Hand lettering and illustration

Posted on January 25, 2022 by kidsingardens

When I attended the (amazing!) Edible Schoolyard Academy at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, I learned that their program highly valued hand illustration. For example, their staff embellishes all of their recipes with simple drawings. We even had a lesson on how to do this ourselves! Their garden is full of hand lettering and whimsical drawings. This year we are so lucky that our FoodCorps service member comes to us with these skills in spades.

Read the captions below to appreciate just a few of the creations Mati has dreamt up!

This was the first thing Mati created for the garden for our bulletain board, possible t-shirt, etc. A first of her many gifts to grace the garden.

She created these pencil drawings for a lesson. A lesson! I now want to make these into a set of postcards.

Because we are creating a line of merchandise, Mati made us a custom stamp for a tag.

Hand drawn and colored images to categorize the Go, Grow, Glow and Whoa! foods.

I’ll be featuring this lesson later, but for now, check out these darling little illustrations.

She drew these Day of the Dead mask templates–students colored them!

Stay tuned for this design on garden merch. Isn’t it wonderful?

This turkey is no chicken

Posted on November 29, 2018 by kidsingardens

A belated Thanksgiving post follows. We all know gratitude isn’t seasonal!

We give thanks for our partnership with FoodCorps. I feel very fortunate to work with this incredible organization that lent us Emily for a whole year last year and now Cam. FoodCorps volunteers bring so much to our school through their garden/nutrition lessons in school and after school, daily work in the garden and cafeteria, and participation in various on-campus programs for children’s health.

Here’s Cam, demonstrating his good sport, unfailingly positive, ready-for-any-challenge attitude. Our after school program has an annual Turkey Run during which kids chase a costumed adult turkey around the playground. The first to grab a flag takes home a full turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone else who participates gets to choose an item (yams, canned soups, cranberries, stuffing) for their families as well.

Thanks Cam! Julian Elementary and Julian Junior High are very grateful you are here!

In praise of volunteers

Posted on October 12, 2018 by kidsingardens

This morning I scrolled back through the blog in search of pictures for a project. Remembering all of the things we have accomplished over the last ten years is overwhelming and encouraging. NONE of it would have happened without the generous help of volunteers.

This year I am working on building up our group of core volunteers, and we have had some amazing people step up. Danielle is a mother of four children in our district and a recent addition to our school board. She checked in with me at one of our new “Watering, Weeding, and Working Wednesdays.” I was showing her some of the deferred maintenance projects, and she lit up at the mention of our cedar legacy table. If you don’t know the background of our AMAZING table, please click here. It’s one of our best stories.

The Legacy Table: A Little Tale of Reinvesting, Rebuilding and Reinvesting

The table was in need of a little TLC. It has been a long time since we have cleaned it and treated it with rosewood oil. Danielle, along with all of her kids, brought out a sander and tools, and they restored it beautifully! She said teachers were coming out to thank her for her work on it, and when I profusely thanked her, she said she was happy to do it because her family loves our school so much. And we love them. ALL THE GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN SCHOOL GARDENS!

August/September garden tour

Posted on September 19, 2018 by kidsingardens

As we occasionally do here at “What’s not to like?” take a stroll with me through our garden program in August and September.

For the first time in our HOTM efforts, we chose the avocado for August. Our taste test was avocado toast, and naturally it had a near 100% approval rating at recess. This sign met students off the bus in the morning.

I caught this snapshot of Ms. T opening up her day the first week of school at the garden table. What a peaceful, beautiful place to connect with students and set the tone for the week.

Introducing 8 out of 10 of our new 5th grade Garden Ambassadors. This is a long-running program that is original to our school, and we’re very proud of it. To learn more, see this or this or this or this.

On September 11th, we held a Day of Service and Remembrance in the school garden. Emily, our beloved Food Corps volunteer from last year, brought over a crew of friends from Camp Stevens. We got a lot done with their help and positive energy!

We have an amazing parent (Garrett Huffman) who is working with Mr. C to build a shed we have on order. Garrett built this platform this week. I cannot wait to better organize our garden materials in a big shed.

Mr. Cam is starting a new program called Tastebud Tickets. At snack recess, he walks around giving tickets for kids “caught” eating something healthy.

Then on Monday morning, he put all of those tickets in his garden hat and had a garden ambassador pull one name. That student got to choose a friend with whom to share lunch in the garden that afternoon.

Now in September, we are focusing on apples for our Harvest of the Month. Our Garden Ambassadors offered bread with locally made apple butter at recess.

Good food, happy kids! Til next time…..

Thank you San Diego Master Gardeners!

Posted on May 9, 2018 by kidsingardens

Last semester Julian Elementary was thrilled to receive a $500 grant to build a pioneer history raised bed in conjunction with the 5th grade teacher, Mrs. McFedries, as part of her social studies curriculum. We used the money to buy heirloom seeds, wood, soil and paints. Our garden teachers Kat and Emily did an awesome job overseeing all of the steps with Mrs. McFedries.

We chose to take out a raised bed that we inherited ten years ago and was falling apart.

Students cut and painted the new boards. We decided to make this bed not only wider, but also twice as deep.

Tom, the head of our school maintenance staff, generously helped the students build the bed.

Meanwhile, students propagated their seeds from “Seed Savers Exchange” on every available flat space in the classroom and later in the garden. Emily had researched and purchased historic varieties of beans, corn, squash, okra, cucumber and herbs.

It took a lot of soil to fill this beauty! Small transplants were then placed in the new bed and covered in agrobon to protect the baby plants.

Finished product! (We only need to add some length to the current irrigation.) The fifth graders “paid it forward” by planting herbs and vegetables for next year’s class, but since the junior high is adjacent to the elementary, they can also come back early next school year to enjoy the harvest too! The smaller letters on the bed read “Thank you SD Master Gardeners!”

“California Thursdays” lunch launch

Posted on March 29, 2016 by kidsingardens

On March 17th, our district participated in a statewide launch of California Thursdays, a program promoted by the Center for Ecoliteracy. The idea is simple: districts sign on to serve a lunch every Thursday sourced only with California food.

To get ready for the big celebration, I worked with after school students for two months to create educational signage and decorations.

Strawberries were planned for the menu, so I made them the “harvest of the month” and created strawberry lessons. We examined strawberry plants, talked about “runners” or stolons, searched for plants in the garden with “strawberry facts,” whipped up strawberry smoothies and made little posters that later decorated the lunch area wall.

One day before the event, I taught two flower arranging classes after school to make the lunch table centerpieces. I found the plastic pots at a dollar store, and we made the entire arrangements with only plants and flowers found in the school garden. They turned out beautifully!

Picking flowers…..

…and arranging them!

On the morning of our launch, the Garden Ambassadors came to school early to help me hang signs and posters.

At 11:00 our special guests arrived—the farmers and ranchers who provided the food for lunch, representatives from our caterer Jeremy’s on the Campus, Jan Stone from the Center for Ecoliteracy and partners from North County San Diego Health and Human Services. Our Garden Ambassadors greeted each guest, sat with him/her during the assembly and lunch, and provided garden tours.

Our lunch consisted of sliders made with bison meat from a local ranch, salad from Farmer Phil at Sage Mountain Farm, and bread from California Mountain Bakery. At the assembly right before lunch, junior high students showed a slideshow they created about California agriculture. Ken Childs from Star B Ranch, the local bison ranch, spoke to the kids about raising bison and set up a table of bison-related items to see and touch. Chef Jeremy, Farmer Phil, Jan Stone and Health and Human Services Deputy Director Jennifer Bransford-Koons also spoke about good, local food and healthy lunch!

Then we all ate lunch! A wonderful day, and an awesome concept—our district is proud to be a part of the state’s California Thursday effort! (And thank you to Susi Jones for making this whole event happen—her vision always inspires!)

A little idea: “garden treasure hunts”

Posted on October 1, 2015 by kidsingardens

Last week I made this poster on 11×14 paper, with color clipart, and laminated it.

Then looking at a jigsaw puzzle template online, I scored it into pieces with a ballpoint pen.

I cut the puzzle into pieces, re-laminated each piece so all of the edges were sealed, and hid them in the garden. When I took the K students out for afternoon garden class, they hunted for the pieces, returning to the table to fit it together. I had little rolls of masking tape on the table to help the pieces stay together.

After we assembled the message, I passed out magnifying glasses and we went looking for signs of fall.

In the process, we discovered a stick bug. We made a circle and gently passed it around.

And then we posed for this picture! I love how this activity turned out and plan to make a set for each season. Fun way to end: I gave each student a piece and they re-hid them for my next class—almost as much fun as finding them!

Winter Garden Tour

Posted on January 13, 2014 by kidsingardens

And by winter, I mean the months of November and December and not the weather, as it has been distressingly warm here in Southern California. Shed your jacket and join me as we take a look around the garden in the past few months.

I’ve seen school gardens that add holiday decorations throughout the year, so I’ve been keeping my eyes out for ornaments and wreaths at garage sales. At the end of my church’s rummage sale, everything was on sale for $1 a box. I walked away with big plastic ornaments and wreaths. Students help me put it all up at the end of a garden class (building ownership!), and we added bunches of freshly cut incense cedar.

A modest radish and broccoli harvest was enough for a treat on a whole grain cracker in Mrs. Younce’s class.

Parent, friend and native plant guru Art Cole planned and purchased natives for the area to the side of the Kandu Gate. Plants include creeping snowberry, “Joyce Coulter” Manzanita, monkey flower, sedge, yarrow and currants. Garden Ambassadors helped me dig holes and excavate rocks.

Later I added red mulch and plant markers to help keep students from walking over them.

Our November Backcountry Collaborative marked the end of our 1 year USDA Farm to School grant. Pictured below are a few of the seasonal crop banners we had made to decorate our lunch area. Also pictured are two eight grade students (confession: the boy is mine) who are introducing the food film they made for their elective class, Food Justice. The title of their film: Pie-oneering, The story of the first commercial pie restaurant in Julian.

“Garden Beneficial” Harvey and Mr. Copeland worked with students to build 3×3 beds to increase our edible space, a goal of our Farm to School planning grant.

Our harvest of the month for November and December: beautiful broccoli! Notice the hoops and the agrobon, which we’ve used a bit with a few cold/snowy nights.

Mrs. Dawson’s class harvested the rest of the broccoli for their holiday party, and the irrigation box has been stored inside in anticipation of freezing nights. (Cross your fingers!)

Wreath making with herbs (primarily rosemary) and cedar was a successful holiday activity. And the classrooms have never smelled better!

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to more stories flowing from the school garden….

Food, ready for its closeup

Posted on October 15, 2013 by kidsingardens

Under Mr. Pierce’s instruction, today’s afterschool photography program Kids with Cameras class tackled still life, starring fruits and vegetables, to go with our “food focus” for this semester. Stacey Peyakov from our local produce stand Wynola Flats donated produce for us to work with (thank you, Stacey!)

I threw in my own week’s groceries as well as every basket, platter, small bowl and linen in my house. Other instructors added vases, spools of yarn, a jug of paintbrushes, bowls, shells, lanterns….. We ended up with a great selection of props.

Mr. Pierce gave an excellent short presentation on the concept of “still life,” and then outlined a few things the kids should be thinking about: light, texture, color, shadow, etc.

Then the kids went for it. And I loved it. 100% of the kids, 100% engaged, for 100% of the class. I was in pedagogical heaven.

Selecting materials:

Our ratio of instructors/adults to students was almost 1:1. The kids consulted with the teachers, and the teachers helped to set up their shots.

One of the students suggested we tip over the tables to make areas to create the arrangements This worked great as a way to hang linens or butcher paper for backdrops.

Watching the students exercise their creativity was a joy. They’d work with one set of items they collected, arranging and re-arranging, and after getting their photographs, they’d head back and try something totally different. I’d say they were definitely “in the zone.”

These faces say it all! A great day!

Farmers are outstanding in their field, being photographed

Posted on October 11, 2013 by kidsingardens

Kids with Cameras, our afterschool photography class, is off and running again (I’ve written about it here, here, here and here if you’d like to know more.) This semester we’re focusing on food, so we took kids to “Down the Road” Farm–one of the places sourcing Jeremy’s on the Campus with fruit and vegetables. Farmer Josh, Farmer Bob and even Chef Jeremy were on hand to be photographed. The idea is that we will enlarge some of the day’s best shots and use them in the cafeteria to help students make a connection between their food and the people/farms that grow it.

The farm is set at the base of Volcan Mountain–a stunning site.

A student chats with Chef Jeremy.

The greenhouse provided nice, diffuse light on an otherwise very bright afternoon.

We found that the kids were a bit shy about approaching the farmer/chefs so one of the instructors set them up in stations, so kids went down the line, interacting with them while shooting–a bit more directed approach. Here Eva talks with Chef Jeremy by the amaranth.