Preparing the Garden for Winter

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Students in Mr. Stewart's class work together to move water from the buckets and rain barrel to the garden.

Some plants were pulled and composted and others were left for observation over the winter. Additionally, winter rye was planted as a cover crop and will be used as organic compost in the spring when it's time to plant again.

There were groups of students that even buried various items (organic items such as apple cores and banana peels and non-organic items such a plastic bags and containers) to observe the decomposition process. We can't wait to find the items we buried in the spring. I wonder what will happen....

We continued to water the garden in the early fall as the winter rye was sprouting before we let Mother Nature take over. Below are photos of Mr. Stewart's 4th/5th grade class watering. 

A student helps another student clean his hands after working in the garden.

Rain Barrel gets some color

The colorful garden space became even more colorful last week thanks to Ms. Crystal Gill, the art student-teacher at LINCS. Ms. Gill painted the rain barrel, with the help of some curious on lookers.

 

The artist creating. 

Tomatoes everywhere!

Reaching in for garden goodness. 

 Tomato season is here! Red tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, big and small are bountiful in the garden. Students have enjoyed snacking on them during recess, as a class after watering the garden and inside for their snack. The garden experience has been taken inside to a classroom or two...what foods come from tomatoes?

Harvest

Harvesting and enjoying. 

Having a taste gardenside. 

A treat left for a favorite teacher. 

Tomatoes for snack. 

Tomatoes for snack. 

Bringing the garden into the inside classroom. 

Reading what students are seeing, touching, smelling and tasting in the garden. 

First Days Back in the Garden

Many visitors on the first day of school. 

The first days of school have found many visitors- with two legs and six legs- to the LINCS Growing and Learning Garden. Students were amazed to discover how "big" the garden grew since they last saw it in early June.

Students were excited to find many tomatoes, green beans and green peppers to try. The kale and chives continue to be favorites.

Discovering late-summer insects is certainly a highlight. Grasshoppers, caterpillars and bees  provide the opportunity to learn about pollination, being respectful of all living creatures and everyone who depends on our gardens to live in. Japanese beetles demonstrate what a pest can do in a garden.

Hunting for  green beans. 

A fresh, local, healthy snack. 

Garden resident, a grasshopper. 

All eyes on the grasshopper. 

Kale all around! 

A fuzzy friend with gentle hands. 

A handful of green beans. 

A popular spot to spend recess. 

Swiss Chard!

The swiss chard we planted on Earth Day in the Spring continues to grow and grow. LINCS Music teacher Mrs. Hayes has made great use of the swiss chard the past week. She made a vegetarian lasagna and has enjoyed the swiss chard with her eggs just about every morning!

Veggie lasagna featuring swiss chard. 

Hands on Learning!

 Experiential and hands-on learning at its finest. The same gardening friend planted a pepper plant in early June, harvested a pepper in late August from that same plant and cut the pepper to make salsa. The salsa was enjoyed with fellow gardening friends.

Our own salsa!

Lots of tomatoes. 

The LINCS Growing and Learning garden continues to provide many with learning and yummy, healthy food.  

Monday we harvested lots of tomatoes, our first green pepper and the first of the onions. Just the right ingredients to make our own salsa! 

Everyone helped to cut, dice and chop. Everyone was also very eager to enjoy the salsa with corn chips. A great treat for all who have helped tend to the garden over the summer. Thank you! 

The main Garden crew with the produce. 

Cutting and chopping

LINCS Garden Salsa! 

Healthy appetite for this gardener. 

CNN Story about School Gardens

Here's a great example of what school gardens can accomplish: 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/14/health/healthy-school-gardens/index.html

Garden Update

Although the Japanese beetles are at full force, the garden is growing well. The marigolds and zinnias are keeping those nasty garden-eating bugs away from the more important plants, like the tomatoes. Tomatoes are starting to ripen and I'm fairly certain we are going to have a huge amount of tomatoes during the next few garden gatherings. 

Join us on Mondays anytime between 4-6 and take some tomatoes home with you! Pick some basil too and you can make a yummy bruschetta or caprese salad! 

Thank You Kiwanis!

We were shocked to arrive at the garden club last Monday to find a Kiwanis member and 5 new raspberry plants for our garden. He even brought raspberries to eat. They were delicious and we were able to share them with the students who participate in the Whitewater Parks and Rec. summer program.

Some old broccoli raab was pulled up and the new raspberry plants were planted. Some weeding was done and more lettuce was harvested. Peas were enjoyed on site and a few radishes were eaten. The tomatoes are coming along nicely and should start to show signs of ripening soon (especially with all of the heat). 

Don't forget to join us later today between 4-6 for our weekly garden club gathering. 

Picking carrots is so much fun!

Check out this video of some students picking carrots in the garden with their families. 

http://youtu.be/2VrDyx7UAUs

Carrots and Mud....it doesn't get much better than this.

The garden is flourishing. Along with the many varieties of lettuces still producing nicely, the carrots were finally ready for harvest and the majority of the 40+ carrots that were picked were eaten on site by very happy children and parents (and even a lucky dog). Peas were enjoyed along with some fresh herbs. Tomatoes are starting to appear on the plants and the chives are still a notable favorite. 

New families are showing up each week along with the "regulars". Painting the rain barrel is on the to do list as well as making wish lists for future plans including possible storage as well as seating. 

These pictures below are just a small sampling of the smiles, laughter, fun, and friendships that are growing alongside the wonderful food in our garden. 

And when offered buckets of mud to paint with, these kiddos had no hesitation to dive right in (literally, in some cases). 

And finally we can't forget the wonderful cooking abilities of Ms. Milena and she enjoyed the big kids helping her make "soup" (notice her stirring stick).