How our garden grows…. December 2, 2011

FRESH FROM THE GARDEN: The Learning Garden is a unique place that is so many things to so many children. The beauty of our garden here at Explorer is the diversity and flexibility of it, if you will.

There are plots dedicated to serving the hot lunch program…there are “pizza gardens” growing, Native Kumeyaay plant gardens, butterfly gardens, and ancestor plots where children learn about what their ancestors grew according to continent. There are co-operative gardens grown for donation to the San Diego Food Bank, and a new school-wide composting project is breaking ground today that will reduce the waste produced at recess and lunch.

When the children are in the garden, they are free to let their minds rest in nature. They find happiness in the soil, amidst the plants and trees. It fills my heart to watch how much joy a worm or a germinating seed gives them. They write elaborate descriptions and predictions in their field journals and marvel at the outcomes of their projects. They cook, they create…they do math and science. They take snippets of sage or lavender with them to remember their expereince as they leave. They’ve even made a hollow between two native bushes and use it as a quiet reading space.

These examples of how the garden grows is why I am thrilled to be the new Garden Coordinator in our “outdoor classroom”. I have volunteered in the garden for four years and feel very confident in the curriculum.

There is so much going on in the garden, and so much more to come in order to bring the garden to its full potential. Check out the garden blog next week for more information.

I am collaborating with Jean Kluver on the possibility of a “Garden Club” that will meet at recess and afterschool. This club with be a HUGE help…especially when it comes to the everyday maintanence of the beds. Should your child be interested, stay tuned for more information. Huge thanks to the High Tech High Middle Media Arts students who came down to help clean up the garden the week before Thanksgiving break. They cut out dead bushes, cleaned out beds, planted trees and helped rebuild cages. Also, thank you to Chris Patterson (master composter and Ivan Patterson’s dad) for his help, his knowledge and expertise. I am ever grateful!

Shoot me an email if you’d like to volunteer in any way in the garden.

Bright blessings!

-michelle hackney

mhackney@explorerelementary.org

Explorer Elementary: Changing the World One Compost Bin at a Time! December 10, 2011

As part of your child’s focus on environmental stewardship, we will be doing some composting activities in Explorer’s Learning Garden after Winter Break. These activities will prepare us for a ground breaking school-wide project that will help to reduce Explorer’s waste by hundreds of pounds every month.

Last week, Room One participated in a read-aloud of Composting: Nature’s Recyclers by Robin Koontz, and we learned about the process of decomposition. We created Petri-dish experiments to see what items (orange peel, cardboard and Styrofoam) will decompose. This research will help us understand what should and shouldn’t go into our composter.

Today, students created a compost bag, an enclosed system for decomposition, and predicted what items in the bag will decompose and which ones will not over the break. We also examined our vermiculture composting system where worms decompose vegetable matter to make soil. This research tells us approximately how long it will take for items in our composter to decompose.

In January, we will be creating a compost heap for the school. We will build the heap in our new composter (purchased through a lovely new grant) and will fill it with recess and lunch food scraps. Throughout the remainder of the school year we will use math to measure the size and temperature of the heap and will record the data in our field files. We will also experiment with the effects of amending soil with compost by planting two garden beds—one with compost and one without.

All the data we attain from our activities will be shared with fellow gardeners in Room Two who are growing produce for our hot lunch program.

We invite your family to try your hand at composting as well. For more information on making your compost heap at home, visit www.howtocompost.org

or http://sustainable.tamu.edu/slidesets/kidscompost/cover.html.

Feel free to email me (mhackney@explorerelementary.org) if you have questions or suggestion and if you’d like to volunteer.

Happy Growing!

-michelle hackney

Garden Coordinator

Families Fixing Up the Garden for 2011-2012! August 28, 2011

Thirty-three Explorer students, parents and staff  and one Master Gardener put in 100 human-hours of labor in the garden this weekend. They explored — and cleaned up! — the jungle of our summer garden two days before school started. They cut back overgrown plants, pulled weeds from paths and garden beds, hauled in a truckload of wood chips for weed control on our paths, cut down the (sadly) dead willow tree that was eaten by gophers this summer, cleaned out the shed, repaired the squirrel-proof cages, cut back native plants and the butterfly garden, and got everything botanical ready for the new year. Hooray!

Now we’re ready for a new year of growing and learning in the Explorer Garden!

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Mining an Abundance of Mint! January 27, 2011

Last week, second grade classes did a read-aloud titled, “A Kid’s Guide to How Herbs Grow”. It reiterated what they already learned about how to grow a successful garden and it talked about what herbs are used for, i.e. medicine, flavoring, etc. There was a specific section in the book that talked about how mint can calm a belly ache. After the read-aloud, they harvested mint (representing the Middle East in their Ancestor Project) and bundled it and hung it to dry in their classrooms.

(Thanks to Michelle Hackney for this post!)

Baby Carrots for Lunch! January 27, 2011

Room Five will soon harvest baby carrots for the lunch program. Thanks, Room 5 gardeners!

First Grade Gardeners Journal Their Experiences January 26, 2011

First grade gardeners are using garden journals to measure and record plant growth, draw what they see in the garden, and write about what they see and feel among the peaceful plants! Journaling gives a focus to academic learnings, as well as the social-emotional and sensory experiences of gardening. Radishes are growing well, and first graders are weeding to makes sure roots have enough room to expand!

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Kinder-Gardeners Harvest a Healthy Lunch! January 14, 2011

With all the rain that came over the winter break, the garden was wild this month! Room five pulled more naughty mint that grew and harvested radishes! Once the radishes were washed, they were bagged for Banyan Catering, the catering company who supplies our hot lunch. Tess Brown, co-owner of Banyan Catering came to room five to accept the harvest and was presented with a poster that the children proudly made in an attempt to get credit for growing the radishes. She will use the radishes in a salad for next Monday’s hot lunch and will put the poster up on the window behind the volunteers that serve lunch in the aftercare room so that all who come will know that Room Five cared enough about their friends to make sure they had a healthy lunch.

(Thank you to Michelle Hackney for this post!)

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Second Grade’s First Harvest — Cilantro for Salsa! January 14, 2011

January in San Diego is a great month for harvesting winter crops planted early in the fall. The children were thrilled to find that the cilantro was ready to harvest! They pulled and washed the cilantro to use in a delicious salsa that they made from a family recipe that one of the children shared with the group. They were reminded how cilantro originated in South America and is used all over the world now. Everyone enjoyed the salsa with corn chips…and many children had seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths…some while wearing Mexican sombreros!

(Thanks to Michelle Hackney for this post!)

Second Graders Plant the World January 14, 2011

In October, the children began an autobiographical project in class with their teachers and created an “Ancestral Garden” to go along with the lesson. They discussed their heritage and chose what to plant in the plots based on the origin of their family lines. They read the book titled, “A Seed is Sleepy” and divided the plots into the following sections:

• Africa: Collards
• Asia: Bok Choy and cabbage
• N. Europe:Beets and carrots
• S. Europe:Spinach and Onions
• South America: Cilantro
• Middle East: Mint

(Thank you to garden volunteer Michelle Hackney for this post!)

First Grade Gardeners Plant Seeds and Find Friends December 1, 2010

First Grade Gardeners in Rooms 3 and 4  planted seeds earlier this month, and already the fall rains are bringing forth their goodness!

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