sub irrigated planter | GECGreenwichYouth

We have exactly two weeks remaining in the Lettuce Challenge and are looking forward to the 2016 Buttercrunch Awards, Wednesday, June 15, 4 pm at the GEC. Last year the GEC hosted a showcase in our gallery of student lettuce plants, and we hope to see you there again this year.

The theme for this year’s Buttercrunch Awards and gallery is Lettuce Growing Companions. Expect to see a colorful representation (and perhaps a potluck of tasting samples) of Lettuce Companion plants (carrots, radish, runner beans, cucumber, and strawberries) featured in the gallery alongside our lettuce because as it says on our favorite image of companion planting “A Diverse Garden is an Abundant Garden”.

We hope to have a large cheering section for our young gardeners, their families, and teachers! In the meantime, don’t forget to send us photos or questions to share from your lettuce growing adventures, innovations, experiments, and art projects. Then check out our own growing notes and Buttercrunch spotting challenges below.

This year, we are doing a little experiment exploring companion plants. Can you spot the three Buttercrunch plants hidden among the Endive lettuce, African Blue Basil, Kale, Parsley, Rosemary? This planter was arranged and planted by a fifth GEC volunteer, we can’t wait to see it grow. We are curious to see how the parsley and lettuce grow together, as they are traditionally listed as poor growing companions. Pictured below are some photos submissions of lettuce experiments with sub-irrigated pop bottle planters for lettuce and microgreens, closeups of spotting and removing aphids from Buttercrunch leaves, and an example of a vermicomposting experiment, compost was added around lettuce peat pots. Good luck growers! We look forward to seeing more photos from your school and student gardens

Reminders: registered classrooms can each submit three plants on the big day. Deliver three plants per school to the GEC, June 15th, 9am-1pm, with entry forms
To print a coloring sheet invitation reminder for families click HERE (pdf)
To see our calendar, lettuce grower tip sheet and learn more about the Fairchild Challenge Award please visit: 2016 Lettuce Challenge Buttercrunch Awards
To see the full list of participating schools please visit: The Lettuce is coming!
For a great collection of infographics about companion planting: http://groedibles.com/2012/06/interplanting-companion-planting-for-pest-control-and-healthier-gardens/

Want to help with the Lettuce Challenge Buttercrunch Awards?

Please take a minute to answer our anonymous survey. CLICK HERE so we can better reach our goals (teachers, community members and parents, we want to hear from you, whether or not you participated this year)

GOAL 1: Encourage novice gardeners by challenging them to grow something edible, and take steps towards good nutrition
GOAL 2: Have a showcase for our garden growth: a celebration day (with awards!) for our new skills, and a venue to share the challenges and benefits of gardening in schools
GOAL 3: Help school communities improve their gardening, and enrich their curriculum by connecting them to gardening resources and local partners

We also have a volunteer task list for those who want to help organize/decorate the gallery, prepare awards or welcome judges, provide/serve healthy refreshments, or collect feedback for Garden Fairchild Challenges at the GEC in the future. Please email us at youth.director@gecgreenwich.org if you would like to be more involved.

Here’s a different planter to practice spotting Buttercrunch lettuce: two of our familiar plants are hidden among Endive Lettuce, Basil, African Blue Basil, Kale, and Thyme