Our Garden to be Planted!

I am happy to annouce that on April 24th at Hubbell Elementary School we will be having our second annual School-wide Planting Day. We will be gin at 8:30 AM and continue through 2:45PM. During this time the students of Hubbell will plant a seed or seedling, learn about composting and also view a seed demonstration. The garden committee has worked overetime to make this event a sucess and special thanks to Kay for her tireless efforts. We are expecting good weathwer and a great time, please join us!

Seed Starting: Miniature Greenhouses

Even though it's the second week of January, don't be surprised to find garden seeds, soil and Jiffy pots on display, right beside the cash register of your nearby big box lumber store. It's hard to resist the idea of planting seeds in winter; it's an appealing pastime and the instant plastic "greenhouses" they had on display are a cheap and easy activity for kids interested in growing plants and gardening.

Young gardeners I know enjoy making these greenhouses themselves by reusing the plastic ware used for take out or fast food.  Sandwich boxes, vegetable trays and other ready to eat foods come in these plastic boxes; most of them have the clear plastic top that lets in the sun, but keeps the moisture inside from evaporating so fast you're afraid to be away for the weekend.

I have some reservations about snagging clean plastic from the recycle bin, these instant germination chambers can almost guarantee that the child-planted-seeds  inside will sprout.  I have often closed these boxes with the familiar snap and said "With a little sunshine you should see new sprouts in about a week," knowing for pretty darn sure they would.

While these germination chambers are a great way for kids to see and experience germinating and sprouting plants, I also use them for seeds that are hard to germinate or germinate slowly, like prairie flowers or herb seeds.  If I have a germination failure, at least I know I didn't let the seeds dry out.

Gardeners that grow a lot of transplants won't use plastic covers for germination because they know molds and fungi also like to grow in the warm, moist conditions. One common mold, called "damping off", can ruin an entire planting in less than a week.  Recycled yogurt cups, cottage cheese containers or egg cartons meet the needs of these thrifty gardeners.

Despite the early displays of seeds, soils and pots sprouting up in stores, it is about a month too early to plant garden seeds.  But this is the time to get your pots, containers and cartons cleaned and ready* for the upcoming garden season.


*All pots and containers used for plants should be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed with vinegar or diluted household bleach.  They should also have at least one drainage hole to prevent puddling or over watering.  

New Years Resolutions

For the past 5 years my New Years resolution has been to spend more time outdoors with kids.  It is a resolution that does no harm and a lot of good, for me and the kids.  Having wondrous adventures outdoors chasing butterflies, breaking ice and making mud pies is good for the head, heart and soul.  And you get a little exercise as well.

For those of us resolved to spend time outside with kids, the school garden is the new place to be.  School gardening is all over the news.  As a new elementary school gardener, I have spent quite a bit of time looking over the landscape of school garden programs, curriculum and proposals designed for school groups and kids.  There are literally scores of school garden programs and curriculum activities available. Yet, I always find that my simple resolution; getting kids outside for a wondrous time, missing from children's garden objectives, goals and mission statements.  

Maybe educators and grant writers feel silly saying something so simplistic, but in reality, it is the wondrous times spent outdoors; poking at mud, finding cocoons and discovering ice crystals that will educate the next generation of gardeners, nature lovers and local food experts.  Which is, after all, the common New Year’s resolution we all share.

So, I have three new resolutions this year.  One is to spend more time outdoors with kids.  The other is to find ways to sneak this resolution into all of my school garden proposals and mission statements.  My third resolution is to plant cilantro every month of the year, but that's another story all together.

Making Seed Planting Disks

On Tuesday, during the last meeting of the fall garden club we made seed disks for planting in spring using newspaper pulp and some of last years seeds.

It was a pretty easy activity.  I made paper pulp by soaking the shredded Sunday paper in hot water overnight.  I drained the watery mix in a strainer and put the remaining mush in ziplock bags.

We mixed about 1/4 tsp of seeds (a mixture of lettuce, mustard greens and herbs) into 1 tablespoon of pulp.  The pulpy wad was patted, pounded and rolled into thin disks about 3-4 inches wide; ready to be planted in a pot or in the garden next spring.

We taped the seed disks to thick pieces of cardstock and decorated the cards and some decorated the disks.  It was a  nice memento of the last meeting of the autumn garden club.

Grow Light Garden Cart

The new indoor garden laboratory finally arrived.  The Hubbell Garden committee held a construction pot luck to bolt the new shelving together and test the system.  The kids that attended planted some seeds; the first plants to go under the lights!

With the new grow light shelving, students can garden throughout the winter; including starting the transplants we need for the school garden this spring.  

The cart will be on display in the first floor hallway, so check it out.  The cart will hold over 200 4 inch pots; we have enough room for garden club activities, weekly botany displays and classroom experiments.

The garden cart was purchased with a grant from the Farm to School Program.  Many thanks to the Hubbell PTA and the Hubbell Garden Committee for making Hubbell Garden and in-school garden club a reality.

Judging Apples

During lunch, Hubbell Elementary students were asked to taste 4 different apple varieties and vote on the apple they thought was the tastiest.  Haralson, Cortland, Jonathon and Fireside were the varieties that were tested.  

Apple slices from each variety were put into unmarked paper cubs, and students were asked to stack the cup of their favorite apple on a tray; the one with the most cups was the winner.. 

 
The event was organized by the Hubbell School Garden committee with help from Daniel and Mauricio from Food Corp.  Everyone involved was impressed with the enthusiasm the students showed for the experiment.  96% of Hubbell students "voted with their cups" to determine the winner.

The winner was the variety "Fireside" with "Jonathon" coming in a close second.  "Haralson" was third and "Cortland", an apple that didn't stand up well to being flung around in cups, was the least favorite.