Yesterday, (Saturday, April 17), planting day at the Pallmetto House garden, was a HUGE sucsess!! In an two hours we planted over three hundred plants (that is what happens when you works as a team)!!! I was so happy to have residents of the homeless shelter help (from the past and present). I had alot of friend and family there too! My friend Arrington, her mom and sister Lydia, The Makeys, Lily and Eloise (former residents), Mr. Colin, Mr. Kevin, Mr. Albert (current residents) my grandparents, my mom, my master gardener Ms. Lisa and her husband Ty, my little brother John Michael who worked very hard (I am very proud of you John Michael) and everyone else who helped make this garden possible.The new garden looks amazing! We planted about eight rows of vegetables, Tomatoes, Peppers (Bell and Banana),Starwberries, Eggplant, squash, zuchani. potatoes, Okra, and a patch of herbs. Also flowers to attract bees (white ones).
This garden is really special for alot of reasons!
1. This is the first garden I’ve been asked to start.
2. This is the first garden at a homeless shelter/ soup kitchen
3. The residents helped plant it
4. They’ll have fresh vegetables to eat right in their backyard
5. This is my sixth garden!!!!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this garden possible!!!
Thank you Amazing Kids for allowing me to share my gardening tips with all the wonderful people who read your magazine. 🙂 I enjoyed it very much. For more information on Amazing Kids and to see the blog post, visit: "How to Start a Vegetable Garden" @ http://www.amazing-kids.org/a218
How to Start a Vegetable Garden
By Katie Stagliano, age 11
Starting a vegetable garden can be great fun and full of surprise such as the 40 pound cabbage that I grew that changed my life! I am 11 years old and I have several vegetable gardens that I started after I grew my forty pound cabbage. What makes my vegetable gardens a little bit different is that I donate everything I harvest from my gardens to soup kitchens to help feed people in need.
If you want to start a vegetable garden for your family to enjoy or if you too want to plant a garden to feed families who need help putting food on their table, getting started is easier than you think. First, decide what type of garden you would like. You can choose from a few plants in pots, a raise bed garden or a garden planted directly in the ground. Selecting which one can depend on how much space you have. If you live in an apartment or have a small yard, plants in a pot maybe your best choice. If you have a large yard, a raised bed garden or in the ground garden is a great choice, you can even reuse an old sandbox and turn it into a raised bed garden. Keep in mind plants need sunlight to grow, so plan your garden in a sunny spot.
Your next step after selecting where you will have your garden is making sure you have good soil. When planting in pots, purchasing potting soil in bags is a good choice. For a raised bed garden made in an old sandbox (make sure it doesn’t have a bottom) you can also fill it in with bags of potting mix. If you want to plant your garden in the ground remove all of the grass and rocks before you start. Tilling or breaking up the soil will help when you are putting the plants in the ground.
What is the next step? Planning what you would like to grow! There are so many choices. You can pick your favorite vegetable to grow or try something new like okra. I prefer to plant with seedlings, a young plant. You can buy seedlings at Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Lowes and if you are in the 3rd grade you can get a free cabbage seedling through the Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program by asking your teacher to sign up at http://www.bonnieplants.com/CabbageProgram/tabid/81/Default.aspx. Bonnie plants use peat pot that make planting fun and easy with less waste. The tag that comes with the plants is very helpful. It teaches you how to plant and when to harvest. Dig a hole for your plant be sure to make it larger than the plant. Gently place your plant in the hole, fill in dirt around it and be sure to water it often enough, but don’t flood it. Also, if your plants don’t look quite right, try fertilizing them. Fertilizer is a great way to help your plants thrive.
It’s important to plant your garden at the right time, and the key is knowing when your area will see its last spring frost. You may lose your warm weather crops if you put them in the ground too soon. You can check the Old Farmer’s Almanac freeze chart by clicking here- http://www.almanac.com/content/frost-chart-united-states#chart.
The next part is amazing! Water, fertilize, keep the weeds away and watch your plant grow. Before you know it you will have vegetables to pick. You will be amazed at how delicious the vegetables you grow are. It’s that simple! And fun!
Who knew I’d find a spot for ANOTHER garden so quickly? During our last visit to Tri County Family Ministries my dad said, “I see you guys don’t have any land for a garden.” Ms. Sue (she runs Tri County) whipped around in her chair, “Do you see those three boxes over there?” she pointed to three 20 by 4 green boxes, “We can use those.” Hopefully all will go well and I’ll have another garden at Tri County Family Ministries the soup kitchen where I donated my huge 40 pound cabbage. That will be great for them because they can go and harvest any fresh vegetables when they need them. My mom and I scoped the area out and we think we’ll plant herbs, tomatoes, and green peppers. Let’s just hope! And while I’m talking about Tri County I’d like to honor/thank Leo. He was a volunteer there and was hit by a car and died this week. I am very sorry for his friends and family. And thanks Leo. It’s people like you that really impact the fight against hunger just by helping at the soup kitchen.
KATIE STAGLIANO AWARDED DISNEY’S FRIENDS FOR CHANGE GRANT TO ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Grant supports environmental initiatives that culminate on Global Youth Service Day
SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA – Katie Stagliano, a Pinewood Prep 5th grade student, was one of 75 successful applicants around the world to receive a $500 Disney’s Friends for Change grant supporting youth-led environmental initiatives for Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), the largest service event in the world, April 23-25. Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green (www.disney.com/projectgreen) is a program that encourages young people to take steps together with their friends to help the planet. The grants, administered by Youth Service America (YSA), offer youth the resources they need to bring environmental initiatives to life for their local communities.
Each Disney’s Friends for Change grant recipient participating in GYSD will join the thousands of projects and millions of youth who work to make their communities a better place. The funded service projects will address a broad range of environmental issues including clean water, creating community gardens, and raising awareness about renewable energy.
In Katie’s project, Growing for the Greater Good, Katie along with her Pinewood Prep classmates will plant 14 rows of vegetable seedlings in a large scale vegetable garden located on the school grounds.Everything that is harvested from this vegetable garden will be donated to local soup kitchens to help feed families in need in our community. This garden was started and is run by the young Pinewood student. The garden will be planted on Friday, April 23, 2010.Local elected officials will be invited to Pinewood Prep to help support Katie and her classmates on Global Youth Service Day.
“Over 12 million people in the United States alone go to bed hungry. Many of them are right here in South Carolina. I am very excited that Disney and Youth Service America selected me to receive this grant that will help me provide fresh vegetables to people in need in my community. The generous donation of vegetable seedlings for the garden from Bonnie Plants will help make a huge impact in my fight against hunger too. It is the best feeling to be able to help families who are struggling have a healthy meal,” said 11 year-old Katie Stagliano.
“Youth around the world care a great deal about the environment,” said Steve Culbertson, YSA president and CEO. “Disney’s Friends for Change grants are providing thousands of young people an opportunity to address those environmental issues that are the most pressing in their communities. And participating in Global Youth Service helps raise awareness of how children and youth are working towards creating a healthier planet.”
For more information about the Disney Friends for Change Grants, visit Disney.com/projectgreen. To learn more about Global Youth Service Day, visit www.GYSD.org.
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Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green is a multiplatform initiative that helps kids help the planet. Through the program, kids can learn practical ways to help the environment, get their friends involved, track their collective impact and have the opportunity to help Disney decide how $1 million in donations to various environmental causes will be made over the course of a year. Kids can join online at www.Disney.com/projectgreen, where they’ll commit to taking simple everyday actions, such as turning off the lights and switching to reusable water bottles, and find out more about why these actions matter. To date, kids have taken 1.5 million pledges that stand to prevent more than 70,000 tons of carbon emissions per year, save nearly 122 million gallons of water per month and prevent close to 200,000 pounds of trash from entering landfills every month.
Youth Service America (YSA) improves communities by increasing the number and the diversity of young people, ages 5-25, serving in substantive roles. Founded in 1986, YSA supports a global culture of engaged youth committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership, and achievement. The impact of YSA’s work through service and service-learning is measured in student achievement, workplace readiness, and healthy communities. For more information, visit www.YSA.org.
Global Youth Service Day is an annual campaign that celebrates and mobilizes the millions of children and youth who improve their communities each day of the year through service and service-learning. For more information, visit www.GYSD.org.
