Planting the “stinking rose”

Posted on February 16, 2013 by kidsingardens

Recently during lunch Garden Ambassadors came out to help me put in some garlic (aka “stinking rose”.)

One of my goals for this blog is “to make a case for school gardens from every angle I can think of.” In a fifteen minute activity, look at all the good stuff that was played out….

community: My friend and fellow Master Gardener Mary had extra garlic to plant from her Julian garden and she shared her bulbs with us, dropping them off at school.

education (experiential, continuing, informal): Student separated and planted the bulbs at lunch time. I was tempted to go put the bulbs in myself (quick, easy), but I resisted and waited for a time when kids could help me. Should these little bulbs sprout and grow, I know the kids will be more excited and involved if their own little fingers put them in the soil. As the garden coordinator, I learned a lot too by checking out a great book in order to learn more about garlic since I’m also planting it for the first time: The Complete Book of Garlic* by Ted Jordan Meredith.

sustainability: I learned that the majority of garlic we consume comes from China. And it can be relatively easy to grow in one’s own backyard (in climates with some rainfall, sunny dry summers, and fairly moderate winters.*) Let’s do this!

nutrition: Imagine the possibilities when we harvest in the fall!

Teaching and tasting a “ray of California sunshine”

Posted on January 30, 2013 by kidsingardens

(Or citrus, as it used to be marketed for folks back East when citrus was being established here in southern California.)

Many of you know I am six weeks into my role as the Farm to School Coordinator, a postion funded by a USDA grant we received in the fall. It is a planning grant. In other words, I have been calling myself “chief researcher” in our district’s process of exploring what infrastructure modifications (i.e. school lunch program) and education programming (i.e. nutrition lessons, fieldtrips, garden expansion, etc.) are a good fit for our schools.

One thing I’m looking at is getting free or discounted produce (local, seasonal and preferable organic) to work into lessons for University of Wednesday. I haven’t figured this out yet, so last week I went to Whole Foods in Hillcrest and bought 5 each of every citrus item they had (excluding limes and lemons.) Cut into sixths, this was the minimum amount I needed for a class of 26. (It cost $50.)

I set up the fourth grade room in groups of six, with each seat having a plate, pencil, and taste test sheet. The citrus was set out in the middle of the table. A bag to the side was open for rinds, to be later sent to the compost.

Kids were to make their best guess on whether this was a new fruit for them. After tasting, they were supposed to give each a rating and one descriptive word.

I made a keynote presentation on citrus. We talked a little bit about the history of citrus and where different varieties are grown today. Here’s a story I told, like a botanical thriller (arms waving, eyes flashing):

In 1869, a serious citrus pest, the cottony-cushion scale was imported into the state, and within 15 years it threatened to destroy all of the citrus plantings in California. In the late 1800’s, an entomologist affiliated with the USDA, Albert Koebele, conquered the cottony-cushion scale with a natural predator of the pest imported from Australia……

If told dramatically, you can now pause for effect, and ask kids what they thought it was, before revealing it to be

….the Vedalia beetle, more commonly known as the LADYBUG or LADYBEETLE (capitalization mine) . It was the first spectacular biological-control success story.*

Then we took time to get up and wash our hands properly. Properly. It’s flu season.

And then we got to the fruit. I’d introduce one, give a few facts, and the kids would cut them into slices (with plastic knives.) We got into this groove and it took to the end of the period to finish all of the varieties. Kids loved it! I loved hearing them say things like, “I think I like the Cara Cara orange better than the Valencia” and “I’ve never had grapefruit before but I like this” and “I like the last tangerine better than the first tangerine which I already gave a 10. Can I give a 10 plus?”

*CaliforniaMaster Gardener Handbook, pg. 533.

Garden tour, January 2013

Posted on January 23, 2013 by kidsingardens

After a year of blogging, I celebrated and took four weeks off! (Easy to do in Zone 7!) Now I am rested and ready to tell more stories from the school garden in 2013.

For now, the garden is cold, quiet and pretty empty. Still, work goes on….

We purchased a heavy-duty weatherproof canvas cover for our kitchen island. It held up great during last week’s wet weather.

Said wet weather (though not a great volume) brought us 600 gallons of free water!

I’ve been composing a letter to my Garden Beneficials, letting them know of opportunities to be involved from now until the end of the school year. Here’s the apron I had made for each of them.

One Beneficial made a contact with a local grape grower who offered to teach us to prune correctly. I’m hoping for our first crop this year! (Grapes are nice choices for the ubiquitous school chain link fence.)

These boxes were filled with bulbs from our Flower Power Fundraiser. I haven’t been exactly sure how to use this space, so filling them with crocuses, irises and lilies to offer a little color and life in early spring seemed like a good idea.

Beneficials and students added a couple bushels of daffodils to this hillside on the backside of the garden.

On the to-do list: set gopher traps in these garden entrypoints we found when planting the daffodils.

Six tables and eight benches were delivered right before Christmas break to the junior high garden. These were purchased with local PLDO funds through Mexi-American Crafts in Ramona. Here they are awaiting a work party! (Post on this big development to follow.)

Local tree trimmers and the rangers from Heise Park keep us supplied with free woodchips. We need to spread them about once a year. It’s amazing how improved the soil is four years later, after regularly laying these down to disintegrate (as well as to “finish” the garden and suppress weeds.)

I will write more about this later but I have also begun serving as a “school garden consultant” through San Diego Master Gardeners. I met with my first school—an elementary in Escondido–last week! Here are some of the key teachers (and fellow MG consultant) in front of their kindergarten “bed”! (TOO CUTE.)

Indoor gardening activity: rosemary wreaths

Posted on December 13, 2012 by kidsingardens

I experimented with making rosemary wreaths for our sale on Saturday, and we sold every one of them. Today was threatening rain, wind and temperatures in the 50’s (note: this is cold in California), so I put together an indoor lesson about rosemary for University of Wednesday.

First I harvested about 400-500 sprigs of rosemary from my yard. (Like the laundry basket?) I also cut 10 inch lengths of floral wire, and 24 pieces of 20 inch thicker gauge wire. I also gathered spools of ribbons.)

Beforehand I popped a whole lot of popcorn with olive oil and fresh rosemary.

After talking a little bit about the history and uses of rosemary, we tied the mound of sprigs at each table into threes with floral wire, and then wound the clusters to the wire circles they shaped with the thicker wire. Students finished the wreaths with ribbons/raffia, and we dined on popcorn.

For the last five minutes we took a quick garden walk and identified the rosemary bushes in three different locations. After working with them, touching them, smelling them, tasting them—they were easy to identify. Students happily went home with their wreaths—this one as a hair piece!

To market, to market (to fund all our ideas!)

Posted on December 9, 2012 by kidsingardens

Today we held our annual Fall Garden Market on Main Street, Julian. Chances are we’ll be there tomorrow, because we have a lot of big ideas we want to fund. Here are a few snapshots from the day:

Tying up the native strawberry plants with burlap and raffia. Garden Ambassadors propagated the plants.

Photo cards from Kids with Cameras, apple print cards by the third graders and the seeds we saved from our snapdragons during a University of Wednesday class.

The kids helped set up and then made corn husk dolls. (Avery wore the Pooh costume all day!)

Rosemary wreaths were popular! I want to do this activity again with students—maybe a Mothers’ Day gift?

The sale always has the backbone of gourmet baked goods, thanks to Rita!

We sold daffodil bulbs in baskets, with directions for planting.

Marisa and Kathy worked all day! Thank you friends!

Raised today: $473!

Outdoor food prep station? Check!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by kidsingardens

I mentioned that Whole Foods Foundation and Food Corps funded an outdoor food prep station in the garden. To review, this is what the area looked like before:

A deck was built to fit the space…

…and a split-level “food prep station” added! (The two levels are for lower and upper grade-sized kids.)

Stainless steel sinks can be used to wash produce with fresh water from dispensers.

Buckets in cabinets below catch the water to reuse on plants.

Sinks can be covered with cutting boards to increase work space.

Both sides have electrical outlets for simple appliances, such as our pizza oven and wok. We also purchased a solar over. I’ve been keeping my eyes open at garage sales for other tools such as a salad spinner and a flat grill/panini press.

The stage is set for great culinary and educational outcomes!

Xeriscape + Botantical Drawing

Posted on December 1, 2012 by kidsingardens

Our junior high has an enrichment afternoon called Tech Thursday, much like the elementary’s University of Wednesday. Marisa and I just completed two sessions on xeriscape and botantical drawing. First, I explained the principles of xeriscape (drought-tolerant landscaping) and talked about our plans to have students help us plant a “demonstration garden” on the slope edging the school garden.

Then I introduced a handful of “rockstar” plants. I gave a little natural history and botany for each.

Mouthing off about ceanothus, deer grass and salvia

Then, to help students really look at the plants, Marisa took over and talked about the art of botanical drawing.

Students then began to sketch. Our hope is that they learned a bit about this style of drawing. We also hope that they have learned a few plant ID’s, having looked so carefully at the plants.

Two particularly great examples:

Last step! Kids in the after school Club Live program putting them in the ground…in the drizzle!

From Julian to the MOPA

Posted on November 24, 2012 by kidsingardens

True: Four Julian students currently have photographs hanging in the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. This is a great story and my dear friend Ann recently wrote it up for the Julian Journal, and her account from the November edition is reprinted (with gratitude) below.

Julian Youth Exhibit Photographs at MOPA

Trustees and members of the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) filled its atrium last month as guests of honor, four students from Julian Junior High, arrived for an artist’s reception to open “Photo/Synthesis,” the 7^th Annual Youth Photography Exhibition.

Seventh-graders Taylor Cole, Trevor Denny, Ethan Elisara and Kaleigh Kaltenthaler enjoyed appetizers and music, and mingled with the public, sharing a love of photography nurtured by their involvement in “Kids with Cameras,” an afterschool enrichment program. Some of the students had never been to MOPA before. For others, opening was a new experience. For all of them, it is the first time their artwork was on display in a venue that is nationally recognized for its contribution to the world of photography.

The theme of this year’s youth exhibition, environment and sustainability, is a subject right up the alley of these students who spent most of their time taking photos in the school garden and on Volcan Mountain. The show was open to students from throughout San Diego County. Applicants submitted original photos and an artist statement. A panel of five experts in the field of photography reviewed about 300 entries to select 100 images for the show. Jurors considered the quality of the image, how it fit into the theme and how well the student’s written words supported his or her photograph.

Deborah Klochko, executive director of MOPA, spoke at the reception saying, “We live in a visual world; how we see that is important.”

She encouraged guests to take a moment to talk with the artists, saying that their voice plays an important role. Klochko considers photography to be the most important media of the 21^st century.

While she says, “Creativity is important,” she also emphasized the importance of visual literacy.

She spoke of the volume of images in the world today, saying that until one understands the structure of an image—how it is made and how it can be manipulated—one can be controlled by the image instead of being in control. This is why the museum embraces the philosophy of lifespan learning, with programs for children and adults.

“The museum is proud to showcase the work of the youth, which is exciting for the audience as well,” she says.

In the gallery, the photos are arranged by sub-topics within the theme.

Hung with a group of floral photos is Trevor Denny’s close-up of a bee on a flower petal. Denny, who thinks “It’s pretty cool” to have his photo in a museum exhibition, never thought about how complex bees are until he examined one through the lense of this camera, focusing on details like the patterns in their wings and the hairs on their bodies.

For Ethan Elisara, who “feels really good” about having his artwork in the show, it was capturing the moment when a cattail stalk released its seeds into the air that caught the attention of the jurors. Elisara’s photo, which hangs with a group of “not your typical nature images,” has a mysterious quality that engages viewers.

Just a few of the photos on display used portraiture as a way to approach the subject, and that’s where Taylor Cole’s dramatic image of a child’s shadow on the bark of a tree burned in the Cedar Fire is found. Cole, who “felt like a V.I.P.” at the reception, juxtaposes in her photo the contrast of the tragedy of a natural disaster with the playfulness of a child.

In a group of photos that show mankind’s effect on the earth, Kaleigh Kaltenthaler’s artwork is the lone example of a positive way in which human beings have impacted the environment. Kaltenthaler said she was “fired up” to be surrounded by all of the photos as she talked with people about her image of a grinding stone and mortar.

Klochko publically credited Jeff Holt with doing a great job with a talented group of students.

The show, beautifully organized by Lori Sokolowski, continues through January 27, 2013.

All students pose with instructor Jeff Holt

Here’s hoping the trend becomes the future

Posted on November 13, 2012 by kidsingardens

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!

Mint, mum, mulch…

Posted on November 10, 2012 by kidsingardens

Garden educators know that it is challenging to work with a full class in the garden. Most garden tasks just don’t lend themselves to 25 (or more) kids. As such, I am experimenting with creating “discovery-based” activities that spread the kids out independently, with the teacher giving content and instruction up front and then acting as a resource to the kids as they complete the task. Yesterday’s lesson confirmed to me that this is a good way to go, with dozens of opportunities to teach words and concepts one on one.

I enjoyed the alphabet scavenger hunt with first grade so much that I decided to adapt it to fourth grade. To begin, students gathered at the table. I told them that the day’s lesson was paying attention when we’re in the garden, for two reasons. One, there is always something going, and you’ll miss it if you’re checked out. Two, Mrs. Elisara is sneaky.

I then gave a ten minute talk on what’s current in the garden. As I spoke, I referenced a list of vocabulary words on the white board behind me: cool season vegetables, annuals, perennials, solar fountain, photovoltaic cell, etc. At the end we repeated all the words together. Then I erased them.

I explained that there were 26 clipboards with crayons placed around the perimeter of the garden in alphabetical order, clock-wise. Students could go up to any clipboard and write down a word they “saw, heard or felt” in the garden. If the word was already on the sheet, they couldn’t repeat it. The clipboard had to be put back in the same place. It was perfectly OK to ask an adult for the names of things. (We had four volunteers on hand to teach vocabulary to every child who really paid attention to this rule!) Every word used the first time was one worth one point. Every time a child had to be asked not to run—minus one point. Every word that was on the board that I talked about earlier: worth three points! (Sneaky!)

Points would be awarded for creative words but not silly ones, and the top five point-earners would be invited to have lunch in the garden the following day with me, with a special garden treat (zucchini bread).

Read the “M” list, with special attention on the last word!