Southeast Raleigh Elementary 4th/5th Grade Rooftop Garden, 10/2/26
Unfortunately our fears came true, and the drought and heat of late summer prevented the survival of much of our fall crop of vegetables. However, we viewed this as a learning opportunity and devised a strategy for salvaging plants and making the best of the fall growing season.
Working with the students as a team, who were inspirational in reminding us all to “Never give up!” and “Figure out what we could do better!” we developed a plan. Top of the list, we will increase the watering schedule and monitor the crops more closely.
We also decided to move the surviving plants into 4 of the 8 beds. In the 4 remaining beds we seeded cover crops (Crimson Clover and Austrian Winter Peas) to provide winter beauty and nitrogen for the soil. We understand these are not native, but once they’ve flowered in the spring, we will till them back into the soil – before they seed. In addition, we have sent samples of the soil to the NC Agriculture Extension Service to better identify any issues with the health of the soil.
This session included a quick science lesson on how cover crops pull nitrogen out of the atmosphere, which can then be incorporated into the soil when the cover crops are tilled in after flowering. Students asked relevant questions that demonstrated understanding of the science.
One bright spot was discovering the native pollinator plants that we planted last spring, had survived the summer. In fact, many were thriving including Button Bush, Beauty Berry, Mountain Mint, Big Headed Aster and Partridge Pea. Together, we took time to look at these beautiful flowering native plants surrounded by a host of appreciative pollinators.
Unfortunately, no pictures of the hard workers – we were all too busy gardening!
Weeded bed (future cover crops) and salvaged plants bed
Bees on Mountain Mint, Swamp Rose Mallow, Beauty Berry, Partridge Pea/Button Bush/Black-Eyed Susans