Technology in the Garden

Dirt, Sun. Water & Technology?

Apps for gardening

There might not be an electrically outlet in your garden but that doesn't mean you can't get 'plugged' into gardening. Computers monitor weather conditions to let farmers know the best time to harvest or when an expected frost is coming. You can certainly use a computer to research information about your plants. Here are some examples of ways to use technology in the garden you might not have thought of:

Labeling your crops. Sometimes its hard to remember what we have planted where, especially when it comes to bulbs you plant in Fall but you don't see until Spring.

These pictures use an app called Doodley Moore.

• Don't know what you have? You need the Garden Compass. It has a Plant/ Disease Identifier
• Vegetable Planting Calendars, electronic alerts remind you what weeks to plant, transplant, and when to harvest...even Moon Gardening, using the lunar calendars..ever hear of "Harvest Moon"?
• There are too many Design apps to list.
• How much to plant to feed your family? Use the "Vegetable Garden Calculator"
• Not sure which spot in your lawn have the best sunlight for your garden? Use Sun Surveyor app.
• Companion Planting..not all vegetables play well in the same sandbox.
• And of course there are games like: Roo's Fabulous Edible Garden & Green RADventures of Nico

September 2013

September Gardening

It's late summer and things are winding down in the garden. Some of our flowers are done blooming. Some are "Going To Seed". 

September in the garden in Ohio

1. Still some time to plant fast growing vegetables.
2. Weeding
3. Some plants are "going to seed", creating seeds that can be collected to grow new plants next season. Some seeds are found inside our vegetables. Some form on the flowers.
4. More harvesting. What Vegetables can you pick now?

August 2013

Weeds! 

Spring pictures

Tulips

Resouces..links

http://gardenabcs.com/

http://www.schoolgardenwizard.org/

http://edibleschoolyard.org/

http://www.farmtoschool.org/

Welcome to Highland Island!

Welcome to Highland Island's garden spot and Highland Drive Elementary in Brecksville! Visit this site to check out what's happening in our school garden.

Thanks to the Akron Ladies Garden Club, a Horticulturist (A professional who studies the growth of flowers, fruits and vegetables) has indentified WE HAVE A FUNGUS AMOUNG US!

This is a picture of Artillery Fungus aslo called Shotgun Fungus. It's not dangerous. 

Can you find this in our garden?

What is Artillery Fungus?
A: The artillery fungus is a white-rotting, wood-decay fungus that likes to live on moist landscape mulch. It is in the genusSphaerobolus (Greek for “sphere thrower”) and is very common across the USA, especially in the East, as well as many other parts of the world. The most common species in Pennsylvania seems to be S. iowensis (contrary to previous reports – including our own). The artillery fungus is technically a “Basidiomycete” fungus (like the common mushroom that we eat), and probably is most closely related to a group of fungi called “earth stars”. However, the artillery fungus is much smaller that the earth star that you may see occasionally growing in your yard. There may be other fungi and fungi-like organisms growing in your mulch. (Ref. Penn State)

Last summer we were lucky enough to have a local Girl Scout group plant these flowers in our raised beds!

Mrs. Brinkman's class released butterflies! Some are still flying around before winter comes. Did you you know when the air gets too cold butterflies can't fly?

Throughout this blog I will offer links to great resources including what's happening in the garden in a monthly update, what other schools are doing in their gardens, activities in the garden, and more.