Growing Together: FitKids Families and HOPE Gardens Wednesday Evenings
by Kathy Bego Illuminated by the glinting early evening sun, teenage participants in FitKids and their families planted ten raised garden beds in UCOM’s community garden at Marquette Park this week. From late May through early August, families from FitKids will join HOPE Gardens staff on Wednesday nights to garden together. Each Wednesday evening begins […]
Planting and Caring for Brasicas (such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, and cauliflower) in Your Garden
Let’s Plant Some Peas!
Let’s Pop Some Pea Seeds into the Garden! Whether it rains or snows, pea plants are one of the stars of spring planting. Like other cool weather crops, peas can be planted in these March and April days of changing weather. Choose between lower bush varieties or the climbing types of peas (check the seed […]
Winter Sowing!
Convert spring fever into spring seedlings with Winter Sowing! For “winter sowing”, we plant seeds in milk jugs or other semi-transparent plastic containers. Placed outside in January or February, these mini-greenhouses expose seeds to the cold temperatures that some wildflowers and other perennials need to experience before germinating. How about broccoli, kale, or dill? The […]
FitKids 360 Harvest Fest
This week families in Fitkids celebrated their gardens’ summer harvest with a dinner in Marquette Park’s gazebo. Once just tiny seedlings, plants are now stretching ever higher, filling the boxes and climbing trellises in this very green community garden. The Fitkid families, together with HOPE garden staff, planted and now tend six garden boxes. The […]
Summer in Our School Gardens
At H.O.P.E Gardens, we have been excited to engage students in various enriching activities in our school gardens this summer. To begin, we taught the art of transplantation, guiding students as they learned how to carefully move seedlings that had sprouted from seeds. This hands-on experience provided them with valuable skills and knowledge about plant […]
Unearthing the Garden’s Secret Helpers: Worms
As spring unfolded, our students embarked on an eye-opening journey into the intricate world of garden ecology. They uncovered the invaluable role played by worms, nature’s unsung heroes, in nurturing our green spaces. These humble creatures devour organic matter and fallen leaves, converting them into nutrient-rich soil that forms the bedrock of vibrant plant life. […]
We had a Workshop
On Saturday, March 11, we hosted a Rengenerative Garden Workshop at Flowerland in Wyoming, MI. Hope Gardens’ staff taught community members how to install their own no-till, regenerative (nature-based) garden. Regenerative gardening is an approach to sustainable food and farming systems that regenerates topsoil and enhances biodiversity now and long into the future. This practice […]
March Garden Tips!
Now that the weather is starting to get warmer, this is a good time to revisit your garden and start getting your supplies and areas ready for your transplants! Make sure you have enough tools and gloves and clean up any fallen debris and garden messes you have been pushing off all winter! Eliminating hibernating […]
February Garden Tips
February’s tips come from our fabulous garden tech, Jake Torok. Get your supplies ready! Seed starting is just around the corner. Start looking at your seed packets and taking note of which ones need to be started in order to be able to be transplanted outside as soon as their tolerance allows! Peppers, thyme, and […]