It might be cold outside, but the AGL students have been hard at work planning for Spring!  We have been building tables for our New Greenhouse with one of our Fantastic Volunteers, Bill Brabson, and planting trays of seeds in anticipation for the Spring Plant Sale.  This year, we will have the Adaptive Gardens plant sale at the Charleston Children’s Museum during their Fam Jam in April! It’s amazing to see how much the students that participate in our programs have improved over the last semester with us! We have students who have really had fun and worked hard to meet their individual goals.	Getting seeds started for the spring & summer gardens.
I had a student the other day who couldn’t verbally tell me how much fun he was having as we harvest lettuces and turned the compost pile, but he let me know in every other way! He even tried to take the shovel out of my hands so he could do it on his own without my support!  As Spring comes, it’s so great to see how everything begins to grow! Our seedlings grow and fill our new greenhouse, and our participants grow and learn new horticultural skills!	Making tables for the greenhouse
If you want to be part of the excitement this Spring, then get out here and join us!   Leslie and I cant wait to see you in the gardens! Catherine McGuinn Horticultural Therapist and Program Director of Adaptive Gardens of the Low country

It’s happened! The long anticipated Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry greenhouse, has been constructed. It looks great, is solid as a rock, and will serve as a key asset for our gardening program for many years to come.
There are a lot of people who played key roles in bringing this project to fruition. Of particular note, are the AGL students, who did great work on the construction of the greenhouse! Every class got to play some part in the construction and assembly of our new greenhouse!

Also, Lee Leland, the Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry’s indispensable “Jack of all Trades” was a huge help! He designed; he built; he even coordinated the efforts of the kids! Thanks Lee!
We cant wait to fill up the greenhouse with plant starts for our spring and summer gardens.

Come on out to Thornhill Farm and check it out! While you’re here be sure to drop by the Our Local Foods Farm Store and pick up some of our bags of mixed lettuces grown in the Adaptive Garden’s field and harvest by our classes. Also, be sure to grab some of the the seed paper the Adaptive Gardens class made! We have spring lettuce mixes and wildflowers that will do great in your early gardens!

Leslie and I cant wait to see you in the gardens. If you would like to help out with our activities, please contact us to discuss opportunities – we can always use a hand.

Catherine McGuinn

Horticultural Therapist and Program Director of Adaptive Gardens of the Low country

That’s what they say down here along the coast, and unfortunately it goes both ways. Just after the long cold spell with13 days when temperatures dipped below freezing(!!!), we had a brief period of warm and clear weather. Then… just as we were ready to start on our greenhouse. construction was held up again, thanks to mother nature… Now, we do love the rain, but not on the day we wanted to build our greenhouse!		Preparing to Plant
Our very patient volunteer Mr. Bill Brandson, is hangin’ in there with us and we feel sure the sun will be shining down on him and our Adaptive Gardens class from Georgetown HS on Monday as we put together our much anticipated greenhouse. But, in the meantime, come on out to the Our Local Foods Farm Store and pick up one of the overflowing bags of mixed lettuces our Adaptive Gardens class from Wando HS harvested on Wednesday or better yet, the seed paper the Adaptive Gardens class from Lincoln HS made on Tuesday!		Wando High School at the farm
Leslie and I cant wait to see you in the gardens! Catherine McGuinn Horticultural Therapist and Program Director of Adaptive Gardens of the Low country		Harvesting Lettuce

The students of Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry have been bundling up and braving the cold!  We have been weeding and gathering our winter harvest; lettuce, collards  and kale, all for sale in the Our Local Foods Farm Store.  The cold weather did keep us inside some, where we have perfected our Seed Paper!  We have made lots of spring lettuce Seed Paper and had lots of fun doing it!  Please come by the Farm Store and check it out!  The seed paper is easy to use and will make starting all those tiny seeds a cinch!

Harvesting greens in the Adaptive Garden

Making seed paper

See you in the gardens! Catherine McGuinn Program Director of Adaptive Gardens of the Low country

Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry wishes you a very Happy New Year!  The students are back at it this week, and we have been weeding and gathering our winter harvest; lettuce, collards  and kale.  The cold weather did keep us from building our greenhouse this week, but it will be in by the end of the month with the help of one of our wonderful volunteers, Bill Bradson.  Leslie and I can’t wait to have the kids fill it up with seeds trays for all our Spring crops! We have already ordered our Spring seeds; flowers, herbs and veggies will abound!

We are planning to plant so many seedlings, we are thinking of having a Spring Plant Sale!  So stay posted and we’ll let you know all about it!

Leslie and I wish you a Happy 2010!

Catherine McGuinn

Program Director of Adaptive Gardens of the Low country

Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry wishes you a very Happy Holiday Season!  Joy is in the air and Holiday Gifts made by the students of Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry abound at the “Our Local Foods” Country Store.  We have had a ball these last few weeks putting the finishing touches on your Holiday Gifts!   Come and pick them up at “Our Local Foods” Country Store.   They wont last long!  They are truly a treat,  and all the proceeds come right back to our program.  So the kids that made these wonderful gifts can keep coming out to the farm and learning about horticulture and work skills this Spring.  And what a Spring it will be, with all of you great volunteers out there!

We are already laying out the greenhouse that will be built with the help of one of our wonderful volunteers, Bill Bradson.  Leslie and I cant wait to have the kids fill it up with seeds trays for our Spring crops!

So come on out to visit AGL at Thornhill Farm in McClellenville.  While you’re here, you can do some holiday shopping and enjoy our Christmas Tree.  We made all the ornaments with gifts from the farm and decorated it during our holiday class parties this last week of school.  So even while the kids are on their Winter Break, they left some holiday spirit behind for us to enjoy!

Leslie and I wish you a Happy Holiday and look forward to seeing see you in the New Year!

Catherine McGuinn

Program Director – Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry

The bees have been a buzzin’ at Adaptive Gardens. From floating between the flowers of the calendula & marigolds and enjoying the intoxicating smells of the beeswax used in candle making, the students have been making our bee friends happy garden partners!

Students from Georgetown High, Lincoln High, Wando High & Windwood Farm have grown calendula plants from seed & transplanted them into gallon pots. These bright orange & yellow flowers are beautiful & have been perfect for the kids to use in the beeswax candles & soaps. In preparation for the spring flower garden we have planted Bachelor’s Buttons, Pincushions & Nigella! We will also plant Poppy & Statice to complete our flower bundles that we will sell in the spring!

Everyone has been excited to see our arugula, kale, collards & lettuce continuing to grow! The kids gave our garden a little drink of nutrients this past week with some organic fertilizer. They are very interested to learn that vegetables need vitamins just like humans. In true organic fashion, everyone has been doing lots of weeding to make sure our plants, and not the weeds, get the fertilizer.

The kids have been preparing for the McClellanville Village Art Walk on December 4th & 5th. In true elf fashion, they have been making ornaments, magnets & clay wall-hangings during a pottery class thanks to Nancy Marshall & Dorothy Doubleday.  They’re also planting narcissus, making holiday greenery arrangements, and, of course, making the soaps & beeswax candles. Everyone is very excited to know the Cottage Industry items they have made will be in the art walk (Note: The profits from the purchase of Adaptive Gardens Cottage Industry products are returned to support AGL’s work, so it’s an easy, and fun, way to support AGL!)

We are all looking forward to building our greenhouse after the holidays! Stayed tuned for more info about our upcoming projects & continued growth. Until then, we wish you Happy, Peaceful Holidays & thank you for your support!

We’d love for you to come and share your skills with us and the kids we work with; if you would like to do this, please contact me at catherine@adaptivegardens.org.

Lettuce, Arugula, Collards and Kale; that’s what we have been harvesting from the Adaptive Garden’s farm field.   The kids from Wando High School, Lincoln High School, Georgetown High School and Winwood Farms have been pinching leaves, sorting and washing the greens, and bagging up their harvest to sell in the Our Local Foods Farm Store on Hwy 17 N in McClellanville, SC.   They are very proud of their produce!  In fact, they are already helping to make the seed paper we will use to start our gardens for this spring.  Yes, that’s right, we have finally perfected something that looks like paper and has our spring seeds embedded right in it!  If you’re interested in stocking up on some for your own spring garden, look for it at the Farm Store.  It will be right there along side our very popular herbal and luffa, glycerin soaps and our newest product, bees wax candles!  We have been busy as bees making some lovely beeswax votive and 3 or 4 inch candles for your Thanksgiving table.   The kids have a great time making them and they smell really good!

For the last two weeks out here in the Adaptive Garden craft room, we have had a very special treat! Some very talented potters have donated their time and talent to teach us some new skills.  The kids at Lincoln High School, Leslie and I really want to thank Nancy Marshall and Dorthy Doubleday for coming out and helping the kids to make some lovely pottery Christmas ornaments, Botanical Impression Wall Pockets, and Botanical Impression Coasters and Trivets.  We love these ladies and we hope they want to come back every week!  We can’t wait to show off all of our pottery creations at the McClellenville Holiday fair Dec 4th and 5th!

If you would like to come and share your skills with us and the kids we work with, I would love for you to contact me at catherine@adaptivegardens.org.  We also really want to thank everyone that came out to Local Music on the Farm last Sunday- the  bands were great, the food was delicious, and the people were great to come out and show their  support.  We’re very Thankful for your Giving!
Hope you All have a Wonderful Thanksgiving, too!

Catherine McGuinn
Horticultural Therapist & Program Director of Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry

Also a special thank you to all of you who came out and made it a great day – we hope you’ll come have fun with us again the next time we have such a wonderful event hosted here at Thornhill Farm.