Check out the Garden!

The Elementary School Helping Hands Garden is well on its way to another successful year!

The 2013-2014 third grade students were responsible for planting the garden! The classes started peppers, tomatoes, and squash from seed beginning in April! The last week of May/first week of June, the students planted the garden.  Take a special look at all the flower beds, those were designed by the 3rd graders! 

A couple new pieces this year: Bean pole tee-pee, cucumber and squash trellis, recycled tin can chains, colored lathes and labels. 

North Country Master Gardener Russ Parker assembled the bean pole tee-pee and trellis. Students in Nature Quest Summer School class colored the cans, lathes, and labels. 

This garden as well as the Experiences in the Middle School Garden are open to the community. The only thing we ask is if you visit the gardens, please respect the plants and their growth. If items get picked before they are ready, the community and students are missing out. 

The gardens are looking beautiful so we encourage you to stop by and see all the hard work the students put in planting, weeding, journaling about, and caring for the various vegetables and flowers!

Thank you to all the volunteers and families who have stopped in to water, weed, and enjoy the gardens!

Cold Doesn't Stop Us

Even though it is bitterly cold outside, the 1^st graders have been keeping it warm enough inside to grow lettuce.

The first grade students planted Black-Seeded Simpson lettuce seeds on January 14 and 15. During this planting lesson, they learned the importance of soil moisture. They felt the soil to make sure it was moist enough for the lettuce seeds to grow. 

Black-Seeded Simpson lettuce has a 7-14 day germination. However, most of the lettuce sprouted within 5 days! Two class plantings did not sprout as soon. The students learned that gardening and planting does not always go the way as planned and there may be challenges along the way.

Students and teachers were responsible for watering the plants on Friday. Other staff checked on it during the week. Regardless, every time the students saw someone watering the plants, they were curious how their class’s lettuce was doing and when they could eat it!

The time has come, 49 days later, to taste the lettuce. Students will pick their 3 leaves of lettuce and try the green flavor without any additional dressing. The process will have come full circle:  Plant, Grow, Taste!

Congratulations 1^st graders on being successful gardeners!

Special thanks to the teachers and North Country Master Gardeners Chris Weyh & Nancy Reis for their help maintaining and caring for the lettuce!

Garden Visits

This September & early October, several students visited the Helping Hands Garden at the elementary school.

 

In total, we had 86 first graders, 92 second graders, and 17 third graders visit the garden for a quick 30 minute lesson on our senses in the garden. Additionally, two kindergarten classes visited the garden and dug their hands in the soil and spotted the different plants growing.

Students got to touch various plants and soil, smell the flowers, herbs and veggies, see the array of colors and produce (I think every student was distracted at one point because they spotted something new!), heard mostly wind, and tasted many things right off the plant like water cress, kale, and various herbs. The students also tasted beets, peppers, cucumbers, or tomatoes during their visit.

 

Fourth graders harvested the garden the first week of October. They were responsible for picking, washing, weighing, and recording some of the produce they helped plant last year. The class was broken into smaller groups, so while half were in the garden picking, the other half was journaling some thoughts about going into the garden or what they remembered from last year. The groups switched about half-way through their class time. Some of the written comments were:

"I feel happy & excited to be in the garden. It just makes me feel open and free."

"I liked pulling the beets from the ground. They gave me a tomato I didn't like it."

"Last year I planted tomatoes in the school garden. I can't wait to go and harvest them today. I think it's going to be great!"

 

A special thanks to Master Gardeners Chris & Nancy for their help with the students 

Serving Up Education and Inspiration

Earlier this spring the 1st grade students planted two varieties of leaf lettuce. The students were excited to partake in the seed planting and very interested in helping grow some tasty vegetables at the school. Thanks to the wonderful help of our volunteers the students learned all about vegetables can be grown from seeds.The lettuce was given ample light, water, and time to grow in the grow cart at the elementary school. This allowed the students to view their lettuce as it was growing.They then spent some time in the classroom observing the lettuce as it grew and examined how the plants roots helped the plant grow. The lettuce continued to grow through out the spring at the elementary school and was ready for harvest. The harvested lettuce was gathered and prepared and served to the 1st grade students during their lunch period. The students were excited for the opportunity to try the lettuce they had help grow. Many of the students commented on how much they enjoyed eating their lettuce and how good it tasted.

Be Green Week

Our trees are one of our greatest natural resource and saving our environment is a job for all no matter the size. This was the lesson for students from Spooner Elementary School who learned all about our enviroment during "Be Green Week". The week was held to celebrate two special national days of recognition, Earth Day and Arbor Day. The students started the week learning all about the founding of Earth Day. The students were also involved in a special presentation about the great edible delights we can gather from our trees, maple syrup. They spent the week learning all about the importance of preserving and taking care of our precious planet. The week was capped off on Friday April 27, Arbor Day, through a series of special events. It included a tree planting at the school and another near the railroad museum. Each grade participated in a series of related activities focusing on Green topics. The celebration also focused on the Arbor Day proclomation made by the mayor, Gary Cluskey and a series of tree inspired talks. Thank you to the Spooner Advocate who created a video summary of the days events.

A Treat From Our Trees

The students from Spooner Area School District participated in special Fruit and Veggie of the presentation. On Monday April 23 the students learned all about the process of making maple syrup. The event was a huge success thanks to the incredible help from an outstanding volunteer and local maple syrup maker, Beth Emerson. Mrs. Emerson did a wonderful job teaching the students how they tapped the trees to gather the sap from their sugar maple trees at Emerson's Maple Hill Sugar Bush. She explained how Canada leads the United States in production of maple syrup and the importance of the maple tree to Canadians, putting a symbol of the maple leaf on their flag. She further described the importance of maple syrup production in Wisconsin and how our usually cool spring nights help create unique conditions for tapping trees. The students were excited to take part in an excerise where Mrs. Emerson demonstrated how maple sap was collected and carried by hand from the tree to a cooking station. She then showed the students through pictures the process used to cook the water from the sap and concentrate the sugars into maple syrup. Mrs. Emerson finished the lesson by explaining the nutrition that exists in real maple syrup versus maple flavored corn syrup. The students were then treated to a special snack of maple syrup granola. This gave the students the oppurtunity to taste the delicious maple syrup in a healthy manor.

The 5th grade students at Spooner Middle School enjoyed a hands on lesson all about worms. The students will be raising red wiggler worms in the classroom over the following spring. During that time they will be collecting food waste from the lunch room to feed the worms. As the ground thaws and the garden is ready to plant the students will brew up some worm tea to feed the plants. Once the fertilizer is created it will be applied to the graden, helping us grow even more plentiful vegetables this summer.

The students had a fun time exploring the role that worms play in decomposing our waste. They built small worm habitats, adding soil, bedding, and food. The small habitats created a wonderful environment for the students to learn further about worms by touching and feeling them. Some students went so far as to give their worm a name...

First Planting of the Year

On Wednesday, February 1, the 1^st grade student from Spooner Elementary began planting lettuce. Thanks to the assistance of our wonderful Master Gardener Volunteers the students learned how to plant seeds. The students got a chance to feel the soil and to observe the process of planting. They saw how seeds, soil, and materials can be purchased to plant at home. They also learned how deep to plant the seeds, when they need to be planted, and how many days it takes for the plants to mature.

The students planted two different varieties of lettuce, both green and red lettuce. The seeds were planted in flats placed in the grow cart at the elementary school, this will allow the students the ability to continually view the plants as they grow. It will take approximately 35-40 days for the lettuce to fully mature. This is a little shorter than if it were planted outside, since we can optimize the growing conditions indoors. Once the lettuce has fully matured the students will harvest the lettuce to make a salad, which they can all share. This way the students play a significant role in the planting, growing, and harvesting of the leafy vegetables.

Leafy vegetables are important because they have the highest amount of nutrition per calorie of any vegetable. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A, beta-carotene, as the lettuce leafs are a storehouse for the plants photochemicals. Leafy greens are also a rich source of vitamin K, which plays an important role in bone health. This is why it has been suggested from many health groups to have a salad of leafy vegetables with each meal.

Vermicomposting

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students at Spooner Elementary have been learning all about the world of worms. The students worked in groups to create mini worm bins. The worm bins will be kept at the school during the winter. During this time the students will collect food scraps from the hot lunch to feed the worms.
Worms are wonderful composters and help recycle by turning our food waste and garbage back into useable soil and incredible organic fertilizer. The fertilizer will then be applied directly to the garden in spring to help us grow a greater harvest.

The students not only got a chance to touch and feel the worms but also learned the important role worms play in our environment. During the last part of the lesson students explored the origins of foods, specifically cheeseburgers. By deconstructing the different parts of the cheeseburger they got to see how soil makes their food. They also discussed the ways which nutrients are passed from the soil through plants and animals and onto each of us through our food. Worms are easy to care for and are a wonderful way to recycle food waste. To learn how to build a worm bin, visit: http://www.gardensimply.com/how-to-guides/build-worm-bin.php

Growth Through Recycling

In the beginning of the school year the 4th grade High Five students planted wonderful herb seeds. The herbs have grown through out the fall and look great. As they got to large for their containers it was time to replant them. The students created self-watering planters using 2-liter bottles thanks to a donation from Viking Coca-Cola in Rice Lake. The students cut the bottles in half, inverting the top of the bottle into the base. Using a string and coffee filters they created a planter in the top of the bottle. The students were then able to replant their herbs in the new planters using indoor potting soil. During the construction of the planter the students learned about the role of osmosis and learned how water moves through the soil. The herbs (chives and dill) the students planted will now grow through the winter in front of a window. The project is a great example of how we can reuse items that might go in the trash. It is also child friendly because when the base runs dry they can add more water allowing the plant to get the moisture when it needs. Herbs grown indoors not only add beauty but are extremely healthy.

To find instructions on making your own recycled planter visit: http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-Watering-Plant-Container-out-of-a-2-liter-bot/

Garlic Planting

We often think of spring as the time to plant. Some plants, specifically those grown from bulbs need to be planted in the fall. The students from the elementary and middle school got a turn at planting fall bulbs this past week. Thanks to the help from some wonderful volunteers, Rudy and Sharon Kessler, the students planted garlic and learned about the important role garlic plays in our diet.

The students first prepared the soil by loosening it and then making sure it was nice and level. This was done with bare hands, a great way for the students to "play" in the dirt. They then each took a turn planting a clove, with the roots facing down, by pushing it into the loose soil. Once a few rows were planted the garlic was covered with a 6 inch layer of leaves, keeping the soil warm during the winter months. This was topped off with some pine branches to help hold all the leaves in place. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn many aspects of planting and taking care of the plant beds. The middle school High Five students also had the opportunity to plant garlic in the middle school garden. Each of the incredible cloves planted will be harvested next August when they become a nice large bulb themselves.

The students learned that once the garlic is harvested it is hung in a dry place with open air flow. This way the garlic dries out and is ready to be used. Garlic is often added to many of our pastas, pizza, and dishes but as we learned from the Kesslers can be prepared in many ways. It can be roasted to make a sumptuous side dish, or added to vanilla ice cream, or used in baking cookies! The students particulry loved the garlic cookies and ice cream the Kesslers brought to share.

What's Growing in the Grow Cart?

Herbs, the fourth grade students planted a wonderful indoor herb garden in the grow cart. While the cold Wisconsin weather keeps us from enjoying a walk through the garden. An indoor herb garden will liven up the halls. While the beautiful green plants are appealing to the eye, the smell of fresh herbs will perk up the nose.

The students planted two groups, the first coming from our school gardens where they grew through out the summer. These herb plants were split and some moved indoors. The students had an enjoyable evening learning how to split plants, replant them, and the difference between outdoor and indoor (sterile) potting soil. This group included: mint, chocolate mint, italian (flat leaf) parsley, thyme, sage, and basil. What a blast it will be to harvest the herbs for recipes during the fall and winter months.

The second group was planted from seed. We can't wait to watch them grow, in the first week we have already gotten wonderful sprouts. Once the plants become large enough the students will replant them in individual conatiners to take home and use. Winter will be much tastier with the addition of these incredible herbs. The students also planted some zinnias to have an even more colorful fall.

Notes from the Garden Harvest

During our garden clean up we encountered a few interesting items notable to students and adults alike. While we composted most of the inedible plant parts, not all made it in the bin. The tomato plants, for one, quickly found there way into the trash. Having been hit hard by blight due to a warm and very wet summer, we made sure the diseased plants did not go into the compost. It is important not to compost diseased plants as many disease causing fungi can survive through the winter.
We also found a stranger in the garden... Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus carota, also called wild carrot. Though it is edible just like the domesticated carrot, it becomes too woody for consumption as it matures. Weeds are not wanted in any garden but in this case it offered us a wonderful teaching tool. Over the summer students were encouraged to try many new herbs, vegetables, and fruits from the garden. Some students became incredibly adventurous eating almost anything they found. Enthusiasm and curiosity may be a wonderful thing but can lead to dangers. Our edible friend, Daucus carota, though not particularly tasting, is not dangerous. Poison hemlock, Conium maculatum, an invasive plant that has spread across the northern states, can be deadly. This is why it is important not eat any wild plants unless you are an expert in discerning their species. While this is worth while advice for any student, it is wise to heed by all.

Garden Harvest and Clean Up

With the cold nights that were on the way the 4th Grade students spent part of their day harvesting and cleaning up the garden. The weather may have been cold on the hands but it was with warm smiles that many of the students picked most of the remaining vegetables. They enjoyed digging up the potatoes, carrots, radishes, and beets. Picking beans, tomatoes, peppers, and so much more. A total of 67 lbs. and 9 oz. of vegetables were harvested from the garden today alone. We are still calculating the total amount of vegetables harvested through the year. Much of this went back into the school lunch program while the remainder was delivered to Indianhead Community Action Agency. With help from our wonderful volunteers and excited students the day was a great success.

The students got an incredible opportunity to taste many of the vegetables harvested. The carrots, peppers, kohlrabi, and lemon cucumbers were a great hit. Some of the more adventurous students even tried the carrot tops, which are often added to salads. They also took the time to stop and smell the herbs, and try some of them as well. The ground cherries quickly became the star of the show and were fairly well picked clean by the end of the day. A few students stayed behind during their recess period to help finish weighing the vegetables.

Vegetable Soup

Today students enjoyed vegetable soup made from our school garden.

The food service staff used ground beef as the base and added tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, carrots & onions. There was enough to feed the entire school. Yum!

Sunflowers

Oh, what a beautiful wall of sunflowers we have! Here a group of local educators visit to see what a school garden looks like. This training held in late September is part of a state-wide Got Dirt? initiative.

These are adult hands holding up this giant sunflower. We didn't measure it, but it's huge!

Tomatoes starting to ripen

Tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. Here's a tray full of what fell off in the wind today. Mostly Roma's, but a few Celebrity tomatoes that will have to ripen up a bit.

Harvest Report

Today's final summer garden class was rained out. After the rain Mariah and Mrs. P. were in the garden and harvested as follows:

• 3 cucumbers (one was overripe and turning yellow)
• 25 green peppers (including four "icky" spotted peppers)

Total of 9 1/2 pounds today.

There are several crops ready to be harvested when students come back to school next week. There is a head of savoy cabbage, green beans, lettuce, onions, greens and potatoes. Kids will be surprised to see how much has changed over the summer.

Today we harvested 11 pounds of produce.

Cabbage: 3 heads
Green & Yellow Beans: 1 1/4 pounds
Green Pepper: 12 @ 2 3/4 pounds
Kale: 3/4 pound
Lettuce: 3/4 pound
Swiss Chard: 3/4 pound

Two of the cabbage heads were split so those went home with one of our volunteers, but the rest got dropped off at the local food pantry.

Small harvest today

Just a few days until school starts.

2 big tomatoes and 53 romas for a total of 11 1/4 pounds all sent to the Food Service Department for lunches next week.