Wednesday, June 23, 2010 08:54am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
The June 3, and final Green Thumbs event for this year, was another success. To keep with our tradition, the third program included a fun sprinkler day, where the kids got the chance to cool off by running through the sprinklers. It was a great time and we all had a blast!
The theme for this year's Green Thumbs was color in the garden. The program started with Prissy Rouse, McFaddin-Ward House docent, reading, "The Indian Paintbrush." Then the children were divided into two groups. One group went to a station where they were to paint with watercolors made from natural dyes, made from food items like berries, beets, and coffee. At the other station, the Green Thumbs got a lesson on nutrition, the importance of eating colorful foods, and were able to make their own appetizer from hummus, herbs, and cucumbers.
Children that attended all three programs were given a special prize and were encouraged to bring their bean seedlings, planted at the first Green Thumbs program on April 8 to show off their progress. At the end of the program, we turned on the sprinklers and museum curator, Allen Lea made giant bubbles for the kids. It was a great day and we will be looking forward to next year's Green Thumbs events! Follow us on Facebook for the latest details on all our events.
Friday, April 09, 2010 12:54pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
A lot of joy, greenery, and snacking facts were spread around in yesterday's Green Thumbs Program. Started off with a fun book about garden vegetables, and then on to hands-on activities. The children planted peas in recyclable containers to take home and watch their pea-plants grow. They also learned about the rainbow color of foods and which vegetables are good for what parts of the body. For extra attention, they saw how a compost is made and why. Then a stop by the vegetable beds for a sniffing--that is to smell how wonderful fresh herbs smell. Can't wait for next month's program. Sign up now, as space is limited and the cutoff for registration is two days before (we need time to buy food and prep the garden activities).
Check out more photos at our facebook and become a friend! Keyword: McFaddin-Ward
Monday, March 29, 2010 10:24am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Check out the latest harvest from victory garden! We have been picking herbs, broccoli, daffodils and greens. We are getting ready to plant our summer garden and would love your help. Call us today at 832-1906 for more details!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 03:15pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
We have endured a cold winter! Most of our crops did not survive the fluctuating temperatures, but a few tough vegetables are holding on, despite the freezing weather.
Throughout the cold season, we were able to harvest carrots, while the cilantro and dill are still going strong. The broccoli is growing slowly, but surely, and tiny florets are forming in the center of their masses of blue-green leaves. We are looking forward to their maturity so we can make some delicious broccoli-cheese soup!
As we gladly welcome the warmer weather that will come our way in the next couple of months, come by to see the garden. We are awaiting a spring surprise of daffodils and muscari that have been lying dormant during the winter months. Their lovely yellow and blue blooms are sure to be a real treat.
We would love for you to be a part of our fun victory gardening program. We have such a great time together and would love for some new gardeners to join us. The program is a wonderful opportunity to learn more or to share your knowledge.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 11:16am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Brrr! It has been cold! Freezing temperatures have really done a number on our garden! We lost our lovely basil and our peas have given in to the harsh temperatures. Though there is not much to look at right now, we have a few tough veggies holding on, despite the blustery winds.
Last week we harvested some carrots, leaving a few in the ground to get a little bigger. Our broccoli is holding on and maybe in a month's time we will have some ready to harvest. We have some dill and cilantro as well as some chives that have survived. Just like our shivering veggies, we too will gladly welcome the warmer temperatures that are sure to come our way in the next month or two. Once the warmer weather comes, we will enjoy a Spring surprise of daffodils and muscari that have been lying dormant during the winter months.
We will soon be planning our Spring garden. We will host a volunteer meeting in a few weeks and are looking for more volunteers. The meeting date will be posted soon, so stay tuned! We would love for you to join us!
Are you gardening this winter? Tell us about it by clicking on the comment link below this post!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 05:34pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Many workers make the job go quicker, with more laughs, and generate "best ways." The four garden beds were cleaned of dried up or harvested plants and made ready for the autumn season of growth. To winterize the area, more compost and organic fertilizer was amended into the ground (yeah! for composting). We did keep some of the herbs in the garden, like our basil, as they were still producing lovely additions.
The group of volunteers planted peas, potatoes, green onions, broccoli, carrots, and spinach. A joy to plant are the daffodils which will bloom in the springtime. We also planted more sunflowers. We have harvested the sunflowers from the summer, in anticipation of drying and then roasting those seeds. Yum!
The garden may look bare, especially with how abundant it looked earlier in the year, but just wait. We will once again produce food, treats, flowers, and other garden delights.
As always, we are looking for volunteers -- who get treated for their labors with produce from the garden. Call 409-832-1906 to be a garden volunteer.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 09:33am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
As the summer comes to a close, we are looking forward to the fall season by making plans for our next planting. The garden has been a success with a plethora of okra, herbs, beans, sunflowers and wildflowers harvested. We even had a few cantaloupes, potatoes, tomatoes and are waiting for our eggplants to become ripe. We survived the summer heat and are anxiously awaiting some cooler temperatures.
Over the weekend we had our first tiny taste of fall and welcomed a bit of a cool front. It is getting us excited for the cooler temperatures ahead and we look forward to planting our fall garden. Last Wednesday, in preparation for the new garden, we had a work day to remove some of the plants that have stopped producing and made plans to improve our soil with compost. We started bright and early and were able to get a lot done before it got too hot.
We removed the beans, tomatoes, cantaloupe, squash and sunflowers-turned-trees. We are now drying the sunflowers and will roast the seeds in a few weeks. We are all looking forward to that! Yummy!
After we finished our work for the day, we made a list of veggies to grow in the fall. We are working on making our garden layout and will post our plans in a few days. On the list are pumpkins, potatoes and leeks to name a few. We look forward to having some delicious leek and potato soup in the cooler months!
Thank you to all our volunteers who have helped with the garden so far. It was been so rewarding and fun! We are always looking for more volunteers, so send an email or give us a call to see how you can help.
Stay tuned to see what else we’ll be planting!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 09:33am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
As the summer comes to a close, we are looking forward to the fall season by making plans for our next planting. The garden has been a success with a plethora of okra, herbs, beans, sunflowers and wildflowers harvested. We even had a few cantaloupes, potatoes, tomatoes and are waiting for our eggplants to become ripe. We survived the summer heat and are anxiously awaiting some cooler temperatures.
Over the weekend we had our first tiny taste of fall and welcomed a bit of a cool front. It is getting us excited for the cooler temperatures ahead and we look forward to planting our fall garden. Last Wednesday, in preparation for the new garden, we had a work day to remove some of the plants that have stopped producing and made plans to improve our soil with compost. We started bright and early and were able to get a lot done before it got too hot.
We removed the beans, tomatoes, cantaloupe, squash and sunflowers-turned-trees. We are now drying the sunflowers and will roast the seeds in a few weeks. We are all looking forward to that! Yummy!
After we finished our work for the day, we made a list of veggies to grow in the fall. We are working on making our garden layout and will post our plans in a few days. On the list are pumpkins, potatoes and leeks to name a few. We look forward to having some delicious leek and potato soup in the cooler months!
Thank you to all our volunteers who have helped with the garden so far. It was been so rewarding and fun! We are always looking for more volunteers, so send an email or give us a call to see how you can help.
Stay tuned to see what else we’ll be planting!
Monday, July 20, 2009 10:45am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
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Although it has been plenty hot--well over a three-digit heat index--our garden is looking lush.
We’ve harvested tomatoes, potatoes, okra, cucumbers, beans, herbs (basil, dill, mint, cilantro), and lettuce. Our meals taste so much better when we eat the fresh fruits of our labors!
The sunflowers are growing beautifully and we are enjoying the colorful wildflowers.
Everything is doing well, but we do have to water every day.
Get involved! We are always looking for more volunteers to help with maintenance. We are starting to make plans for a fall garden. A bonus is getting to take home some of the harvest. Nothing taste better than home-grown vegetables.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 10:16am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
The McFaddin-Ward House plays host to the Boys & Girls Club showing the youngsters how food fresh from a garden could be just the topping for the ever-popular pizza.
The idea for Grow-Your-Own-Pizza toppings came from Danny Chand, the Nutrition Education Specialist for the Southeast Texas Food Bank. Part of his job is to teach good eating habits to a variety of age groups. He noticed that children often don’t have the link between how harvested food becomes grocery food. Capitalizing on his wife Carol Cuccio’s Victory Garden at the McFaddin-Ward House, Chand partnered with the Salvation Army’s Boys Clubs and Girls Club to show the children how to grow/pick/eat garden food.
For three sessions, Thursday July 2, 9 and 30, at 10am, 60-70 youngsters will visit the McFaddin-Ward House’s first floor. They also explore the four-bed garden and its vegetables and herbs, with a final stop at the visitor center where they will be treated to home-made pizza while learning about the nutritional content of the pizzas .
Carol Cuccio noticed on the club’s first outing, several of the children had never seen garden-grown tomatoes and were at first reticent about eating the squash. Commenting on how well behaved the children are, Cuccio also spoke about the children’s willingness to taste-test the colorful pizza toppings. “The children saw firsthand how food can go from the garden to the table and they liked this adventure in eating.”
Thursday, June 25, 2009 04:10pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
On Wednesday, June 17, Tom Wright made his fourth and final visit to our Victory Garden. He interviewed Carol Cuccio and she was able to show him how well the four-bed garden has grown.
We can harvest many of the herbs and several of the vegetables (crowder peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers to name just a few). Michelle Cate took photos of the garden for you to see on our
Facebook page. The Sunflowers look magnificient.
Come by to see the garden--as we work hard to keep it cool in this 100+degree heat.
Facebook
Wednesday, June 03, 2009 08:40am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
In just a few short weeks, our garden has really blossomed! Come by and check it out the next time you're in the neighborhood...it looks great!
See more pictures on our Facebook fan page!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 04:49pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Tom Wright of KFDM aired his third in a series Live at Five Report from our Victory Garden. And how the garden has grown! Education Assistant Carol Cuccio tours Tom and cameraman Kevin Fitch around the garden as helpers do a final weeding before watering. We appreciate Tom's interest.
Tom's next visit: Wednesday, June 17th--be sure to watch!
Saturday, May 09, 2009 09:00am on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Join us for our next Green Thumbs Program!
BUGS: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!"
Call today to register!
June 11, 2009
4:00-5:00 PM
Behind the Carriage House, at corner of North and 4th Streets
After a bug hunt and a lesson on insects found in our garden, kids can have fun playing in the sprinklers. Be sure to bring your swimsuit and a towel!
Our green thumbs program is geared toward children ages 6-12 years. Our goal is to help cultivate a love for nature and gardening in Beaumont's youth.
Thursday, May 07, 2009 05:01pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Another Great Green Thumbs Program
May 7th
- Then off to check out how well the garden has grown since the Green Thumbers planted last April. We are getting more and more vegetation each day.
Another trip to the compost pile where the children told us new things!
The big highlight was the Nature Scavenger Hunt in the museum's block-big garden where the children found things they could touch, smell, hear, see, but not eat.
The kids learned about the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The kids had ever-so many ideas on what they could do with a "mess" of stuff. Before long, the Green Thumbers made or thought of musical instruments out of the recycled items.
Did you know: Plants need nutrients to be healthy, just like people do? There are three nutrients that all plants need in order to live:
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
Nitrogen is needed for leaf growth and to have a good green color.
Phosphorus is needed to form roots and to make seeds, fruit and flowers. It also helps plants fight disease.
Potassium is needed to make strong stems and to also help fight disease.
Friday, May 01, 2009 05:34pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
What we’re growing in our Victory Garden:
African Daisies
Aloe Vera
Basil
Beets
Bell Pepper
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cilantro
Crowder Peas
Cucumbers
Dill
Eggplant
Green Beans
Lettuce
Lima Beans
Marigolds
Mesclun
Mint
Okra
Onions
Oregano
Potatoes
Rosemary
Squash
Sunflowers
Sweet Peas
Tomatoes
Zinnias
Zucchini
Thursday, April 16, 2009 02:40pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Tom Wright from Channel 6/KFDM did a live broadcast from our Victory Garden for his series about gardening. He is following the progress of the four garden beds and he was able to show his viewers the many sprouts peeking out from the ground. MWH Staffer Carol Cuccio showed him how she is watering the garden, including using a drip system. Because it is getting hotter in the afternoons, watering nearly every day will become essential. Fortunately, volunteers are stepping up to the job.
Tom's next visits are May 20th and June 17th. Watch Live at Five on Channel 6.
Anyone else interested in digging, planting, weeding, watering, and loving our gardens, give the museum a call. 409-832-1906
Thursday, April 02, 2009 05:04pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Thursday, April 2, 2009 4:00p-5:00p behind the Carriage House.
We held our first Green Thumbs program and it was an all around success! Thanks for coming and being part of it. 25 children signed up and ranged from pre-schoolers with older siblings to middle school age. Luckily 10 wonderful volunteers were on hand to make the program a success for the McFaddin-Ward House Education Department.
MWH Educator, Carol Cuccio, planned the session which kicked off with snacks and Eric Carle's book: The Tiny Seed.
Then the children were cleverly split into 3 groups: Corn, Tomatoes, and Cabbages. Then the children rotated through several fun activities.
Here's what we did:
Made a seed starter kit from egg cartons to grow carrots.
Read books about seeds.
Planted seeds to show the children how to plant: lima beans, sunflowers, African daisies, peas, Swiss chard, cucumbers.
Showed the children what tomato plants would look like.
Showed the museum’s compost pile and talked about composting.
Children went on an Easter Egg hunt to find short messages about how to conserve and go green.
Even the hand washing in the bucket with a "floaty soap" bar was a big hit! And hands did get dirty from the planting!
Stay posted for information on our next Green Thumbs program in May. Be sure to join us next time!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 12:42pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Victory Garden Featured on Live at 5
Tom Wright from Channel 6 News (KFDM/CBS) broadcast his first in a series of live interviews in our Victory Garden, March 24th. He was able to photograph volunteers planting in two of our gardens.
Tom will return Thursday, April 15th to follow the progress of our gardens. Plan to come help us over the next few weeks to get our gardens growing.
Call or email for more details. 409-832-1906/McFaddin-Ward House/Carol Cuccio
ccuccio@mcfaddin-ward.org
Monday, March 09, 2009 04:02pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
Our good neighbor to the west of us is joining us in our recycle efforts. Easy's Restaurant will support our community garden composting efforts. Glad you are on board! Stop in for some good food, too, at Easy's. We do.
Monday, March 09, 2009 12:27pm on
The McFaddin-Ward House Victory Garden
While we are working to get the garden beds ready for the first plantings, the azaleas on our yards are beginning their blooms. A gorgeous dark pink. What a beautiful flush of color.
We welcome people to come onto the yard (check at the visitor center first) to snap photos for personal use (no professionals and only walking on the grass and sidewalks).
Carol Cuccio, our education assistant, has been busy organizing, planning, staffing, and conjoling to get our four garden beds up and running.
Check in to watch our progress.
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