PROFILE

I want to work at the garden because: I worked here last year and it was really fun.

Two of my personal goals for working at the Dallas Youth Garden this summer are:

  1. Grow and learn about new vegetables and plants.

  2. Help and learn about the needs of my community.

Two things I hope to learn from working at the Dallas Youth Garden are:

  1. How to grow a garden well with sustainable practices.

  2. The needs of my community and ways to help.

I think my biggest challenge will be: Keeping up on weeding.

My favorite vegetable or fruit is: Peppers

I hope to contribute this to the garden this year: Help and motivation to others.

OLIVIA’S GARDEN

 GARDEN PLAN

Vegetables and Flowers Planted (list in order):

  1. Zinnias

  2. Zinnias

  3. Peppers

  4. Carrots

  5. Cabbage

  6. Tomatoes

  7. Onions

  8. Zucchini

  9. Radishes

  10. Lettuce / 2 Cabbage

  11. Beets

  12. Cabbage

  13. Beets

  14. Lettuce

  15. Butternut Squash

  16. Basil

  17. Peppers

  18. Beans

Rows of vegetables planted: 18

Number of different kinds of vegetables planted: 12

Planned Garden Yield: 320 lbs

Planned Biggest Producer: Cabbage

Changes in my plan during planting: I was planning to plant dill but we were out of seeds, so I switched it to basil. I also had to replant my lettuce, because I had originally planted seeds, but they weren't coming up so I replanted starts. And I had to plant more green bean seeds, because not many came up.

Bouquets that I’ve made with zinnias and sunflowers from my garden

GARDEN LOG

  • May 1-3: Met for the first time at the garden and pulled tarps. We covered the garden with tarps last October to keep the ground from getting too wet and frozen, which makes it easier to start the garden again the following Spring. We saw a lot of snakes and bugs but overall it went smoothly, the ground wasn’t too wet and muddy which made things a lot easier.

  • May 4-10: Planned out our gardens over Zoom and cleaned up after the Master Gardener's plant sale at the Fairgrounds.

  • May 11-17: Began planting our first few rows and watered them, and learned how to update our websites.

  • May 18-24: Continued planting and watering.

  • May 25-31: Finished planting and began weeding our gardens.

  • June 1-7: Worked on weeding and watering, and started mulching the gardens by laying down newspaper, then covering it with straw. Mulch prevents weeds from growing and keeps the soil cool in the hot sun.

  • June 8-14: Continued weeding and watering, as well as putting straw and paper down for mulch.

  • June 15-21: Weeded and watered, and finished mulching 3 gardens with straw and paper. We also used fish fertilizer on our transplants, which provides nutrients and improves soil quality.

  • June 22-28: Weeded and watered, and finished mulching 4 gardens. On Thursday we only weeded, not watered, because the soil was still moist and it was a great day for weeding.

  • June 29-July 5: Continued weeding and watering. Since we finished mulching all the gardens, we had a lot more time to weed.

  • July 6-12: I was gone this week, but my supervisors picked the first few zucchini from my garden!

  • July 13-19: Weeded and watered, and picked zucchini, lettuce, and beets.

  • July 20-26: Weeded and watered, and picked zucchini, lettuce and beets. Laid down wood chips in between our gardens for the walkway.

  • July 27-August 2: Weeded and watered, and picked zucchini, lettuce, and beets. We finished laying down wood chips in the walkway. Saturday was our open house, where people could come see our gardens and learn about what we do.

  • August 3-9: Weeded and watered, and picked zucchini, lettuce, onions, cabbage, and peppers. We hit 1,000 pounds of produce this week. I also thinned my carrots, and got to take home what I thinned. With those and some zucchini from my garden, I made zucchini carrot cake, which counted as one of my projects. We presented our projects on Saturday. There was also an article written about us, there was someone from the newspaper at our open house and he interviewed Dean and Claire. It was really cool to see and it hopefully spread the word about us.

  • August 10-16: Weeded and watered, and picked zucchini, onions, cabbage, peppers, and beans. On Saturday, we made recipes with zucchini and had a contest that was judged by our supervisors. I won with zucchini fritters that I made. (I’ll put the recipe below)

Final Thoughts:


My favorite garden vegetable was:
Because:
I harvested _____ pounds of produce from my garden.
My favorite job was: Harvesting produce.
My least favorite job was: Using fish fertilizer, because it smelled terrible.
I could have done better at: Watering. You have to manage your time while you’re watering, or else you will take too much time or finish too quickly (which means your plants aren’t getting enough water). I had to make sure that I spend an adequate amount of time on each plant/row, so that I finish on time.
I did the best I could doing: Weeding. My garden, surprisingly, had minimal weeds this year (unlike last year), so I didn’t have to spend a ton of time weeding, especially at the beginning of the summer.
The two things I learned most at the garden this year were:
1. Job skills (specifically interview tips)
2. Organic agriculture practices.

GARDEN PROJECTS

1.Project One

Question/Problem(s) Proposed: How to get rid of slugs and snails in the garden.

Answer(s) I found: Slugs and snails eat plants and seedlings, and can wipe out plants in just a few days. One sustainable way to get rid of them is to plant flowers and vegetables that they dislike, such as lavender, peonies, ferns, or fennel. Another way is to add coffee grounds to your soil, because they repell them. Crushed egg shells also work to repell slugs and snails, and they are very good for the soil once they decompose. The third way is to water your garden in the morning rather than at night, so that the plants have enough time to dry before dark, when the bugs like to come out.

URL References: https://morningchores.com/how-to-get-rid-of-snails/

https://www.gardendesign.com/how-to/slugs-snails.html#plants

2. Recipe

Name: Zucchini Carrot Cake

Vegetable Used: Zucchini and Carrots

Ingredients: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup melted butter, 3 eggs, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 cups grated zucchini, 1/2 cup grated carrots.

Steps to Make it: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Add in eggs. Fold in flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Fold in zucchini and carrots. Pour into a 9x13 baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes.

Opinion: It was good! I made a cream cheese frosting to go on top, but it would have been good without it. It was really moist because of the zucchini and carrots.

3. Another Project

Question/Problem(s) Proposed:

Answer(s) I found:

URL Reference:

Zucchini Fritters Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of grated zucchini, drained

  • 1 egg

  • 1/3 cup flour

  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

  • Garlic salt

  • Oil, for frying

Directions:

Grate the zucchini and wring out the water using a paper towel. Combine with the egg, flour, parmesan cheese, and garlic salt. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Once bubbling, drop 2 tbsps. of batter into the oil and cook for about 2 minutes on each sides. Serve with ranch or sour cream and green onions.

MONTHLY GARDEN SUMMARY

May: Days Worked: 13 Days Off: 1

June: Days Worked: 11 Days Off: 1 Extra Days Worked: 1

July: Days Worked: 12 Days Off: 3 Total Produce: 90 lbs

August: Days Worked _____ Days Off ____ Extra Days Worked _____ Days Late_______ Total Produce(Pounds):__

September: Days Worked ____ Days Off _____ Extra Days Worked _____ Days Late______ Total Produce(Pounds):____