By Yaza Sarieh
Yaza Sarieh is the Georgia Organics Community Collaboration Coordinator.
Each year, Georgia Organics coordinates a state-wide campaign to get kids across Georga eating, growing and learning about a new fruit or vegetable during October Farm to School Month. Through this campaign, our Farm to School team has reached millions of Georgia students since we began hosting October Farm to School Month in 2013.
We have some spicy spoilers up ahead! We’re sharing some planting tips for you to get a head start on October Farm to School Month 2023. Sign up for our monthly eBite newsletter to know when sign-ups are live.
If you haven’t heard the exciting news, Georgia Organics is celebrating peppers this year for October Farm to School Month. Pep-pepperay!! Throughout the month of October, we will have lots of fun resources, multi-subject lessons and activities for students of all ages to learn about all types of peppers.
Planting pepper seeds in the classroom or a school garden is a great hands-on, educational activity for students to learn about the environment and where their food comes from. If you are looking to plant peppers for October Farm to School Month, you actually should start PLANTING NOW! Pepper plants are warm loving and not cold hardy, so it is best to plant them in the spring for harvest in early fall.
Picture by Kimberly Koogler and John Davis at Cosmos Farms
Here are some tips for getting your pepper plants started:
To grow seedlings for transplant:
Plant seeds about ¼ inch deep, using a seed starting mix in seed trays.
Water after seeding and maintain soil moisture.
Seeds will have a hard time germinating in cold soil, and will germinate best if the soil temperature stays a warm, steady 75-85 degrees F.
Plant extra seeds just in case germination is spotty.
Transplanting:
Once several leaves have developed, transplant up to 3-4 inch pots
You should only transplant your seeds after the last frost in the spring, when the weather has settled into consistent heat.
You can determine the last frost date in your area through the Farmer’s Almanac.
Where to plant:
Full sun
Fertile, well-draining soil (This could be a store-bought vegetable growing soil mix, or native soil mixed with compost. We recommend Soil3 and Dirtcraft Living Soils.)
Avoid planting in the same spot where plants of the Solanaceae family were just growing (this includes tomato, eggplant, pepper, potato, petunia, and tobacco).
Picture by Kimberly Koogler and John Davis at Cosmos Farms
Are you ready to pep it up with peppers?! Make sure to register for the eBite, our monthly newsletter, so that you can stay up-to-date on all of the latest information. Registration for October Farm to School Month will be open in July. The first 300 sign-ups will receive a free packet full of pepper surprises and seed packets.
Picture by Kimberly Koogler and John Davis at Cosmos Farms
To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org and follow us on social media @GeorgiaOrganics and at facebook.com/GeorgiaOrganics.
To learn more about Cosmos Farms, visit www.cosmosorganics.com and follow them on social media @cosmos.farms.