10/28/14

This week we started with a little game called "Fruity". We set up garden categories (fruit/vegetable, animal/insect etc) then thought of a letter and students had to fill in the categories as quickly as possible and the first one done shouts "Fruity". Students really enjoyed the game and it and forced them to think hard for a little while :) Then we went to the garden and pulled out more plants and cleared away some leaves. We left some kale that was still producing so that we can add it to our compost pile.

I also found a great book for students aged 4-8. "Some Bugs" by Angela Diterlizzi and Brendan Wenzel is a humorous rhyming story about the different types of common bugs. The beautiful illustrations and simple language makes it a great read for this age range! Students will be excited to get out into their backyard and go exploring!

Two weeks ago we dedicated the class to those who have helped our garden flourish. We made treehouses that we will send out as a Thank you's.

10/21

This week we got our hands dirty and started cleaning up the garden beds. We gently pulled out our herb, pepper, tomato and some of the kale beds. We left some plants that were still healthy, but plan on removing everything within the next few weeks.

When the first bed was weed free and everything was gone, we sprinkled some rye as a winter cover crop. This will help nourish our soil so that it will be rich with nutrients in the spring.

I found a book called "Local," by Douglas Gayeton. The picture below highlights exactly why it is important to teach children the importance of the food movement not only through classroom instruction, but also through doing.

 

 

9/30/2014

 

Hail the Kale! In honor of National Kale Day on October 1st, we learned about everything kale. Below is a recipe Haven's group made for kale chips. They are so delicious and taste like potato chips. The most important part of the recipe is to make sure you dry the kale thoroughly so that it doesn't get soggy in the oven.

 

 

We split into groups and learned all about kale. Per calorie, kale has more iron than beef, more calcuim than milk and 10% more vitamin C than spinach! We wrote stories and poems

 



 and  even made art with kale. Some of the work included a fish, a bunny and Pacman (which had nothing to do with kale, but was cute).



9/23/14
Today we celebrated the First Day of Autumn and Banned Books week. We started off with a few poems from Shel Silverstein's "A light in the Attic". The book was banned by an elementary school in Florida because of the poem "Little Abigail and the beautiful pony". The decision was later overturned.

Last week we talked about composting, so for a treat and to showcase what beautiful soil should look like, we made the dessert "worms in dirt". Take chocolate pudding and put it in a cup, put a gummy worm or two on top then scoop out the middle of an oreo and crumble up the cookie to make the topsoil. Fun to make and fun to eat! We were busy making and eating ours so forgot to take pictures, but here is what they look like-

source http://www.pinterest.com/pin/240238961345752870/

 

 

As the physical gardening season will be winding down, though we will still be outside sometimes, I have been looking for crafts the students will be able to do inside. In honor of the first day of Fall, we headed outside to make one of the easiest crafts around (found on the website dirtgirlworld). Nature bracelets requite tape (any size) and stuff you find in nature (nuts, seeds berries, small leaves, flowers etc). Then, let out your inner artist!

 



 

Students enjoyed pottering around the garden, picking herbs, flowers and vegetables

 and we all enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful Iowa fall colors around the school :)

 

 

 

For more information on crafts with nature check out http://dirtgirlworld.com/



I posted a link for anyone interested in starting their own compost pile- http://www.wikihow.com/Compost

I had a few parents ask about links for saving tomato seeds. Here is a good one I found- http://www.mastergardeners.org/pdf/import/SGM/files/Saving_Tomato_Seeds.pdf

Garden Club 9/16
Scott Koepke from New Pioneer Co-op came to give a presentation on composting. Students learned about "browns and greens," looked at some red wriggler worms, then checked out soil under the microscope and finished with a story about a community garden. Thanks so much to Scott for coming and teaching our students about how to close the food loop!

9/9/2014- Seed Saving

This week was the start of garden club and it was great to see some new faces in the class. The topic this week was saving seeds. We talked about why it was important to save seeds and we went out into the garden and identified how different plants produced different seeds. Basil will "bolt" and their seeds will be encased in a long flower type structure. We also picked some tomatoes and peppers and started the beginning process of saving their seeds. For tomatoes, first we scooped out all the seeds, then we covered the seeds with water. In 5-7 days a mold will appear. We will take it off and rinse the seeds to get rid of the gel covering, then let them dry out. Voila! New seeds for next season!

 

 

 

Some of the students from last year showed the new students some of the produce growing in the garden. Mya and Katty got to check out some kale and the girls had a hot pepper contest, although we're not sure anyone was a winner!

 

 







 For more information on saving seeds, go to http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/saving-vegetable-seeds/