02/17/15

This week we talked about starting seeds- how to sow, the contents of soil compost/seed starting medium, germination, and the importance of water and good fluorescent lights.

Then students began working on some art that we could display in the garden this Spring.

 

2/10/15

Sometimes, when the gardening season is done, the next year you have packets of seeds left over and need to see whether or not these seeds are viable. This week we used ziplock bags, damp coffee filters/paper towels and ten seeds. We used ten so that when the seeds germinate it will be an easy percentage to work with. If 70-90% germinate, we will plant thickly. If less than this number sprout, we will discard the seeds. We will check on our seeds in a week.

We also started seeds for our tower garden. We put kale, lemon mint, lettuce and basil in the small holes and covered with the vermiculite medium.

1/3/2015

This week we elaborated on the square foot gardening method (a simple method for planting seeds in a specific way in raised beds). The most convenient size for school beds is 4x4. The grid is then marked every foot with small wooden dividers so that there are 16 squares total. There are four spacing guidelines...

Extra large seeds- one per square for 12 inch spacing (eg. broccoli, cabbage and pepper).
Large- four per square for 6 inch spacing (eg. leaf lettuce, swiss chard and marigold).
Medium- 9 per square for 4 inch spacing (eg. bush bean, spinach and beet).
Small- 16 per square for 3 inch spacing (eg. carrot, radish and onion).

For more information on Square Foot Gardening, the book "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholemew is an excellent resource. See also http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/square-foot-garden.html

5th graders had also had a gardening class during school and so we talked about how different factors (moisture, seed depth and temperature) affected plant growth. We identified terms such as control in the scientific process discussed the best conditions for overall optimum plant development.

We took a little walk outside to enjoy the snow :)

1/27/15

This week we split up into groups and discussed different types of gardening (row, vertical, square foot etc). We also brainstormed ideas for decorative stakes, stepping stones and plant markers. Below Abby and Teagan explain starting, transplanting and maintaining seeds.

  

1/20/15
Seed bombs are not a new thing. When birds would nibble the corn seeds that had been planted, American Indians dug up mud and clay from nearby rivers and encased the seeds in them, giving them a protective coating so that they could germinate. 
In the early 70's, an Asian farmer, Masanobu Fukuoka used the same technique and made a "seed pellet" to protect his rice seeds from birds, mice and rot. More recently, seed bombs have been used to beautify abandoned and derelict urban areas. 
Students had a lot of fun crafting their own seed bombs to start at home either in their gardens or in pots.

To make seed bombs

• air dry clay
• compost or potting soil
• native wildflowers, herbs or lettuce and kale
• water                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  
  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  We took the lesson plan from kidsgardening.org. 

  http://www.kidsgardening.org/sites/www.kidsgardening.org/files/Seed%20Bomb%20Activity.pdf

1/13/2015

This week I brought in the remaining supplies of some British candy from England to share with students. I also brought in some kale salad and pickled beets. Most students tried the beets and comments ranged from "tastes like tadpoles" to "I love beets". Making healthy food a staple of a child's diet fosters healthy eating habits for life.

Next we watched a video on the tower garden. Mrs Scheuerman kindly offered to let us use her tower garden. The tower garden is a vertical aeroponic tower that uses no soil, 10% of the land than conventional gardening and 10% of the water. Water with nourishing solution is pumped up the tower and as it comes back down, it hits the roots of the plants and provides nourishment to the plants.

To find out more about tower gardens, go to http://www.towergarden.com/.

Finally, we went outside to show new students where the future garden would be and enjoyed playing in the snow with a beautiful sunset over Cedar Rapids.

 

 Anthony's definition of a snowball was a little scary :)

6/1/2015
Happy New Year! This week in garden club we looked at the basic parts of a plant-roots, stem, leaves, flowers and seeds. I brought in some salad components and students noted which part of the vegetable or fruit they were. Then, they got to eat them! There was one student who had never had broccoli before!

Students, in an earlier class helped to provide input for our school garden club logo. I had a friend take elements from their work and this is what he came up with it! The students love it!