Lettuce Stewardship

Thank you for joining your school’s team of Spring Garden Stewards! We value your partnership and appreciate your presence in your school’s garden community. The following suggestions are provided with the intention of helping to guide our garden work with a shared set of knowledge and goals. Gardens are not static environments, and each week we find wide variety across our partner schools. Let’s all be flexible together and adapt as nature surprises us!

Please expect to visit the garden 5-7 days during your stewardship commitment, with some days requiring action in the morning and afternoon/evening, depending on the change in temperature during the day.

HOOP VENTING

Hoop houses are used to protect lettuce from extreme spring weather changes and to accelerate growth, allowing us to extend the growing season and increase opportunities for students to explore and learn in their garden. We use these three categories to guide our decisions on hoop venting:

3 photos of hoop venting instructions
Hoop Venting Guide

IRRIGATION

Each school has a unique irrigation set up! Due to the risk of freezing pipes, irrigation CAN NOT be left hooked up to any water source during the spring season. In order to ensure that we protect our partner schools’ plumbing, irrigation instructions will be shared directly with parent leads at each school.

Specific guidance for watering is difficult to give, since needs change weekly and even daily with changes in temperature, humidity, and precipitation levels. Garden Coordinators will communicate with parent leads regarding irrigation plans.