Attention Parents, Teachers, and Students of APA,

The Austin Peace Academy science department, 4-H Organization, and the student-led APA Garden Club are partnering to bring a vegetable and herb garden to APA!

Raised beds have been built and set up with the assistance of APA staff and energetic APA middle school students.  We have six 4 ft by 4 ft beds behind the portables awaiting the next step of the process.  We hope to have soil, compost and mulch donated by the agricultural extension program through Texas A&M University – but while we wait to see if that comes to pass, we must start sprouting seeds in preparation.

We need your help!

If you have any of the following to donate, please drop off in the Science Lab with Ms. Heather ASAP:

• Vegetable and herb seed envelopes.  If you have planted your own garden from seed this year, and have leftover seeds, we will take opened envelopes, too.  Including but not limited to the following:
  • For vegetables: beets, chard, collards, leaf lettuce, peas, radish, beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumber, eggplant, tomato, spinach, summer squash and zucchini, watermelon.
  • For herbs: Anything!  In particular: warm weather herbs, such as basil and chives.

• Empty cardboard egg cartons, or purchased seed trays, for growing seedlings

After spring break, in late March, we will transplant seedlings into our raised beds. At that time, the following items will also be needed:

• Small vegetable transplants – more information about what specific plants are needed will be forthcoming.  Planting transplants will enable us to harvest our crop before the end of the school year – a big plus!
• Gardening supplies – watering cans, gardening gloves, garden tools, etc.

If you would like to make a monetary donation to the APA Garden Project, please do so at the main office.  Cash donations will be used to purchase supplies and plants as needed for the garden.

If you have a “green thumb” and would like to donate your time and expertise, please contact me for more information.

Thank you,

Heather Swanson
Middle School Science Teacher