MV Children's Garden news from Lee Budish for the week of December 3, 2007.
TO DO LIST for the WEEK: TEACHERS PLEASE, please LABEL THE FRONT OF YOUR BED WITH A SHARPIE. Persimmons are ready: Do any of the classes want to do a Friday Persimmons Sale in the back and front lots? We need recycled bags to sell them, so please leave with Leslie in office if you have any. And, if you have a great recipe for anything using persimmons, let me know so we can include it with the sale. Thanks!
Parent Testimonials: Looking for parent testimonials on how the "non-vegetable" eating child is now eating tomatoes as a result of the garden. Please forward to share. Thanks!
1. The boxed wood area in between the last garden bed and the artichoke bed needs to be weeded. Once weeded turn the soil, and take the new soil that is piled nearby and amends. Have them mix it together so we can prepare to plant. Let them dig until their hearts content!
2. Weed out succulent area under the persimmon tree.
3. Pull weeds from apple orchard, citrus trees and where the succulent plants are under the persimmon tree. If in doubt on what it is, do not pull; do so only if you are 100% sure.
4. In the K area you will see farm animals made of terracotta. We need to weed that area and then amend with soil. Please take soil from the new pile near the artichokes; have the kids fill about 4 wheelbarrows.
5. We need to harvest the THOUSANDS of nasturtium seeds on the perimeter of the pumpkin patch. Store in a paper bag and return to me. They look like little pebbles. Turn it into a math lesson, grouping, etc. There are plenty of seeds to have a contest to see who can gather the most.... do teams....
6. In the apple orchard, the two tallest trees are Asian pears. Under these trees are fallen leaves. Please have kids rake the leaves and carry to the compost area. Pile them separately and NOT in the compost.
7. We need to move the debris and wood chips away from the apple and pear trees. Okay to move chips to the pathways in between. Use small rakes and supervise the children so they do not hit the bark of the tree with the rake as they move wood chips away. We need to keep the area surrounding the trees sanitary to keep the cuddle moth larvae from hatching.
8. Behind the garden gate on the back side are wood chips. Kids can move wood chips to cover the pathway behind the garden beds and between the citrus trees to keep those weeds in check. Needs lots of chips rains are coming and so are the weeds, MAKE A THICK COVER. The more the better on that pathway between the raised beds and the citrus trees in terms of weed management.
9. Keep searching for those snails and slugs in dark places. They are there!
Garden News: In Saturday's
San Francisco Chronicle, there was an article on UC Berkeley students. Students are setting up stands and selling farm produce. University courses are now pushing the connection from farm to food to table and how very important it is. Our kids, starting from kindergarten, are already reaping the benefits in our incredible resource that already exists--the garden, way in advance of the UC students! Excerpt: The Local is a weekly produce stand run by people who go to Cal. It's one of the most visible manifestations of a budding campus movement that is trying to provide an alternative for students interested in sustainable, organic and local food production - but frustrated by how little they find at the university. The positive impact of hands on education of growing, eating and selling their own produce and the affects it will have on our children's eating habits and education are astounding. Time will tell. Here is the link to the article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/12/01/BAIFTJC30.DTL.
The article also mentions professor and author Michael Pollan. He is an incredibly fascinating read on the subject, he has written Botany of Desire and The Omnivore's Dilemma. We are still trying to resolve the shed building issues with the school district. We basically want to replace the dilapidated shed that exists. Please contact me for details.
Wanted:Does anyone have those huge PINECONES on their property that they can bring in for a project? We are trying to expand our composting efforts, so if you have an afternoon coffee, please ask for GRINDS. They are usually happy to give them away. The Camino Alto Starbucks no longer does that, but the Strawberry and Tam Starbucks usually do. You can leave them by the garden gate and your car will smell much nicer, than the spilled milk and food! Organic air freshener! We want to create a geological garden under the persimmon tree, where things have a hard time growing and tie it back into the geology curriculum. If you have any funky rocks at home, we would love to have them. Also, if you are cleaning out your garages and have seashells or fake fish for our succulent underwater garden, that would be great. Also, for rainy days, do we have any volunteer hobby wood shop folks or grandparents, or neighbors who might like to help out? Thinking it would be fun to have the kids make some signs for the garden and waterproof. i.e. carrots, peas, lettuce planted etc. Need someone to donate scraps of wood and make so the kids can paint?
Fun Stuff: Also, each class has a camera. Perhaps you may want to document the seasons with the kids in a photo journal? After you document the seasons, you can do a year-end slide show. MAYBE A VIDEO, TOO????? Map out parts of the garden. Have kids count and draw apple orchard, can they tell which tree is pear or apple? Just get out that tape measure and ruler.
Rainy Day Fun: Download Vivaldi's Four Seasons and have the kids pretend they are plants and have them guess which season they are listening to.
Thank you all so very much! Please feel free to call me on my cell 342-1870. MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO HAVE FUN and keep warm!
Posted by Linda Dunne on December 3
