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Mabelvale Garden Update »Mabelvale Garden Update This past week, Karl Heinbockel and fellow Delta Garden Study interns have had the opportunity to escape the fluorescent lights of the office and work in the bright sunshine at the Mabelvale Magnet Middle School gardens and greenhouse. In spite of the oppressive heat, there is still much to do to prepare for the coming school year at Mabelvale Magnet Middle School. We are removing the residue from last year's crops (and weeds!) and replacing them with a buckwheat cover crop to revitalize the soil. The buckwheat cover crop suppresses weed growth and once tilled in will add important organic material back into the soil. This allows new plants the ample nutrients necessary to blossom with great vigor. Healthy soil has been our focus this summer. In the fall, we will concentrate our efforts at producing a variety of food crops with the help of our students at Mabelvale! In the coming weeks, we will be continuing to clean up and organize the garden and greenhouse spaces so that this school year will be a great one for Delta Garden Study's showcase garden - Mabelvale!

FrontPage Article »See the Progress on our New Gardens! Don't forget to visit our Garden Schools’ webpages for pictures and stories about the progress of our new gardens. Liana, Kevin, Ryan and Cale have been busy developing their sites, planting a late summer garden, and getting to know their communities. Many thanks to all of their community members who have donated materials, equipment and labor!

About The Delta Garden Study »About The Delta Garden Study The Delta Garden Study is a $2 million research study funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service designed to prevent childhood obesity and social risk behaviors, and improve academic achievement, in middle school children in the Delta and Central regions of Arkansas.

Hunter Workman

I like going to the garden. I like making the food for the other kids. I learned a lot about how the plants work and grow. I like working with my friends to do stuff. I also like eating the food and making that stuff at home with my family. That’s why I like the garden!

Donterious Ollison

Donterious enjoys feeding and taking care of the chickens. He also enjoys planting the seeds and plants. He has learned that plants can be grown in the greenhouse even during the winter. He also learned that soil has layers and what they are named. He enjoys helping and doing whatever he is asked to do in the garden or greenhouse especially checking for eggs!

Jaye Pace

Something I learned in the garden is different things you can use to help plants grow through winter. It’s really cool how the garden uses most of these. The garden also teaches us kids about different kind of vegetables, how to grow them, and more. The garden also teaches kids different methods to grow plants, like fertilizers.

J’Mya Wilson

One thing I like about the garden is that we learn how to become gardeners. We learn a lot of things that you would have not learned until you were older. We learn how to take care of the chickens. We got to plant strawberries. We got to eat pesto. It was the first time I got to try it!

Samia Lindsey

The garden is not like other classes. You get to experience things hands-on in the garden. By working in the garden, you learn things that will help later in life. Raising food on your own helps you eat a more nutritious diet. In the garden we grow a variety of different crops.

Sasha Tucker

The garden is where you learn new plants and a lot of things you didn’t know about. It is fun and exciting! You get to water plants and a lot more. We learn so we can do it at home. We have learned about eggplants and basil.

Grace West

The garden is cool. We learn to do work and, of course, garden. We have planted, weeded, and everything! I have really enjoyed the garden!

Denashia Correll

The garden is a very fun place to learn new things. In the garden, we learn about food production and how to plant foods and things like that. We also learn about how to raise animals in the garden. I love working in the garden. It is a very fun thing to do.

Nikeonina Allen

My experiences in the garden have been decent. I’ve actually grown to like it. In the garden we work in the greenhouse where it’s warmer, and spread seeds to help weeds to not grow around the produce. And in Ms. Katy’s group, we help her pull weeds out of certain areas. Once, we helped her dig soil up from the ground to send it off for some soil sampling. I have learned many things that I can take home for my own garden. I like the garden and I hope it’s here to stay.

J’son Goodman

The Monticello Middle School garden is fascinating and interesting. We churn the dirt and plant things like tomatoes and other vegetables. We have a few different soils and we get to try some of the vegetables. The vegetables we grow are very good and the garden is neat!

Malik Smith

The Monticello Middle School garden learning garden offers a lot of learning about gardening. My favorite things I learned about the garden is how plants grow, different kinds of plants, and what kind of soil to use.

Ashley Forrest

So far, I have learned so much in the garden. It’s awesome going outside and working in it. And, we have made the garden look awesome!

Sam Mencer

The garden is a super cool place to be every even day in a week. The most fun thing about the garden for me is picking up the eggs from the chicken coop!