Take Charge with Confidence and Self-Reliance

Tag: Master Gardeners

  • Peaches, Chiles and Chives – Our Post-Labor Day Harvest

    by

    Dan Burke

    Octavia picks Peaches from the CCB Garden

    Octavia picks Peaches from the CCB Garden

    During the latter part of August in Colorado, and into the first week or so of September, we are all going crazy about Western Slope peaches. They are big, they are juicy, and they are to die for. They are in the supermarkets, the farmers’ markets and many from the Front Range make the trip across the Divide to get a case or two, and maybe even attend the Palisades Peach Festival. They end up in cobblers, pies, crisps, freezers, and we have heard at least one reported instance of homemade peach ice cream.… Read the rest “Peaches, Chiles and Chives – Our Post-Labor Day Harvest”

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  • A Harvest Celebration with our Master Gardeners

    by

    Dan Burke

    MasterGardeners attend a Get-Together at CCB

    MasterGardeners attend a Get-Together at CCB

    Thanksgiving is of course very much a harvest celebration. So it is appropriate that we invited our Master Gardeners to the center for a little thank-you celebration Tuesday morning. After all, our collaboration with them in our Legacy Garden each summer results in a wonderful harvest of tomatoes, peppers, herbs and squashes, to name a few, but also in a harvest of opportunity and confidence for our students.

    While many of the students who worked in the garden as recently as September have graduated, there were many individual thank-yous and some great comments for the gardeners.

    Faye said that she plans to resume gardening when she graduates and returns home to Georgia.… Read the rest “A Harvest Celebration with our Master Gardeners”

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  • The First Week of Summer Means Lots of Firsts

    by

    Dan Burke

    Amber using a shovel in the garden for the 1st time with Annette and Barb

    Amber turns dirt over in the garden with Annette and Master Gardener Barb

    No matter what the calendar says, it’s the first week of summer. The temps are in the 90s, the garden is being planted and summer staff are shadowing their ITP staff counterparts. Friday 25 teenagers (summer students) begin arriving and on Monday the elementary Confidence Camp kids start too.

    So here’s another first or two. Above, Amber uses a spade for the first time out in the garden. When asked if she’d dug with a shovel before she promptly answered, “I’m about to.” And then she proceeded to do it. In the process she and classmate Annette planted this years pumpkin and zucchini hills.… Read the rest “The First Week of Summer Means Lots of Firsts”

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  • Another Sign of Spring: Master Gardeners & the Legacy Garden #ShareLittleton

    by

    Dan Burke

    Tyler holds up a weed with a root over a foot long that he dug down deep to get out

    Tyler holds up a weed with a foot-long root

    It’s yet another sign of spring when the Arapahoe County Master Gardeners first arrive to work with our students in the Legacy Garden. Of course, everything starts with getting the soil ready for planting and, after our spring rains, that means pulling out the eager weeds already leaping up. Tyler, Annette, Abdi, Tucker and Brad took first crack at it on Tuesday. Next week planting begins!

    Brad fills a large container with old dead growth and weeds
    Abdi uses a hand cultivator to loosen the soil around smaller weeds so he can get the roots

     

    Annette uses a spade to dig out some weeds between the irrigation tubing
    Tucker uses a weed digger to get right up next to a large rock

     

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  • 2017 Garden Farewell

    by

    Dan Burke

    Tyler leads the way as he and Master Gardener Volunteer Barb P. carry a tarp loaded with stems and leaves pulled up from the garden

    Tyler leads the way as he and Master Gardener Barb carry a tarp loaded with stems and leaves to the dumpster

    Master Gardeners and students joined forces one last time in mid-October to put our Legacy Garden to rest for the 2017 growing season. There were still a few things to harvest, mostly walking onions and mint, but the rest was clean-up. Still, it was a bright fall day and great to be outside and enjoy a few laughs and good work.

    Thanks again to our Master Gardeners. It was a great season!

    Leon laughs as he holds a worm in the palm of his hand
    Cody pulls out a large stock with lots of roots
    John leans way over the edge and uses a garden spade to turn the soil

    Dan hands Lindsey a large bundle of mint

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  • Summer Youth Explore the Garden

    by

    Dan Burke

    Large group of Summer Youth out in the garden with their bags full of things they picked

    Group of Summer Youth in the garden with bags of produce

    Today we start up again after our annual trip to the National Fedeeration of the Blind Convention in Orlando, but the CCB summer students got back in the swing of things yesterday. Since it was our appointed gardening day with the Master Gardeners, summer students and staff got the privilege of bringing in the first zucchini of the season, as well as some other tasy surprises!

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  • Zukes, Cukes, Pumpkins & Peas: 1st Garden Planting!

    by

    Dan Burke

    A large group working out in the garden

    A large group working out in the garden

    It’s still too chilly for tender basil and eggplant and jalepeños, not to mention tomatoes and tomatillosand thyme, but it was a great morning to plant seeds in our Legacy Garden with Arapahoe County’s Master Gardeners! So that’s what happened – Jen and Carina’s 1st hour Braille classes went out first, followed by Tech classes with Chip, Chris and Showe.

    By next week, the night airs will be considerably warmer, and we’ll be able to put in our plants. For now, it’s exciting – the growing season is definitely underway!

    Kyra planting peas under a metal trellis
    Cezar and Joann planting cucumbers under a wooden trellis

     

    Libby planting a pumpkin patch in the center of the garden
    Lexi planting cucumbers under a trellis

     

    Zach H. on one knee with one of the Master Gardeners planting zucchini in the center of the garden
    Ceci poking a hole with one finger and a hand full of tiny seeds in the other hand

     

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  • CCB Legacy Garden: Kimberley & the Master Gardeners

    by

    Dan Burke

    Last year’s gardening season, with the Arapahoe County Master Gardeners from first to last spade, and Kimberley giving us historic background.

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  • Getting the Garden Ready for 2017

    by

    Dan Burke

    Zach on one knnee cutting the final branch - the finished pile is behind him

    Yes, it’s time to start getting the garden ready for the 2017 growing season! Tuesday morning some of our Colorado Master Gardeners from the Arapahoe County’Extension Office came by to start getting our Legacy Garden area ready for planting next month, clearing out and cutting down all manner of last year’s growth. Zach, our student from Montana, couldn’t pass up the chance to be outside on such a lovely morning. In the photos below, he takes the stalks of Russion Sage to task, making way for new growth this year. The Russion Sage has a great scent throughout the summer, and is just one plant of many that offer odors, from savory to sweet in our Legacy Garden.… Read the rest “Getting the Garden Ready for 2017”

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