Hay: A Benefit With a Drawback

Since our school garden is in the middle of the Mojave Desert and the temperature in the Las Vegas Valley is a record breaking 122 degrees, we decided to use hay as a mulch for our newly planted pumpkin seeds, herbs, and trees.

Hay bales are ready to be used to cool down new plants and retain moisture.

In the beginning of the growing season, hay encourages faster growth, prevents evaporation, conserves moisture, adds organic material over time as it decomposes, and reduces weed growth.

Hay is composed of cut wheat or barley stalks.  Straw is used for animal bedding, not feed.  Be sure to use Certified Noxious Weed Free bales of hay.

A drawback to using hay is that weed seeds are trapped in the bales of hay. Once hay gets watered, the weed seeds can sprout. Unfortunately, new types of weeds can be introduced into the garden.

Besides hay, we also use sawdust, bark chips, wood chips, leaves, and pine needles as mulch.  It depends on the time of year and what is available to us.

So for hot weather relief, help your newly sown seeds, trees, and flower beds with some kind of mulch.

An herb garden bed without any mulch will stress plants.

Fran and granddaughter, Savannah, are laying straw on pumpkin seeds that were just put into the soil.

Hay is placed on newly sown seeds so that birds
 don't eat them before they get a chance to grow.

Savannah is happy to protect her
pumpkin seeds from extreme heat and birds.

Day 3 Pumpkin Patch Project

On Saturday June 22, the volunteers from Junior League of Las Vegas, Project Dinner Table and Los Vaqueros, returned for one more round to finish the pathways around the planter beds. The planters were filled with topsoil from last weekend.  Now it was time to finish the pathways.

Flagstone was piled at the edge of the agricultural area.  First, volunteers had to smooth out the pathways with rakes.  Was it fog?  No, just dust from raking out the pathways.  Next, volunteers had to wheelbarrow in tons of pea gravel.  The volunteers were pros at this because of all the work they accomplished last week wheelbarrowing tons of topsoil for the planters. Finally, volunteers designed the pathways by laying out the 5 pallets of flagstone and the irrigation lines were put in.

Mr. Lopez, a fourth grade teacher from Gene Ward Elementary, worked side by side with his wife and daughter to make our pumpkin patch a success. Another father and son duo, Justin and Ed, from Los Vaqueros, worked from 5 am to 4 pm two weekends in a row.  This is what our garden is all about.  Families of all ages coming together to promote a healthy lifestyle and sustainable living.

flagstone for the pathways

Fog? Mist? Dry Ice? No, just dust from raking

irrigation

Volunteers: Los Vaqueros, Project Dinner Table, Junior League of Las Vegas

Miko is laying out a design of flagstone.

wheelbarrows waiting for pea gravel

Lily, our youngest volunteer, is entering 2nd grade

Mr. and Mrs. Lopez working together.  Mr. Lopez is a 4th grade teacher at Gene Ward.

straightening out the path for the pea gravel

Day 2 Pumpkin Patch Project

Those dedicated Volunteers from Junior League of Las Vegas, Project Dinner Table, and Los Vaqueros came back on a Sunday at 6 am.  That's right-- on a Sunday and at 6 am-- for another work day to prepare Gene Ward's Pumpkin Patch.

Even though we had over 60 volunteers on June 15 and worked round the clock, there was more pea gravel and topsoil to add to the planters.  So it was time once again to shovel, transport, and rake, in the 110 degree hot, summer sun. 

Footprints in the pea gravel

Fran, teacher from Gene Ward Elementary, is relieved that the wheelbarrowing was done for the day.

Michelle from Junior League of Las Vegas

Gina from Project Dinner Table

Justin from Los Vaqueros

Day 1 Pumpkin Patch Project

What a wonderful summer day to start a pumpkin patch for our school's garden: Jardin Del Sol.  On Saturday June 15, 2013, I opened the school at 5 am for our volunteers from Los Vaqueros, Junior League of Las Vegas, and Project Dinner Table.  The volunteers were eager to enlarge our agricultural planters by combining nine small planter beds into five large planter beds.  What a task this was!


Volunteers dug trenches around the existing planters, removed weeds in and around the planters, moved and added 900 Windsor blocks, and wheelbarrowed tons of pea gravel and topsoil. Volunteers worked in 3 hour shifts.  Some volunteers stayed from 5 am to 4 pm.  That is commitment!

One of the large Planter Beds

Five truck loads of pea gravel

Some volunteers: Los Vaqueros, Project Dinner Table and Junior League of Las Vegas.

Enlarging the planter beds

Herd of wheelbarrows

Yucky weeds!

Huge Thanks to Los Vaqueros, Junior League of Las Vegas, and Project Dinner Table. We couldn't have done it without you.