Groundhog Garden: Ready for a kid invasion!

We've spent the whole season fighting a losing battle against the groundhogs at Arcadia Farm. From sweet potato greens to the first leaves of our cucumbers, they've eaten just about everything. As we try to control their seemingly ever-growing population, we were also trying to think of a name for our kids space, but nothing seemed to fit. Growing Together Farm? Meh. Youth Farm? Too plain. Funky Fresh Farm? Too corny.

So what did we come up with? In honor of our enemies, we decided to call the kids farm Groundhog Garden. Recently, they haven't been visiting their namesake - keep your fingers crossed!

Now, the Groundhog Garden is ready for kids. Next week is not only DC Farm to School Week, it'll also be the first week of field trips to Arcadia Farm.

Check out what's been growing on:

• Sunflowers are blooming! Beans are growing like gangbusters!
  
• Beets, radishes, lettuce, swiss chard, mustard greens have recently sprouted and they're growing strong.
  
• We lost our pumpkins to squash bugs, but have replaced them with a bed full of cover crops and "rowdy roots."
  
• We had to pull most of our tomatoes, but our cover crop - field peas - is germinating as we speak.
  
• Eggplants, sweet potatoes, herbs and carrots are still going from the summer season.
  
• Super volunteer Cat finished some amazing signs that will make the space even more beautiful and interactive.
  

For more, check out the photos below. Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.