  Then the children were divided into two groups.  One group went to a station where they were to paint with watercolors made from natural dyes, made from food items like berries, beets, and coffee.  At the other station, the Green Thumbs got a lesson on nutrition, the importance of eating colorful foods, and were able to make their own appetizer from hummus, herbs, and cucumbers.  

Children that attended all three programs were given a special prize and were encouraged to bring their bean seedlings, planted at the first Green Thumbs program on April 8 to show off their progress.  At the end of the program, we turned on the sprinklers and museum curator, Allen Lea made giant bubbles for the kids.  It was a great day and we will be looking forward to next year's Green Thumbs events!  Follow us on Facebook for the latest details on all our events. 

 

Winter Woes

Brrr! It has been cold! Freezing temperatures have really done a number on our garden! We lost our lovely basil and our peas have given in to the harsh temperatures. Though there is not much to look at right now, we have a few tough veggies holding on, despite the blustery winds.

Last week we harvested some carrots, leaving a few in the ground to get a little bigger. Our broccoli is holding on and maybe in a month's time we will have some ready to harvest. We have some dill and cilantro as well as some chives that have survived. Just like our shivering veggies, we too will gladly welcome the warmer temperatures that are sure to come our way in the next month or two. Once the warmer weather comes, we will enjoy a Spring surprise of daffodils and muscari that have been lying dormant during the winter months.

We will soon be planning our Spring garden. We will host a volunteer meeting in a few weeks and are looking for more volunteers. The meeting date will be posted soon, so stay tuned! We would love for you to join us!

Are you gardening this winter? Tell us about it by clicking on the comment link below this post!

Fall Garden Prep

As the summer comes to a close, we are looking forward to the fall season by making plans for our next planting. The garden has been a success with a plethora of okra, herbs, beans, sunflowers and wildflowers harvested. We even had a few cantaloupes, potatoes, tomatoes and are waiting for our eggplants to become ripe. We survived the summer heat and are anxiously awaiting some cooler temperatures.

Over the weekend we had our first tiny taste of fall and welcomed a bit of a cool front. It is getting us excited for the cooler temperatures ahead and we look forward to planting our fall garden. Last Wednesday, in preparation for the new garden, we had a work day to remove some of the plants that have stopped producing and made plans to improve our soil with compost. We started bright and early and were able to get a lot done before it got too hot.

We removed the beans, tomatoes, cantaloupe, squash and sunflowers-turned-trees. We are now drying the sunflowers and will roast the seeds in a few weeks. We are all looking forward to that! Yummy!

After we finished our work for the day, we made a list of veggies to grow in the fall. We are working on making our garden layout and will post our plans in a few days. On the list are pumpkins, potatoes and leeks to name a few. We look forward to having some delicious leek and potato soup in the cooler months!

Thank you to all our volunteers who have helped with the garden so far. It was been so rewarding and fun! We are always looking for more volunteers, so send an email or give us a call to see how you can help.

Stay tuned to see what else we’ll be planting!

Green Thumbs' Next Program June 11, 2009

Join us for our next Green Thumbs Program!

BUGS: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!"

Call today to register!

June 11, 2009

4:00-5:00 PM

Behind the Carriage House, at corner of North and 4th Streets

After a bug hunt and a lesson on insects found in our garden, kids can have fun playing in the sprinklers. Be sure to bring your swimsuit and a towel!

Remember, the program is free, but registration is a must. Call (409) 832-1906 or email ccuccio@mcfaddin-ward.org

Our green thumbs program is geared toward children ages 6-12 years. Our goal is to help cultivate a love for nature and gardening in Beaumont's youth.

Volunteers Needed!

Do you love gardening?
Do you enjoy sharing your talents with others?
Do you like to meet new people
who have similar interests?
Do you want to be a part of something that is unique in Beaumont?

We’d love for you to join us!

Contact us at (409) 832-1906 for more details.

Be part of the McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden!

Planting Day

Victory Garden Featured on Live at 5

Tom Wright from Channel 6 News (KFDM/CBS) broadcast his first in a series of live interviews in our Victory Garden, March 24th. He was able to photograph volunteers planting in two of our gardens.

Tom will return Thursday, April 15th to follow the progress of our gardens. Plan to come help us over the next few weeks to get our gardens growing.

Call or email for more details. 409-832-1906/McFaddin-Ward House/Carol Cuccio

ccuccio@mcfaddin-ward.org

Azaleas are beginning to bloom

While we are working to get the garden beds ready for the first plantings, the azaleas on our yards are beginning their blooms. A gorgeous dark pink. What a beautiful flush of color.
We welcome people to come onto the yard (check at the visitor center first) to snap photos for personal use (no professionals and only walking on the grass and sidewalks).

Carol Cuccio, our education assistant, has been busy organizing, planning, staffing, and conjoling to get our four garden beds up and running.

Check in to watch our progress.

We now have a compost container!

Thanks to Felix, Jeronimo, and Roy, our compost container is finished! It is located on the east side of the COBuilding in the gated area. Attached is a list of items that are ok to compost. So start collecting in your homes and around town at area restaurants, too!

Contact us a ccuccio@mcfaddin-ward.org for more details.

Happy composting!!

Good things to add:

* Fruit and veggie scraps from your kitchen
* Coffee grounds (the filter is fine too!)
* Tea bags
* Grass clippings
* Ash from your barbeque pits and fireplaces
* Leaves


Things that can’t be added:

x Meats, fish or bones
x Dairy products

4 Garden Beds at the McFaddin-Ward House

The buildings & grounds crew went to work and put in 4 raised garden beds. We are getting closer! We did a "lasagna" layering of materials for the raised beds. That is, we built a wooden border above the ground by about 6-inches and then filled the interior with a bottom layer of newspaper, followed by hay, fertilizer, straw, another layer of fertilizer and will cover the top with compost, before we add the vegetables and herbs.