The garden got off to a great start this year thanks to all of the wonderful Madera families and staff. Here are some monthly highlights:
- Our garden has been feeding us. Families came and picked herbs, squash, tomatoes, and greens that they used to create fabulous dishes for Pizza Night. The teachers got to taste some of our excellent tomatoes at their staff appreciation luncheon on the 24th. And last but not least, the students have been foraging every week at lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, squash, beans, herbs, artichokes, chard, kale, and lettuce are some of the yummy goodies that have gone home with students.
- We have been feeding the garden. On the 24th we had the best attended work day yet with over 15 people helping out with garden tasks. We unloaded a pick-up bed’s worth of compost, we transplanted strawberries, we planted fall crops, and we weeded and watered. At lunch times students have also been taking care of the garden by sweeping, planting, watering, and just generally taking care of the plants and animals.
- Classes have started spending time in the garden and reconnecting to what is happening this time of year in nature. Students are finishing up learning about garden rules and safety and are beginning to practice using different tools. It is a lot of fun!
- On the money front- we have applied for about $500 worth of supplies from Donorschoose so keep your fingers crossed. We are also working to get other garden supplies for free or at cost so if you have any leads on soil, hard wood stumps, seedlings, etc. let us know.
- Interested in what’s coming up in October? Check out our “Upcoming Events” page.
- On a more philosophical note, I (Molly) attended a sobering documentary last week about the effects of media saturation on our youth. According to the film, children today spend on average seven hours a day hooked into some type of media (video games, ipods, texting, computers, tv, etc.). By contrast, the amount of time spend engaging with the outdoors (the back yard, a park, a garden, hiking, etc.) on any given day rarely can be counted in anything but minutes. What kinds of habits are our children creating? What kinds of values are they learning? And so I leave you with this quote: “What they do not know, they will not protect, and what they do not protect, they will lose.” (From Charles Jordan in the documentary PLAY AGAIN.)
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