The Hottest Day of the Summer

On the hottest day of the summer so far, a very dedicated group consisting of Ms. Basdekis (Ms. B #1), Ms. Bazanchuk (Ms. B #2), Lauren, Zia, Raphaela, and Tegan all came out to the garden.  Thanks to an amazing MHS maintenance team, our new plot of land was freshly cleared and ready to battle with Ms. B #1 and the tiller!

Ms. B #2, Lauren, and Zia fought the weeds that were sprouting up between the rapidly growing vegetables in the fenced in section of the garden.  When all of this was accomplished, which took awhile in the sweltering heat, we headed out to the greenhouse to grab some tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants that Ms. B #1 had been taking care of.

Tegan and Raphaela joined us to plant the new section of the garden! 

Thanks for all your hard-work! It's really appreciated!

Also, there is now a Garden Log, so if you head out to the garden in the future, make sure to write your name, the date, and what you did!

Hope to run into you all there!

Pulling up ALL of the weeds!
Photo Credit: Ms. Bazanchuk

The Purple Cabbage is planning on
 taking over the world, I swear!

Something has started eating the beets,
but the rest of them are nice and healthy!

Look at that little broccoli!

Garlic Scape! Almost time to make some pesto!

Planting some tomatoes in our new section!

COME THURSDAY AT 9:30

Starting at 9:30 am on Thursday June 21st, HEAT will be out in the garden weeding!
It's going to be extremely hot out, so bring water!
Your help will be extremely appreciated, even if you can only come for a little while!

Also, I have just created a Garden Log.  It will be hanging along with a pen on the fence post.  When you go out to the garden we would appreciate if you could write the date, your name, and a summary of what you did so that we can keep track of things going on in the garden! Thanks!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

The Farm Bill

There is no end to the political debates over the future of American agriculture.  The most recent legislation going through Congress is the Farm Bill.  Stemming from the Agricultural Adjustment Act that all MHS US History students have learned about at one point or another, the bill's main goal is to financially benefit the farmers of America.
The bill that is in the works now has many different components.   NPR summarizes the bill as,

• "price supports and/or crop insurance for commodity crops

• conservation programs that affect land, water and soil use

• agricultural exports and food aid, including humanitarian assistance to other nations

• food assistance programs for poor Americans

• direct and guaranteed loans to farmers and ranchers

• forestry programs managed by the U.S. Forest Service

• programs promoting renewable fuels such as ethanol

• crop insurance and disaster assistance"

The website Grist identifies five important aspects of the bill that should be paid attention to.

1) That SNAP, or the new food stamps program, will be receiving more money in hopes that the economy will improve.

2 & 3) More limits to the subsidies for crop insurance

4) Meatpackers will no longer be able to own livestock as they are manipulating the system.  This section of the bill will hopefully benefit small farmers.

5) Trying to restore programs that will help train young farmers so that they can be profitable.  Since in the next five years 125,000 American farmers will retire, it is crucial that young farmers are educated.

The entire article can be found at http://grist.org/news/the-five-farm-bill-amendments-you-should-keep-an-eye-on/

If you ever come across any interesting article or topics that you would like to see HEAT discuss, don't hesitate to pass it along!

p.s. Hope to see you in the garden soon! Come at your own convenience!

Class Day

Before summer took the MHS gardeners to all corners of the globe, we were able to reconvene one more time in the garden during class day!

Our lovely new Co-Head pulling the ever-growing weeds!

H.E.A.T's new Vice President taking good care of the broccoli

No one ever said you can't look stylin' in the garden

Thanks to everyone who came out!

DON'T FORGET

The garden is ALWAYS open for ANYONE to enjoy.  Whether it's to take pictures, pull some weeds, water the beets, eat some fresh produce, or to get your hands dirty you are completely welcome!