How are our junior gardeners making out?

You may remember that on Earth Day we were visited by the children of River Hebert Elementary School.


The students came to the centre to learn about growing their own food, learn about composting and to make a recycled pop bottle greenhouse, to plant a pumpkin seed, which they were to take home, and hopefully bring back their pumpkin on Halloween and enter it into our pumpkin competition.

We were wondering how the pumpkins were faring. It seems that some pumpkins haven't fared too well, whilst others are growing slow and steady. The students are enjoying taking care of their baby plants and it seems there is a real atmosphere of competition building up!

So, here is an insider secret we can share with the children on growing great pumpkins:

The Sugar Water Method
Wait until a pumpkin develops, and has grown to be about 6 inches across.
Fill a bowl with 50 percent water and 50 percent white granulated sugar. If you want to use milk instead of water, this will work well too. Dunk your cotton string into this mixture.
Make a small slit with your knife in the base of the pumpkin's stem, about 4 inches above the pumpkin. Insert one end of your cotton string into the slit, and keep the other end in your sugar water mixture. The pumpkin will slowly suck up the sugar mixture, helping it grow bigger.

(Image: Bayden shows off his recycled pop bottle greenhouse)

Calling all local people with green fingers!

The Joggins Fossil Institute is in the process of planning its garden and we are looking for green-fingered volunteers to help us to tend it.

We are constructing raised beds, using our own excellent compost, generated from the cafe scraps, and will be growing a range of vegetables and soft fruits to augment the produce we have in the cafe and to help us to serve fresh, delicious food.

If you have a few spare hours a week and would like to help us, would like to share your expertise, or to donate vegetable or fruit plants if you have a glut of them, then please email operations@jogginsfossilcliffs.net we would love to hear from you.

We are also considering establishing a cooperative for fruit and vegetables, so that we can exchange produce with local growers, to vary what we have and to share fresh, locally grown food.

Watch this space.