Hello all,
We have had another great month in the garden!
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped during the month of February.
Here's to all of the moms and kids who came to our last work day and pulled out succulents, raked, watered, weeded, pick-axed, and just generally had a really nice time.
Thanks to everyone who donated pots and other containers for our succulent transplant project- our wonderful music teacher, a couple of parents, my mom, and a friend of one of our teachers- they all gave us some great pots.
A shout out to the East Bay Nursery for giving us 10% off of seedlings and a bunch of free seeds. Please see out Community Partners page for more information about this great local business.
Thanks to Dianne Martinelli, a fellow Master Gardener, who came out to our garden and gave me some great advice about how to transplant our succulents.
Gracias to Starwood Hotels, Leah with Berkeley Unified School District, and Kathryn Quanbeck for donating 4 tiny heirloom apple trees.
And finally, big hugs of gratitude to everyone who has made me feel so valued over the course of the last month. The cards, emails, and chats in the hallway have been really nice. I know why I do this work, but it is always invigorating to know that others see the importance of garden education as well.
Now let's get to what is happening in the garden. New classes have begun and now that we are done learning about the Laws of the Land (Ms. Molly's Garden Rules) we are starting to talk about weather, plants, insects and how to be scientists in the garden. Student scientists in the 1st and 2nd grades have begun to keep nature journals where they record their garden observations.
Lunch time in the garden has been very busy lately. We have been tearing out plants and roots to get our orchard area ready for whatever fruit trees we might scrounge up later on. We have also been working on getting all of our raised beds on the upper level ready for classes to use. A bunch of girls from Ms. Bennett's class have taken over a small portion of the garden to grow beets, radishes, and greens. This same class had a great Valentine's Day celebration that featured fruit salad and a salad made from lettuce and radishes grown in our very own garden. What a refreshing change from all of the super-sugary treats that usually come with this heart-themed holiday.
I want to end with the two things that are warming the cockles of my heart right now. First of all, yoga with Ms. Best's 4th/5th grade class is pretty fabulous. We are doing our downward dogs, our cobras, and our guided reflective time every Tuesday from 1:10-1:40. Come join us if you have a yen to stretch and breathe. We (the kids and I) feel like this is a great time to calm down, go within, and sometimes be just a little silly.
And last but not least, the 3rd grade farmers have taken over the garden. Yep that's right! We have 21 different farms (with names like Leafy Farms, Tiki Farms, Friendly Farms, etc.) who "own" 21 different patches of earth. The plans have been made, the seeds have been ordered and delivered, and now the planting has begun. Our farmers are growing lettuce, radishes, herbs, strawberries, greens, artichokes, peas, etc. I want to encourage you to come out and visit us during 3rd class times in the garden or during lunch time on Tues-Thurs because the conversations and work that is being done is just incredible. You never know what you might see- farmers hunting for worms to add to their patch of earth or maybe someone whispering a blessing to seeds that they are planting. Often these days I come across farmers who are adding compost to their box, tilling the soil, watering, weeding, pruning, making interesting trellis structures, or sometimes just chatting with their fellow farmers. I am often hosting 20-30 farmers a day in the garden during lunch time, and every day at least one of them tells me just how much they love being in the garden. To which I can always truthfully answer, "So do I."
We have had another great month in the garden!
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped during the month of February.
Here's to all of the moms and kids who came to our last work day and pulled out succulents, raked, watered, weeded, pick-axed, and just generally had a really nice time.
Thanks to everyone who donated pots and other containers for our succulent transplant project- our wonderful music teacher, a couple of parents, my mom, and a friend of one of our teachers- they all gave us some great pots.
A shout out to the East Bay Nursery for giving us 10% off of seedlings and a bunch of free seeds. Please see out Community Partners page for more information about this great local business.
Thanks to Dianne Martinelli, a fellow Master Gardener, who came out to our garden and gave me some great advice about how to transplant our succulents.
Gracias to Starwood Hotels, Leah with Berkeley Unified School District, and Kathryn Quanbeck for donating 4 tiny heirloom apple trees.
And finally, big hugs of gratitude to everyone who has made me feel so valued over the course of the last month. The cards, emails, and chats in the hallway have been really nice. I know why I do this work, but it is always invigorating to know that others see the importance of garden education as well.
Now let's get to what is happening in the garden. New classes have begun and now that we are done learning about the Laws of the Land (Ms. Molly's Garden Rules) we are starting to talk about weather, plants, insects and how to be scientists in the garden. Student scientists in the 1st and 2nd grades have begun to keep nature journals where they record their garden observations.
Lunch time in the garden has been very busy lately. We have been tearing out plants and roots to get our orchard area ready for whatever fruit trees we might scrounge up later on. We have also been working on getting all of our raised beds on the upper level ready for classes to use. A bunch of girls from Ms. Bennett's class have taken over a small portion of the garden to grow beets, radishes, and greens. This same class had a great Valentine's Day celebration that featured fruit salad and a salad made from lettuce and radishes grown in our very own garden. What a refreshing change from all of the super-sugary treats that usually come with this heart-themed holiday.
I want to end with the two things that are warming the cockles of my heart right now. First of all, yoga with Ms. Best's 4th/5th grade class is pretty fabulous. We are doing our downward dogs, our cobras, and our guided reflective time every Tuesday from 1:10-1:40. Come join us if you have a yen to stretch and breathe. We (the kids and I) feel like this is a great time to calm down, go within, and sometimes be just a little silly.
And last but not least, the 3rd grade farmers have taken over the garden. Yep that's right! We have 21 different farms (with names like Leafy Farms, Tiki Farms, Friendly Farms, etc.) who "own" 21 different patches of earth. The plans have been made, the seeds have been ordered and delivered, and now the planting has begun. Our farmers are growing lettuce, radishes, herbs, strawberries, greens, artichokes, peas, etc. I want to encourage you to come out and visit us during 3rd class times in the garden or during lunch time on Tues-Thurs because the conversations and work that is being done is just incredible. You never know what you might see- farmers hunting for worms to add to their patch of earth or maybe someone whispering a blessing to seeds that they are planting. Often these days I come across farmers who are adding compost to their box, tilling the soil, watering, weeding, pruning, making interesting trellis structures, or sometimes just chatting with their fellow farmers. I am often hosting 20-30 farmers a day in the garden during lunch time, and every day at least one of them tells me just how much they love being in the garden. To which I can always truthfully answer, "So do I."
RSS Feed