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Comment by Deborah Mannia on April 28, 2012 at 5:56pm

“Lions, Tigers and Bears.  Oh My!”

 

I mean … “Snails, Slugs and Rolly Polies.  Oh My!”

 

I stopped at LEAF for Mikaela, who’s sick.  I have Good News, and Bad News.  Our corn and tomatoes look GREAT!  That was the good news, of course.  Now for the bad news: Unfortunately, critters have eaten nearly all of our cucumbers and some of our beans.  I hand-picked 8 giant snails and 4 big slugs.  The spittle bug infestation in the middle has spread, but isn’t effecting the plants’ health yet.  Some weeds were pulled and some remain … but not too many.  The soil has a nice moisture content.  The plants seem pretty happy about our recent rain, and LOVE today’s sun!  We should actively look for and hand-pick snails when we tend our garden.  Things could definitely be worse. 

Comment by Deborah Mannia on April 25, 2012 at 5:48pm

FYI -- The last comment was the version posted to the LEAF Center Blog.

Comment by Deborah Mannia on April 25, 2012 at 5:47pm

Girl Scout Troop 31916 hosted a Thank You Event for LEAF on Earth Day.  This was the girls’ way of saying “Thank You” for all of the help and mentoring given by LEAF, and for letting them use space at LEAF Center for their Silver Award project.  It was such fun!  The girls held the event at LEAF Center, with their newly planted Spring garden in the background. Girls brought dishes that used the types of produce grown at LEAF: a vegetable tray, a green salad with roasted potatoes, a spinach quiche, a fruit salad, a cabbage salad, corn muffins, plus strawberries and whipped cream.  Yummy!  Those cooking badges have DEFINITELY found roots in these girls.  Their cooking skills are fabulous!  Girl Scouts mingled, donated a portion of their cookie profits to LEAF in the form of an over-sized check, presented a gardening scrapbook to LEAF as a token of their thanks, and said thank you more than a few times each.  Here’s something to chew on:  Before beginning their project with LEAF, half of the troop had no gardening experience and had never held a seed.  Since Fall, as part of their Silver Award project, these Girl Scouts have collectively grown and donated over 200 pounds of organic produce to the Centerville Food Bank and ABODE’s family shelter in Warm Springs.  We are so happy to have found you, LEAF!  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Comment by Deborah Mannia on April 25, 2012 at 5:28pm

The LEAF Thank You Event was such fun!  Ada’s and Lauren’s moms helped put the girls’ ideas into action.  Girls and parents made dishes using the types of produce grown at LEAF: a vegetable tray, green salad with roasted potatoes, fruit salad, spinach quiche, cabbage salad, corn muffins, plus strawberries and whipped cream.  Yummy!  Those cooking badges have DEFINITELY found roots in these girls.  Their cooking skills are fabulous!  Girl Scouts mingled, donated a portion of their cookie profits to LEAF in the form of an over-sized check, presented a gardening scrapbook to LEAF as a token of their thanks, and must have said thank you at least a few times each, including while holding their new Thank You Sign.  Of course, our girls also took a break to mist themselves and each other (and sometimes the adults a little) as a break from the heat (only 80's today, with a breeze).  Girl Scouts, their families, and LEAF representatives all had a GREAT time.  Our girls’ Thank You Event was a success!  Did I mention Bruce’s and Steve’s hulas?  --- Deborah (Mikaela’s mom)

Comment by Deborah Mannia on April 25, 2012 at 5:26pm

Saturday 4/21/12   What a BEAUTIFUL day!  It will be in the high 80's or low 90's today.  Mikaela and I visited LEAF Center to make sure the Girl Scouts’ newly-planted Spring garden survived the heat wave.  To our surprise, Mike had already watered the Circular Garden!  Thank you, Mike!!!!  There were a few spots the sprinklers did not hit.  So, Mikaela watered plants in those areas by hand.  Steve was kind enough to test the Center Garden watering system, lay a soaker hose around the perimeter, and to replace the central sprinkler head to ensure better spray coverage.  WOW!  The garden looks great!  The people at LEAF are so caring and considerate.  What a wonderful group.  We are so lucky to have found LEAF!  --- Deborah (Mikaela’s mom)

Comment by Deborah Mannia on April 6, 2012 at 2:08pm

4/5/12 GS LEAF

Good-byes are bittersweet:  we're sad to leave the familiar, yet excited to greet the new.  That dichotomy was experienced yesterday in the garden as our Girl Scout troop met at LEAF Center for the last Winter garden harvest. 

The garden included a smorgasbord of veggies including arugula, kale, spinach, turnips, kohlrabi, garlic, 2 varieties of radishes, green onions, shallots, bulb onions, snap peas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and several varieties of lettuce.  Some plants were grown from seedlings and others from seed. Before this endeavor, some of our girls had not held a seed.  Now, several harvests later, they know how to plant and grow a garden. Our new gardeners are now seasoned and our veteran farmers have a successful season of peer mentoring under their belts.  Best of all, the Troop's efforts yielded about 150 lbs. of organically grown produce that was donated to the Centerville Food Bank and to the Tri City Homeless Shelter (ABODE)!   Next, we plant our Spring garden.  

Please join me in giving Cheers and Kudos to the amazing Girl Scouts of Troop 31916!

 

Our Girl Scouts are living the Girl Scout Law through gardening:

Being friendly and helpful,

Considerate and caring,

Responsible for what they say and do,

Using resources wisely, and

Making the world a better place.

These girls embody the best of their generation, making us proud through their humanitarian efforts, and living the Girl Scout credo “forever green.”

Deborah

Comment by Daphne Pihui Huang on January 19, 2012 at 8:49pm

Lauren says: it was AWESOME working in weather where the dirt is moist and easy to harvest from. SO MANY RADISHES!!!!! Our circle garden is beautiful with different colors of veggies. we harvested carrots today!!! super fun and the carrots were pretty much PERFECT. harvesting is SUPER COOL

Comment by Steven LaGraffe on January 8, 2012 at 8:37pm

Things are looking good at the garden! Keep it up girls!