The TJMS Community Garden 2024 Season is Under Way.
The TJMS Community Garden has been a Plot Against Hunger participant for over a decade, donating produce to AFAC and other local food pantries. The Jefferson Community Garden is the largest school garden in Arlington, and we are taking our community responsibilities seriously. But more than that, we are working to become a hub for joyful community and learning. Have you ever thought of starting your own garden, but you feel a little overwhelmed? Volunteering with our experienced gardeners is a great way to learn more about starting a garden, managing pests and diseases, and how to plan for seasonal harvests. A sunny Saturday morning in the garden is a great family activity, and it's the perfect place to meet friends to socialize while volunteering and getting a bit of fresh air and exercise.
Bring Friends or Family and Join Us in the Garden:
We would love you to join us in the garden. We have regular garden workdays every week from 10 AM to noon Saturday mornings. Not quite ready to start gardening today? Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you weekly updates about our workday plans, and pictures of what we're doing in the garden.
Stay tuned to our Facebook page for late-breaking schedule updates and weather cancellations.
Garden videos:
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Seedling donation from the WL plant sale
Many thanks to the WL plant sale— every year...
Post-workday garden tour
Bees on zinnias!
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The weather is lovely and cool, and we are hoping to finish mulching the upper part of the garden if we get enough volunteers today. Join us! We will be out here until noon. #schoolgarden #plotagainsthunger
@afacfeeds @the_official_tjms @arlingtonfoua ... See MoreSee Less
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Thanks to today’s 8th grader volunteers from The Potomac School, who weeded, fertilized, planted seeds, and learned about composting and how the TJ community garden works with @afacfeeds to help feed Arlingtonians dealing with food scarcity. #schoolgarden #volunteering #plotagainsthunger #spring ... See MoreSee Less
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We had a great community workday on Saturday morning. Thanks so much to our former students (now returning HS students), teachers, and neighbors who dropped by the garden for some quality mulching and edging. ... See MoreSee Less
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We had such a productive morning in the garden with this volunteer group organized by Deloitte. We got paths mulched and a section of weeds covered with black plastic to solarize for a few weeks until we are ready to plant. Thanks for helping out! ... See MoreSee Less
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Many thanks to the WL plant sale— every year they donate seedlings to the TJMS garden. We grow them and donate the produce to AFAC. ... See MoreSee Less
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Post-workday garden tour ... See MoreSee Less
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It’s gray and soggy outside, so the first garden club of the spring is starting seeds inside. Zucchini, squash, and tomatoes. #schoolgarden #seedlings ... See MoreSee Less
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Peas planted on St. Patrick’s Day are peeking up. #schoolgarden #peas #spring ... See MoreSee Less
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No workday this weekend
(It’s too wet) ... See MoreSee Less
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Stay tuned for Saturday workday weather updates. (It’s looking wet.) ... See MoreSee Less
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It’s still spring break: no workday this weekend ... See MoreSee Less
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No Workday this weekend or next: it's Spring Break at TJMS ... See MoreSee Less
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You know it’s spring when you see the TJ garden crew start laying out cardboard and mulch. #schoolgarden #mulch #weeds ... See MoreSee Less
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Join us in the garden in this glorious weather! Meet our new volunteers and become one yourself. We will be out here a couple more hours, so there’s plenty of time to join us. #arlingtonfoodassistancecenter #schoolgarden #spring #weeding ... See MoreSee Less
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Photos from Thomas Jefferson Middle School Community Garden's post ... See MoreSee Less
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Heads up that our first public garden workday of the season will be this Saturday! The weather is glorious, join us in the garden. We will post an event with the exact time slot asap, but save the date for us. 💕🌱 ... See MoreSee Less
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If you’ve followed us on social media for a while, you may have seen us post about our beloved not-remotely-native rose at the corner of our native pollinator garden. It’s been a mystery we have been trying to identify for years, and it’s gotten more urgent since it contracted rosette disease last year. Over the years a lot of garden visitors have asked us what it was— it’s so lovely, and very very easy care (we never do anything for it, not even water it during droughts). It only blooms at Mother’s day and a few blooms in October, but it never needs fertilizing or spraying or ever has an issue (until it finally encountered rosette disease). The roses don’t last all that long in bouquets, but they smell sweet and are so prolific during their few weeks of bloom.
I think we have finally identified it successfully as The Impressionist, a climber that can also grow as a large shrub rose.
heirloomroses.com/products/the-impressionist ... See MoreSee Less
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Have you considered propagating the rose? While it’s not native it has history. www.thespruce.com/can-you-grow-roses-from-cuttings-1403059#:~:text=Roses%20can%20be%20rooted%20in....
Beautiful pictures of amazing roses.
Join us at the FOUA/Plot Against Hunger Spring Garden Kick-off this morning! ... See MoreSee Less
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GMU’s sustainable gardening urban agriculture program. It is so great to hear about students and few years older than ours, and how they get just as excited about trying new types of garden produce as our middle schoolers.
So many new attendees this morning! So glad to see everyone.
What a fun poster from Thomas Jefferson MS garden! Does anyone have a photo of Reidy next to this poster?
Volunteer opportunities for HS students— some at TJ! Not a HS student? At TJ we can accommodate volunteers from age 4 to 94– we love our volunteers of all ages, and we have wheelchair accessible garden tables available to be able to welcome gardeners who need them.
Learning about historic garden practices used at Arlington House.
Walter Reed Community Garden volunteers talking about their ozone bio indicator garden.
Learning about a new pilot program for multi-family dwelling composting.
Randolph ES food pantry— during Covid when Plot Against Hunger couldn’t take our produce, we did regular donations to Randolph all summer. They’re still up and running and accepting donations.
Got too caught up in listening to gleaning, packaging, and other FOUA presentations to take photos. But you can find this info on their website or fb page.
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We'll be there. Will you? ... See MoreSee Less
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