Mary Poppins and gardening

Posted on September 5, 2014 by kidsingardens

In ev’ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job’s a game

From Spoonful of Sugar in Mary Poppins

Yet again, Mary is spot on, and I’ve applied her insights this week in the garden with children.

Thanks to Julian Pathway’s tireless persistence in applying for an after-school program grant, our elementary school now has a full-fledged set of programs before and after school for children. I work with the program on Wednesday, teaching two garden electives and one other (this cycle it’s Greek and Latin roots, which being the word nerd, I love.)

When students arrive at after-school program, they have already had a day of school, so we’ve designed these garden classes to be different from the formal lessons I teach during the school day. After-school gardening is longer (45 minutes) and with less children (10-12), so we can really get work done. But how to do that and make it engaging?

Last week I realized we needed to clear out a lot of rotting apples around the trees. A good cultural practice, removing rotting fruit keeps the area free from possible infestation of other critters. As such, I had the kids gather ten apples, and then we had a carnival-style “rotten apple compost olympics” with the kids standing behind a line and trying to toss the fruit into compost bins marked with different points. We kept scores, played a second round, and had to go to a championship tiebreaker. (Shamelessly, I won by one point.) Voila!—hundreds of apples composted. (And they left with big smiles on their faces.)

This week I wanted to re-mulch our baby apple and pear trees with some donated wood chips, which were a little distance from the trees. First we had a short chat about social insects and how small creatures working in cooperation can do huge things, like build massive termite mounds… or mulch 8 trees in 20 minutes. Then we then set up a “mulch brigade” and got the assembly line going. The kids worked incredibly hard, and we were all amazed at what we accomplished in a short time. Then we went and tossed a few more apples, and they asked if we could go both “games” again next week.

Thanks Mary! Practically perfect advice.

Live Well San Diego

Posted on August 8, 2014 by kidsingardens

Welcome to a new school year! After a too-short summer, we are back at school and in the garden. To kick off the new school year, please enjoy this article just published by our district’s partner Live Well San Diego about our school programs and Julian Pathways.

I look forward to another year in the garden with you!

Garden etiquette

Posted on June 8, 2014 by kidsingardens

This past year Mr. Copeland made quick little movies to be shown in all classes in order to teach school norms. This one explains school-wide expectations for behavior in the garden.

Strawberry lesson, sweet and juicy

Posted on May 5, 2014 by kidsingardens

Our “harvest of the month” is strawberries, and I tried out a new idea this year that worked well. Fifth grade students were split in groups that switched halfway through the lesson. One group worked on potting strawberry runners; the other transferred 30 strawberry facts on to paper cutouts, which I later laminated and attached to skewers. We also feasted on local strawberries, since ours aren’t quite ready.

Later the kindergarten students hid the strawberries as part of their lesson (which included finger plays, watering, observing strawberry plants and of course eating!)

Still later, second grade students went on a strawberry scavenger hunt to fill in the missing blanks on this “quiz” pasted into their journals.

1. It takes about_____days for a flower to turn into a fruit.

2. Strawberries are delicate and must be picked__________.

3. The Spanish word for strawberries is _________.

4. Strawberries are in the__________ family.

5. There are about ______species of strawberry plants.

6. Strawberries produce “runners” or __________ that produce new “daughter” plants.

7. Strawberries like ____________days and ____________ nights.

8. Strawberries are usually the first fruit to ripen in the________.

9. On average, there are ____________ tiny seeds on every strawberry.

10. Strawberries are the only fruit that wears seeds on the ____________.

11. Strawberries have lots of vitamin _________.

12. Strawberries are perennials. This means they live more than ________________.

Afterward, I “planted” all of the signs in one of the strawberry beds for an ongoing educational display. I think it’s a sweet touch!

March Garden Tour

Posted on March 24, 2014 by kidsingardens

It’s March in the garden, and it couldn’t be prettier. Stroll with me.

Carmen from Julian Pathways led the effort to start a monthly “have lunch with your parent in the garden” event. The first attempt was an unqualified success with over 50 students and parents sharing a meal on Friday afternoon.

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

Our Harvest of the Month is citrus. Citrus doesn’t grow in Julian so we tasted delicious grapefruit from the “neighboring” town of Borrego.

The breast cancer awareness ribbon is in full bloom! Photo courtesy of 6th grade student Avery McFedries.

Miss Lynn recently spruced up the gazebo with a new “coffee table,” pillows and a thorough cleaning.

She also tucks these little things around the garden. I love discovering them.

Pediatric residents from UCSD do part of their community health rotation at our district, through Pathways. Garden Ambassadors, decked out in St. Patrick’s attire, give the doc a tour.

We added a geranium to the new mailbox to match the flag.

Second grade students seeded this new circular bed and wagon with California wildflowers.

After the rains, one of the garden volunteers found this on the back slope of the garden. We’re thinking bobcat?

It was the garden’s turn to make a display for the front office.

Julian kids get to plant a lot of daffodils but they rarely get to go back and pick them. I had students make “surprise” bouquets for their teachers from flowers in the garden.

I’ll close with a link that captures our teacher “flash mob” last October on National Food Day. “We can change the world”—not just a pop song! The truth! (Right, Susi?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ZZmOzmFqQ

National Breakfast Week

Posted on March 7, 2014 by kidsingardens

On Tuesday we celebrated National Breakfast Week. Julian Pathways secured a grant for the school district from Action for Healthy Kids in order to promote the eating of breakfast, and we used it to provide a free breakfast to every child at the elementary and junior high. To make it a festive event, we all ate in the garden!

The chains were made from seed catalogues by the children

Centerpieces were paper roses, made from seed catalogues, by 3rd and 4th grade students last week in garden class.

Younger student colored these messages:

Breakfast is brain food!

Eat your breakfast!

Student musicians played on the gazebo “stage”….

…and under the plum tree!

Last week during garden class, I worked with the fifth graders to write “breakfast haiku.” Students read their poems in-between the musical presentations.

Twelve lucky kids had heart stickers on their breakfast bags….

…which meant they got to return to the garden at lunch to ride the “blender bike” and enjoy their own pedal-powered smoothies!

Thanks to Pathways and Action for Healthy Kids for making this wonderful morning possible!

Almost 200 children, in the garden, every week

Posted on February 21, 2014 by kidsingardens

Parents started the elementary school garden 4.5 years ago. We started by cleaning the space up, followed by more cleaning up of the space. We built structures, renovated a gazebo, added raised beds, commissioned a table, put the compost bins in place and began fundraising and grant writing. Every year we push the project forward—adding wildlife habitat, fruit trees, a solar fountain, works of art, native plants, a rainwater harvesting system…. Three years ago we launched Garden Ambassadors..and then two years ago I began teaching a formal garden class every Wednesday afternoon during our enrichment classes. Last year we dove head first into Farm to School.

This February our garden education program took a big leap forward. Every class now goes to the garden, every week, for a 30-40 minute class which I am honored to teach. Children are in the garden all day long, doing more than we’ve ever done before–learning vocabulary, writing, singing, planting, harvesting, cooking, eating, mapping, creating, exploring. It has been thrilling. Thank you to everyone whose vision, hard work and love for “kids in gardens” has brought us to this point! Extra special thanks to Julian Pathways (our on-campus family and student support center which I will write more about soon) for making this phase of garden instruction possible!

With the ESK class, ready to sing and hunt for letter of the week in the garden

February Garden Tour

Posted on February 14, 2014 by kidsingardens

Time for a walk around the garden. Leave your jackets at home—it’s 76 degrees here today in Julian.

I picked up these banners at a garage sale in my effort to add holiday touches to the garden.

Miss Lynn added these:

Valentines Day is the rule of thumb for planting peas, and peas we did plant!

Kale is our harvest of the month, and my parent helpers/Garden Beneficials cooked up kale chips at our outdoor kitchen for the fifth graders. One thing I have become convinced of during my tenure as garden teacher—-NUTRITION EDUCATION WORKS! These kids were gobbling down the kale chips, begging for more, asking for the recipe, declaring it to be one of their favorite foods….uh, kale chips!

Harvesting from our new 3×3 beds:

Cooking in our new little convection oven at our outdoor food prep station:

Munching away:

A Farm to School project recently finished! I had sets of banners made for the crops that are grown in San Diego each season. The winter set now enhances the indoor area where children pick up their lunches.

Next to the banners is one of the photographs taken by a student in our after-school photography program Kids with Cameras, identifying the chef behind the meal.

Early start kindergarten and kindergarten students focus on a “letter of the week.” I’m using these empty picture frames to teach garden vocabulary. The students hunt for them, and we learn the name of the object framed. D-d-d-d for daffodil!

Lastly, our district recently received a Live Well San Diego proclamation from our county board of supervisor for our wellness programs. Pictured left to right–County Supervisor Diane Jacob, School Board president Eileen Tellam, Superintendent Kevin Ogden, and me. Also recognized were Teresa and Jeremy Manley who were also present at the meeting.

New cameras, same ole magic

Posted on November 14, 2013 by kidsingardens

Kid with Cameras 4.0 just came to a lovely close. Through Julian United Methodist Church’s Gallo Fund, we were able to purchase ten “teaching cameras” for the project. Formerly, we worked with whatever cameras the kids had access to, and we spent a lot of time fiddling with each one. It worked, but everything is now so much easier–the cameras are always available, batteries are charged, instruction is given once to everyone, and we don’t need to download images at the end of every class.

Over seven weeks, we had a classes taught by various local photographers. Jeff Holt and Bill Bevill taught camera fundamentals:

Then Anne Garcia took us through principles of composition, using her own work as examples as well as a few photos of Graham Wilder’s.

We headed out to shoot in the school garden, with the objective of using some of the best images for a Garden Club photo card fundraiser.

Photo courtesy of Bill Bevill

Another class was held at Down the Road farm for farmer/chef portraits. Enlargements of some of the day’s best photos will be hung in the school cafeteria to help children make connections between their lunch and the people that had a hand in growing/preparing it.

Dave Pierce taught a class on still life, described here.

Graham Wilder, a new instructor with Kids with Cameras, showed the students some of his images, encouraging them to find the “extraordinary in the ordinary.”

Then we walked to downtown Julian to do just that.

Another new addition to the class was the process for choosing the “best photo” to exhibit. In the past, the instructors got together to look at film to pick the image. This year, each instructor took home the memory cards for two students after our last day of shooting. From those photos, the teacher narrowed them down to the best 10-12 images. Then during our last class, they sat with the students for 1.5 hours and talked through each photo, discussing them at length and asking the kids for feedback. Ultimately, the student picked their favorite. I think this approach worked great: the student had ownership of the photo to be exhibited, but they chose from a small pool already screened by the instructors, drawing upon their expertise. As educational experiences go, I think this class was simply incredible.

As is now our tradition, we ended with an evening reception at the public library. Instructors spoke about the class, students talked about their photos, and everyone enjoyed refreshments while milling around with the artists.

Photo courtesy of Bill Bevill

All photos remain on display for two weeks, and then the students get to take them home, along with a CD of all of their photos. Thanks to everyone involved for making this program an unqualified success!

Photo courtesy of Bill Bevill

Photo courtesy of Jeff Holt

Photo courtesy of Jeff Holt

Food Day: An educational feast!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by kidsingardens

The following article will appear in next week’s Julian News. Great photos follow after the story!

Joining with individuals, schools and cities across America, Julian Elementary School celebrated its first National Food Day on October 24^th. From 9:00 to 2:00, K-5 students were treated to eight different workshops spread across campus focusing on food, agriculture, cooking and nutrition. Simply put, students and staff ate it up.

All sessions were experiential, interactive and expertly taught by a team of volunteers. Representing the Julian Apple Growers Association, Mary Prentice and Teak Nichols related the history of the apple while having the students press their own cider. Josh Rasmussen, from Down the Road Farm, led students in a planting activity as well as brought farm animals for the kids to enjoy. Farm Smart, a program of the UC Desert Research and Extension Center, lent us Stephanie Collins for a wonderful program that included churning butter, comparing animal feed, and milking Bessie, a wooden cow equipped with an inner stainless steel container filled with real milk. Camp Stevens staff Ryan Wannamaker and Correen Walsh captivated kids in the garden with pollinator games, honey tastings and dressing up as beekeepers. Led by Tricia Elisara and Gina VanderKam, students played vocabulary-rich “Garden Bingo” and interacted with the outstanding documentary film “Nourish” about global food issues.

Cooking was another key ingredient of the day. Chef Greg from Healthy Adventures Foundation enlisted students to help make lettuce wraps and flavorful tostadas. Across campus, Chef Jeremy Manley and Carie Quick talked with students about the new school lunch program (catered by Jeremy’s on the Campus) and had the students brainstorm new menu items. To tie it all together, Carmen Macias led a game in classifying edible plant parts, decorating a “My Plate” diagram with healthy choices and ending with a fitness activity. Many parents, Garden Beneficials and other dedicated community members generously gave their day to assisting at each workshop.

To add to this educational banquet, the campus was decorated with posters made by students in the weeks prior, promoting good food and healthy habits. At 11:00, students gathered on the playground for a scheduled exercise break led by Coach Dobby from the Julian Fitness Center. Just before starting, however, music came on the load speaker and Principal/Superintendent Kevin Ogden moved to the center of the campus, dancing. Teachers joined him from all directions, and the first ever flash mob at Julian Elementary was performed, appropriately enough to the song “We can change the world” on a day dedicated to making a healthier world for all of us!

Celebrating Food Day was an idea generated by the school’s Farm to School Team as part of the year-long USDA planting grant awarded to the district and spearheaded by Pathways Executive Director Susi Jones. To learn more about National Food Day, or to begin planning activities for next year, please visit www.foodday.org and/or contact the Farm to School Coordinator Tricia Elisara for more information.

Students made these posters in University of Wednesday

Cranking the cider press (Photo courtesy of Karen Alexander)

Wait a minute….is that Gina VanderKam playing Garden Bingo? (On a visit from Washington, she was my right hand woman all day!) She is still trying to get the crayon off her fingers….