BUG Gardeners: Stephanie, Josh, Fischer & Reid
After engaging in their farm storyline unit at school, Fischer and Reid were eager to grow food themselves. Fortunately, their enthusiasm encouraged their parents to help make it happen! Now, the boys regularly wake up and look out their bedroom windows to check on "their" garden beds. Their mom, Stephanie, says, “I love how the boys have learned a little bit about growing their own food, have taken ownership in their garden beds, and have felt successful with each crunchy carrot or snap pea they pick.”
After an on site consultation in May 2021, we constructed three incense cedar raised garden beds and a mobile mini hoophouse for the family’s new garden spaces. Two of the beds replaced a patch of grass just next to their outdoor patio and eating space. The third bed, in a much shadier location, lives just outside their kitchen door, where it is also visible from many windows to remind the family to incorporate their herbs into their cooking. At the end of the growing season, Stephanie reported, “We loved making pesto with our basil, adding fresh herbs to spaghetti sauce, and blistering our shishito peppers in olive oil with lots of flaky sea salt.”
Even with early summer travel adventures, work demands, and sports commitments, the family had a productive first season!
After Bend Urban Gardens created a personalized crop plan for them based on their preferred crops, we met via Zoom to go over the plan and scheduled the first visit of their 6 hours of garden lessons they committed to for the season. Then, on the morning of Reid’s 7th birthday in mid-July, we enjoyed a celebratory family garden lesson, finally bringing the brothers’ dream to life. Everyone practiced checking the soil moisture, applying the appropriate amount of balanced organic fertilizer, learning the names and purpose of useful hand tools, and familiarizing themselves with their own unique “gardener” measurements to help use their hands as measuring tools to estimate seed and plant spacing.
Bend Urban Gardens provided the plant starts and seeds for the first planting date on the family’s personalized crop plan, which guided the planting process. We used the printed maps and practiced reading the spreadsheets with plant spacing recommendations and, together, brought the plan to life in just two hours!
A couple weeks after our first planting lesson, we met again. This time for just an hour, though, to thin carrots and beets, plant the next succession of lettuce and cilantro, assess soil moisture, and adjust the duration and frequency of the family’s drip irrigation program. We investigated plants for pests, which proved to be the biggest gardening challenge this first season. Even though dealing with cabbage worms and aphids may have discouraged Stephanie from planting kale and broccoli in the future, we were able to replace plants that were devoured by deer when fence repair issues gave them an entrance into the garden area while the gardeners were away camping!
Our third garden lesson, 1.5 hours long, occurred a couple weeks later. We had a general check-in, continued to discuss pest management, fertilized as needed, pruned the tomato plants, and the family learned some best practices for harvesting kale, lettuce, and basil to promote a continuous harvest from their original plantings.
In October, we had our final lesson for the season. Even though we got sidetracked by the most giant worm any of us had ever seen, we managed to harvest bok choy, lettuce, peas, and the last of the tomatoes. We planted garlic, shifted their mobile hoophouse to another garden bed to encourage spinach seed germination, did some garden clean up, and made a plan for mulching for the winter.
The star crop of the season was definitely snap peas. Even though seeds weren’t sown until July, typically considered too late for peas, the family’s peas thrived alongside herbs in their shady courtyard raised garden bed. By October, the boys decided that the green ‘Sugar Ann’ and purple ‘Royal Snap’ bush pea varieties were both equally as delicious!
Stephanie reflected on the season, “The boys and I loved learning about how to make a crop plan and the details involved. We were grateful to have guidance from start to finish- with making the plan, planting our crops, help with harvesting, and help putting our beds away for the winter. We were most happy about picking our snap peas, tomatoes, peppers and carrots. I loved sending Reid out for "an Easter egg hunt" and watching him come back in the house munching on veggies. I've grown a deeper appreciation for the produce I see in my grocery store after working so hard to grow my own- things taste better when they're grown with your own hands!”
Stephanie added, “We loved having expert advice and a cheerleader along the way. Ashley was so wonderful with the boys and made all of the garden lessons fun and at each of their levels. They truly enjoyed our time with her. I have a better idea of what it takes to successfully grow a variety of vegetables and herbs in a challenging climate. We had more successes than failures and the overall experience was rewarding and fun.“
I looked forward to each visit and feel so fortunate to have gotten to know this family of curious learners and adventurous eaters! Helping them integrate vegetable gardening into their healthy, active lifestyle and integrate knowledge from school into life at home was an honor.
