Tag Archives: environment

Another Delicious Day: Food Day 2018

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This is a long one, but very tasty…..read on!

On October 25th, Julian Elementary and Junior High celebrated their 6th annual Food Day with a full day of fun, experiential workshops about cooking, nutrition, backyard gardening and agriculture.  Our theme was “California Grown.” Garden Ambassadors helped me decorate the school early in the morning while our food-themed soundtrack blared.

Nine presenters delivered the following 30-minute lessons at the elementary school:

Eat the Rainbow: Getting kids active with physical education activities, the UCSD School Wellness team taught kids how fruits and veggies of all colors help our bodies.

The workshop ended with a persimmon taste test!

A Seed is a Backpack: Our yearlong FoodCorps service member, Mr. Cam taught kids the parts of the seed and then let them examine various seeds with microscopes and magnifying glasses.

Bees, Flowers and Veggies in Our Connected World:  For the sixth year Camp Stevens has been an important part of our Food Day. This year they taught the kids to make “bee hotels”—a collection of nesting tubes for native bees.

Cooking with Chef Joey and Chef Greg:  Back by popular demand from the Healthy Adventures Foundation, our two chefs worked with the kids to make ambrosia salad and fruit roll-ups.

Growing New Food from Old:  Another longstanding partner with Food Day, the Resource Conservation District instructed students how to make their own pots out of newspaper, fill them with soil and plant potato pieces!

Composting with Worms: A new presenter at Food Day and a wonderful new addition to our event, the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation spent the day teaching students all about vermicomposting, including a chance for the kids to dig through castings to find the red wrigglers.

My Cheeseburger Came from a Farm:  Well-known and loved by generations of Julian students, retired teacher Kathy Cauzza and team brought an amazing lesson on farming and ranching, an educational program of the Cow Belles.

Apple Growers of Julian:  Teak and Kaitlan Nichols, with Harvey Arntson, are six-year presenters with the Julian Apple Growers Association.  Every year students learn about Julian’s apple heritage while pressing their own apple juice.

Food, Fiction, Facts and Fun!:  We were pleased to have the Julian Library join us this year, making crafts with students, reading stories and sharing fun food facts!

At the Junior High, another set of six classes was offered to students:

Bounty Bags–Keeping in Sustainable:  Artist Teal Young walked students through the steps of turning an old t-shirt into a reusable shopping bag as she educated them about the perils of plastic bags and wildlife.

California Conifers–Forest Food:  Representing the Volcan Mountain Foundation, Janice Smith and Kat Beck taught students about conifer wildcrafting in the backcountry, offering samples of Douglas Fir shortbread cookies and toasted pine nuts.

We Grow it ALL in California!:  High school agriculture teacher Mr. Martineau brought over his FFA students to discuss the primary crops of various California counties, offering food samples from each region and displaying handmade visual aids.

Rethink you Drink: Back for a second year, Daniel Barajas of Health and Human Services challenged students to think about their sugar intake and the various health effects.

How does it grow? Food Films:  These four to six minute films that focus on different crops are beautiful, interesting and memorable. Once again, Mr. Pierce showed the films and facilitated discussion.  For a sample of these wonderful short films, click here.

GUTS!  Your Second Brain:  A new presenter, Ms. Fiendisen of Smart Care educated students on the importance of healthy gut flora, ending her presentation with tastes of sauerkraut and kombucha.

In addition to the workshops, students at the junior high were treated to plates of homemade salsas, whipped up by the Pathways weekly parenting group.  At the end of the day all students also got a chance to sample many different foods from Julian and around the world in a large tasting rotation.

On both campuses, all presenters, staff and volunteers enjoyed a lunch provided by our amazing partner, Soups and Such, and delectable cookies by California Mountain Bakery. Chef Donald of Jeremy’s on the Campus also brought a tasty, beautiful California Thursday lunch for the children.

Finally, the fifth grade garden ambassadors went on a fieldtrip to Down the Road farms to finish the day, learning all about organic gardening from Farmer Josh and Farmer Bri. Here we are standing in front of the oldest apple tree in Julian!

Clearly, it was a full and wonderful day, packed with fun and learning.  Thank you to the parent and community volunteers who helped to make it happen!  Also thanks to Dave Palmer of Dunk Tank Marketing and the Farm to School Collective for many of the photos above!

August/September garden tour

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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…..

Presenting the native plant demonstration garden

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Under Garden Teacher Kat’s expert leadership (and unfailing love for native plants), we now have a native plant demonstration garden along a newly cut trail on the back slope of the garden.

The idea goes back years to the James Hubbell Gate.

When James created the gate, his vision was to better connect the gardens at the elementary and junior high.  At that time,the garden was separated by a high chain link fence and a long asphalt road.  With the installation of the gate, we took down the fence, put up an attractive, waist-high fence and cut an opening to the slope on the back side of the garden.  Then five years elapsed until Kat took up the cause.  To begin she recruited Garrett to install steps on the steepest part of the slope down from the gate.

This allowed us to cut a straight path across the hillside.  Mr. Boling, parent volunteer, came out to help with shoring it up.

It’s hard to see in this photo but the path continues through the trees.

Kat then purchased native plants and worked with kids to plant them all along the trail.  Not only will children learn about the plants by using the trail, but community members can also educate themselves about California natives simply by visiting our campus.  Another project completed at the Julian Elementary garden!  Thanks everyone!  Well done!

Thank you San Diego Master Gardeners!

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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!”

 

Farmers are outstanding in their field, being photographed

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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.

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A student chats with Chef Jeremy.

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

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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.

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Chef Jeremy by the amaranth.

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Farmer Josh had a surprise: extra 2 inch models.

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Photo courtesy of Anne Garcia

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A van full of happy children loaded down with flowering root vegetables!

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Coming soon: what the children photographed that day.  I’ll leave you with something that caught my eye!  Ah autumn!

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Here’s hoping the trend becomes the future

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School and community gardens are exploding.  I hope that it’s not just a good trend, but a move toward the new normal.

There is so much to learn from others’ efforts, and I love to get out and see what’s happening other places.

Last week I took my kids to the Great Park in Irvine where they have an impressive demonstration garden called the Farm + Food Lab.  Wow!  Also, my sister is involved with her girls’ wonderful school garden in San Jose.  I posted pictures of cool ideas from both places under the Children’s Garden Ideas tab in the black menu above.  There are also pictures of “best practices” from school gardens across the state from last year’s road trip.  Please visit! And if you have a photograph of an outstanding idea, feel free to e-mail it to me and I’ll include it in the library.  Thanks!

Girl Scout composts her way to Silver Award

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Local girl scout Sara Rott decided to do her Silver Award on the junior high garden.  One major component was starting a composting system.  In addition to educating her peers, she also helped with the mechanics of the system so that it will continue for years.

Here are two of the signs she made.  One set will hang at the elementary school; the other at the junior high.

Also, she built this screen to harvest finished compost.  Days after she delivered it, we used it at Family Fun Day.

This is an excerpt of what she wrote about her project in her final report:

My experience with this project has brought new light to how a community can come together to help.  With my voice and my research in composting and building a school garden, kids and adults started to listen.  When people started to see the results of the garden and started enjoying the flowers and vegetables that were being grown, my efforts were worth trying.  My composting helped the garden to make soil instead of buying it.  What was being grown and eaten was being recyled back into soil.  This great achievement has brought awareness not only to me but to my school mates, teachers, our district supervisor, principals, and school board members.

Wanted: new crop of Garden Ambassadors

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At the beginning of the school year, I visit the fifth grade class, give a pitch for Garden Ambassadors and pass out applications.  This week I conduct interviews.  The returning (sixth grade) senior garden ambassadors have already been chosen, and today two of them spent part of their lunch to help me water and harvest for tomorrow’s lesson.

The application asks three questions.  Naturally all of the students wrote about having good character, demonstrating leadership qualities and being interested in all aspects of gardening.  Here’s a few of my favorite lines from this year’s application.

What do you think are good qualities for a Garden Ambassador to have?

Good qualities for a Garden Ambassador are respect, motivation, and an open heart.

I think some good qualities for a Garden Ambassador to have are being willing to get their hands dirty.

Knowing how to decipher weeds from produce!

I think good qualities to have are a good memory and a helpful soul.

Good listening and you can’t mess around! When you’re talking to a guest, don’t mumble and talk clearly.  Last year I created the Green Team and really enjoyed being a leader!

Why would you like to serve as a Garden Ambassador?

Because I think our garden is beautiful and I want to be a part of it!

This would teach me how to plant my own garden.  It would make me so happy if I were chosen!

I am interested in different plant species and how wonderful they look and what they do for our ecosystem.

I remember seeing the Senior Garden Ambassadors and saying I want to do that, and now look, I might!

I’d like to serve as a garden ambassador because I believe we don’t grow the garden, it grows us.   (I’d also love to play my violin in the garden to welcome special guests.)

I see it as an art form.  A blank canvas waiting to be painted.

I want to do it to inspire the younger kids to become Garden Ambassadors. 

What do you think you could learn from serving as a Garden Ambassador?

I could learn how to talk to the public or give a speech without being shy or nervous.

And finally, an addendum to one of the applications (I could clean out the gazebo if you were having guests):

“And Volcan is my mountain”

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Kids with Cameras was a wildly successful afterschool photography class that was offered by the Garden Club and partner organizations last fall.  This past week we launched Kids with Cameras 2.0 Spring Semester.  One of the program founders, Jeff Holt gave the first lecture on frame, focus, format, and then the kids headed out to the garden to practice.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Holt

This program has been successful on many levels, and in ways we couldn’t have expected.  Here is but one example.  One of the program partners is the Volcan Mountain Foundation whose mission is to preserve Volcan Mountain for future generations through the conservation and acquisition of land, practice of respectful stewardship, environmental education, public outreach, and resource management.  Every year they hold a dinner/dance fundraiser, and this past winter they decided to make Kids with Cameras the theme for the event, to emphasize the child/nature connection that falls within their mission.

Cue my friends: Allison, Kathy, Rita, Dana and Jeff.  Look at the decorations they came up with–as I said in my remarks that night “all locally sourced and lovingly assembled.”

From the imagination of Allison---film looped around natural elements with children's photographs

(Photo courtesy of Chris Elisara)

My friends made this from thin air---grand arrangements to match the centerpieces, with local foliage accented with turkey feathers and vintage cameras (Photo courtesy of Chris Elisara)

The mantel is decorated with an enlarged photo of kids on the mountain, local greenery and flowers, and antique cameras. Enlarged photos from the photography fieldtrip were hung in the dining room and auction venue.

Children's photography was for sale during the silent auction--all proceeds benefitting the work of Volcan Mountain Foundation

Additionally, my son was one of two kids asked to make a short speech.  It is reprinted below.  Watching him deliver this speech, and hearing/watching the room respond, was a highlight of highlights living here in Julian.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.  My name is Ethan Elisara.  My father is Chris Elisara who was born and raised in New Zealand.  In New Zealand, the native people who are called the Maori, introduce themselves by saying their name as well as a geographic feature they identify with, such as a river, an ocean or a mountain.  So as a half-Kiwi I would introduce myself to you saying:  Ko Ethan ahau. Ko Volcan te maunga OR  I am Ethan and Volcan is my mountain.

Growing up in Julian I have lived in two houses.  Both of them have faced Volcan Mountain.  The view of Volcan has been a backdrop for my childhood.  I see it when I wake up in the morning, from the playground at school and even from the mountain bike track that I bike twice a week.

Kids with cameras gave me the opportunity to explore the mountain more closely.  With my camera in hand, I studied the landscape.  I noticed shadows and examined trees.  I waited for the perfect moment when cottontail fluff blew across the viewfinder.  With our instructors we conversed about the light, we talked about the rule of thirds, we scrambled over rocks and tore across meadows.  At the end, we had hot chocolate and reflected on the day. 

Thanks for being here tonight and preserving my mountain.  Kia Ora and good evening.

Rainwater Harvesting, Extreme Edition

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Rain barrels are a common sense idea, and I love seeing them pop up at school gardens. Here is one of the barrels at the junior high garden.  It holds 60 gallons— 60 gallons that will not come from the spigot and will be replenished repeatedly this year (after we water the garden following dry spells or use water for the compost bin).

photo by Jeff Holt

It’s an ancient and necessary idea: catching our own rainwater and using it when we need to irrigate.  Quite simply, every ounce of precious rainwater captured, stored and later used for irriation is an ounce of precious potable water saved.  It’s a no-brainer technology, but as we know, when natural resources are cheap, convenient and plentiful, we often don’t invest the time, money or energy into smart alternatives.  It’s clearly high time for all us—especially drought-plagued regions— to re-think this.

For this reason my Garden Club co-president and I attended a water catchment workshop at our local library.  We were wriggling out of our seats with excitement, and when the talk concluded, we persuaded the presenter (Rosalind Haselbeck of http://www.buildinggreenfutures.com) to walk up to our elementary campus and advise us.  Where should a system go?  How big could it be?  How much would it cost?

I then went looking for grant money.

Two proposals were accepted.  We received $1,000 from San Diego Agriculture in the Classroom (a program of the San Diego Farm Bureau) and $3,500 from San Diego County Supervisor Diane Jacob’s Neighborhood Reinvestment Program.

The system was installed in the spring, and we cut the ribbon this fall.  (The grant money has also paid for educational signage.)  To our knowledge, it is the largest rainwater harvesting project on a school campus in San Diego county. Together the cisterns hold 3,000 gallons of water.

Two cisterns hold 1,500 gallons each; a pump in the middle attaches to a garden hose

County Supervisor Jacob waters the kindergarten winter vegetable bed with rainwater pumped from the cisterns

The cisterns sit discreetly behind our gazebo

Installed gutters catch rain that falls on the roof of the maintenance building adjacent to the garden. (The roof is large, hence significant surface area to catch water–as such, even a modest rain yields a lot of water.  There are cool formulas for this which are easy to find–I won’t bog down the blog with math right now.) Pipes direct the water into the top of the tanks.

Gutter screens keep out major debris.  A “first flush diverter” drains off the first catch of rain (thus washing the roof for a cleaner collection).  A settling J-inlet in the large tank further traps sediment.  (The water is not drinkable—the system has these features to ensure we are storing clean water.) The tanks are dark colored to prohibit algal growth.  Excess water is drained off through an overflow pipe which you can direct wherever you’d like.

It is the end of the December, and the tanks are full.  This past week I needed to do some watering. (It has been cold but very dry.)  I was delighted to find that using gravity-fed pressure ALONE, I could get sufficient water pressure to the far end of the garden.  And after an hour of watering, I could barely see the rain gauge budge.  All of that free, untreated water just coursing through the hose to nurture our garden—pretty amazing!  And now I’ve freed up some space in the cisterns for our next rain, thus catching more water for our next dry spell…

If you are in the San Diego area and would like to see the system in person, please contact me and I will arrange a tour!