Growing Together: Woodlawn Snacks

All, Growing Together
The scene is from the perspective of laying on the ground: The viewer is looking at a blue sky and the tops of tree branches.
A new perspective on fall at Glenwood Gardens.

Fall is fading into winter and our crops are fighting off frost! The growing season is starting to wind down. We’re sharing our final snack for the year.

This month, we were back at our partner site Woodlawn Elementary. We brought over some of our own fall crops to share. For one of our activities, we created a vinaigrette with herbs fresh from the Growing Together garden. We used sage, onion greens and thyme. Once we had these all chopped up, we minced them with some oil and some balsamic vinegar. We tasted that with some homegrown lettuce. Drying extra herbs or freezing them in oil is another nice way to harvest herbs for winter. After snacking, we checked on the beds.

A squirrel looks through some forest floor debris; it is looking at the camera.
This squirrel was not the culprit, but could it have been an accomplice to digging in the garden beds? You be the judge.

We saw some sprouts, but we also saw signs of someone else digging in our beds! We investigated and concluded that it looked like some squirrels had come digging in the garden. What do you do when squirrels dig in the garden? Make a squirrel repellent, of course!

For our squirrel repellent, we combined powdered cayenne pepper, powdered cinnamon and peppermint essential oil with a little water to make a paste. Then the kids spread the paste along the top exterior of the wood beds. The aroma of the paste will encourage the squirrels to do their digging elsewhere.

A cover crop is being planted in a garden bed.
An example of a cover crop. (Photo courtesy OSU Extension.)

Early next month will be our last visit for the season with our partners at Woodlawn Elementary. We will plant our cover crops until we plant again in spring. Our matching bed at Glenwood Gardens has produced more than 100 lbs. for donation this year!

The bed at Glenwood Gardens is now ready to be prepped for winter. We will be pulling plants, topping off with soil, adding a protective layer and taking down our deer fencing until next season. What steps do you take to winterize your garden at home?


Follow the Growing Together journey of creating community, square-foot gardening beds and how the crops we’re planting are coming along.


The Glenwood Gardens Growing Together Team