May Workday

Master Gardener Howard van Dijk pruned the palmetto trees. 

On the last workday before summer, held on May 5, 2011, Master Gardeners and community volunteers tackled several projects in the Carolina Children's Garden.   Trees were pruned, weeds were pulled, plants were planted, and sweat was spilled!  Two Master Gardeners tackled the Winnie-the-Pooh characters, many of whom needed touching up and detailing following the Storybook Painting Party held earlier in the spring. 

Carolina Children's Garden Education Coordinator, Arlene Marturano, added detail to Rabbit's expression.

Joyce Bibby, Carolina Children's Garden Workday Coordinator, gave Eeyore lots of TLC!

Carolina Children's Garden workdays are held on the first Thursday of the month, September-May.  For details or to find out how you can help at the next workday, contact carolinachildrensgarden (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Lenticels in the Lens Gallery

Winning entries in the first Carolina Children's Garden photo contest, "Lenticels in the Lens," were displayed in a gallery at the Sandhill Farmer's Market on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011.  Passers-by admired the many wonderful submissions, and many asked that all-important question--"What is a lenticel, anyway?"

In short, a lenticel is a plant's pore-like structure that allows gas exchange.  Read more about them here, then go take a look at a tree in your neighborhood.  Trees in the rose family, like cherries and apples, often have prominent lenticels that are easy to observe.

Jimmy Parrott, a winner in the youth division, stopped at the gallery to receive his certificate.

Congratulations to all the photographers who submitted winning entries, and thanks to everyone who participated in this inaugural competition!  

Sparkleberry Fair, 2011

Every April, residents of northeast Columbia turn out for the annual Sparkleberry County Fair at the Clemson University Sandhill Research and Education Center (REC).  This year's fair, held on April 30th, was no different!  The Carolina Children's Garden co-sponsored a booth under the Clemson tent to share information about composting and raise awareness of the Garden and its education programs. 

Children learn about vermicomposting at the Garden's booth

Other exhibits included a Conservation Station display featuring natural artifacts and mystery boxes.  The Conservation Station, sponsored by the Richland Soil & Water Conservation District and located at the REC, is a sister site to the Carolina Children's Garden and offers conservation education programs for the public.  Like the programs at the Children's Garden, these programs are funded, in part, by a Community Conservation Grant from the Richland County Conservation Commission. 

Mystery Boxes:  Don't be shy! 

Jeff Laney (right), Associate Commissioner of the Richland Soil & Water Conservation District, talks turtles with interested fairgoers

Nearby, Dr. John Nelson, the "mystery doctor with the mystery plant" on the popular SCETV program Making it Grow!, identified plants and discussed botany with fair-goers at the USC Herbarium table.

The USC Herbarium table was next to the Garden's booth

The Sparkleberry Fair is a community festival "about education, for education."  Exhibits and events at the Fair revolve around a theme of agriculture education and historical lifeways, and all proceeds from the fair benefit local students.  The 17th annual Sparkleberry Fair will be held in April, 2012...watch their website for details at www.sparkleberryfair.com! 

New Feature, Part III: Storybook Characters!

Kathy Murray sketches faces and features

Several former inhabitants of Pooh's Corner in the Carolina Children's Garden are returning this month!  Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Tigger, and Kanga used to live all together in Pooh's Corner, but over the years, several members of this merry bunch wandered away.  At a special Storybook Painting Party on April 9, 2011, volunteer artists painted faces and features of these beloved characters on new plywood cutouts prepared by volunteer carpenters and painters.

Marie Daniels painting Piglet

Real, live versions of several of these characters were also present, courtesy of a local petting zoo; USC student Julia Grasso provided an extremely popular finger-painting activity for children, and a beekeeper was on hand to answer questions about Pooh Bear's favorite food--"Hunny!"

Michael Radcliffe of the Wateree Beekeepers Association provided bee education!

Visit our Facebook album to see more photos of this special event and learn about the volunteers and artists who made the event possible!

New Feature, Part II: Cold Frame

"But round the end of the cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr. McGregor!" 

-Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit

In Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the unfortunate title character has a harrowing experience at the end of a cucumber frame.  Said cucumber frame is depicted in Potter's accompanying watercolor illustration (above) as a wooden box with a glass lid.  This contraption was doubtlessly used as a cold frame in which warm-season vegetables (including cucumbers) were produced in a cool, short-summered climate.

In the Carolina Children's Garden, Mr. McGregor has his very own garden--complete with a white picket fence, two raised vegetable gardens, a freshly-painted tool shed, and a border of lovely daffodils.  Now, Mr. McGregor also has...wait for it...his very own cold frame!

This stunning Potteresque cold frame was designed and constructed by the multi-talented Hattie and Donald Bruce Monson.  The frame is made of treated pine lumber (which, Hattie notes, no longer contains arsenic--a chemical that, in the past, made treated lumber unsuitable for the construction of vegetable beds) with a Plexiglas roof.  Hinges, handles, and hook-and-eye latches make the frame easy to open and close.

Constructing the frame was a learning process for the Monsons--Hattie reported that this was the first "permanent" cold frame they had constructed, having used only temporary cold frames made of plastic stretched over hoops to protect young seedlings in the past.  The frame had to be made to fit into an existing wooden square in Mr. McGregor's Garden--the remnants of the Garden's original cold frame, long since vanished.

While Hattie admitted that the cold frame "did look nice in the garage," the best part of the process was seeing the frame installed in its intended destination beside Mr. McGregor's toolshed.  The installation process required the help of several friends, including Master Gardener Kathy Murray and USC student Christine Burkes (pictured below).

Keep your eye on Mr. McGregor's Garden, as more changes are in store...the frame will soon be painted, and, when the weather begins to cool this fall, expect to see plants migrating magically into the frame!

New Feature, Part I: A Teepee Trellis!

Thanks to the creativity of Master Gardener Joyce Bibby and the efforts of volunteers at the recent April workday, Garden visitors can now rest in the dappled shade beneath our new teepee trellis!  The teepee is made of crape myrtle poles buried slightly in the ground and tied tightly together with twine.  Twine was also strung between the poles like the spiraling strands of a spider's web to provide more structure for the pole beans, planted in pots around the base of the trellis, to grow on. 

Find the teepee between the stage and the parking lot, adjacent to the rain garden!  Expect a boulder to appear in the teepee by the end of the month....

View more photos on Facebook.

April Additions

Once a month, Master Gardeners and community volunteers meet in the Children's Garden for a few hours of old-fashioned hard work.  The April workday, held on April 7, 2011, was no different.

Gardeners Conspiring

Prior to the big event, Workday Coordinators Mary Kelly and Joyce Bibby (above) devised a Plan of Attack.  On the day itself, Master Gardeners tackled an assortment of projects: Joyce Tillman tidied the Alphabet Garden and planted annuals; Mary Alice Williams worked with high school student volunteers to plant petunias in the Three Bears' Homestead; Marie Daniels made plans for the future of the Butterfly Garden; Joyce Bibby and David Sprung created a great new teepee trellis using crape myrtle poles donated by Howard van Dijk; Hattie Monson, Kathy Murray, and USC student Christine Burke installed a cold frame; Arlene Marturano planted sunflowers amidst the daffodils in Mr. McGregor's Garden; and Chanda Cooper ate the M&Ms thoughtfully provided by Mary Kelly (thanks, Mary!).  

Planting sunflowers

Watch the blog for more detailed posts about the new teepee and cold frame, or, better yet, visit the Garden and see them for yourself!  As always, thanks to the many volunteers who make the Children's Garden possible.