Enticing New Gardeners!

Sarah Vogelzang encouraged me to share the "Garden Menu" I offered teachers at Annette and High Park this spring. I hope you find something to get new gardeners excited and empowered. I posted this in the staffroom for a few weeks in April with a sign-up sheet. This year we have 7 classes planting - a 700% increase in garden engagement!

Join us in The Learning Garden!
Grow fruits and vegetables and make connections to science, healthy living, history, social studies, geography, math, art, language arts and great tasting food!

Purple Pea Eaters
People have enjoyed eating peas for over 7,000 years! To celebrate Earth Hour students planted 7 different varieties of peas around the school’s fence. Peas include Sugar Snaps and Purple-podded Capucijners.

Oriental Greens
Kick off spring in April with a zing of oriental greens — bokchoi, tatsoi, giant red mustard, shiso, daikon and snow peas. Add to the flavour punch with ginger, turmeric and lemongrass. Plant greens April and/or September. Transplant sprouted roots late May.

Global Trade Routes
How did okra find its way from Ethiopia to Iran, Greece, India, Brazil, Louisiana and even Vietnam? Who brought chili peppers from Mexico to the Philippines, where they spread like wildfire to India, China, Korea and Japan? Exploring global trade routes and cultural pathways, this garden includes: okra, chili peppers, cumin, cilantro, callaloo, tomatillos, and tomatoes. Plant mid-May.


First Nations Garden
Alongside the 3 Sisters (corn, beans and squash), plant sunflowers, Jerusalem artichokes, ground cherries and pumpkins. Discover the rich cultural history of these crops grown for over 6,000 years in central and South America. Plant mid-May.

Pizza Slice
Plant zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers alongside other tasty pizza flavours: basil, oregano and marjoram. Investigate the history of pizza, a surprisingly multicultural dish. Plant mid-May.

Settler Garden
Early Canadian settlers brought carrots, peas and beets with them from Europe, along with onions, parsnips, potatoes and peas. Grow staple foods that store well to see a family through a long hard winter. Great ingredients for making Stone Soup! Includes dill, sage, thyme. Plant April through May and/or September.

Ancient Grains
Before Wonder Bread…Neolithic humans discovered that the grains of wild grasses could be ground into a tasty meal. Explore the fascinating history of ancient grains: plant Stone Age black einkorn and Bronze Age spelt alongside Temuco Quinoa (Aztec), Bronze Millet (China), Zanduri Wheat (Georgia) and Purple Barley (Ethiopia). Plant April and/or September.

Bean Keepers
Grow tasty beans and learn about the importance of seed diversity. This year we are growing 14 varieties of beans! Ireland Creek, Baie Verte Indian, Orca, Thibodeau de Comte Beauce, Red Cranberry, Mennonite Purple Stripe, Chinese Yardlong (grows to 75cm!), Trionfo Violetto, Scarlet Runner, Arikara Yellow, Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean, Black-seeded Italian, Purple Peacock, and Hutterite Soup bean. Plant May.

herbs in action

vegetable boxes

student's thoughts

First of all I put soil in the tray then I put mixed flower seeds. Then I watered them. After three days, fake leaves came out. I changed the seedlings in to a bigger pot. After that I get the foliage leaves and the leaves are healthy. They are growing bigger.

By: Aisha

SEEDS!

For the past few weeks, our horticulture class has been planting seeds for our school garden. Every student has gotten the opportunity to pick out 2 different types of seeds (flowers and vegetables). They have been growing these seeds in trays and pots. Everyday, the students come in and water their seeds.
Last week, when the weather cleared up, we went out and started cleaning the gardens. The students were put in teams and were designated to clean up a certain area. One of the teachers helped build boxes for our vegetables to be grown in. On Friday, we went out and put the boxes in different areas of the school where we want the vegetables to be grown.
It has been very tiring yet an exciting moment for each student in the horticulture class. We look forward to planting the seedlings in those gardens.
Over the next few weeks, the students will be publishing their own thoughts towards this goal. We will also be uploading pictures to show the progress of our flowers and vegetables.
By: Zainab and Rubab

seedlings

We are happy to say that we have a shelf at the greenhouse at Trinity Bellwoods Park.
We have done seedlings with two Grade 4 classes and two Grade 5 classes.

Online calendar

At the Foodhshare workshop people asked me about the online calendar we use to help schedule garden events and watering over the summer. Here's the link to our school's calendar.

Important Notice - 2nd School Food Garden Project (SFGP) Training!

Dear SFGP participants,

Please note that the 2nd SFGP training workshop date has been changed from Wed. April 29 to Friday May 8, 2009. You will be informed about the training details prior to the workshop.

Thank You!

SFGP Workgroup

Early Spring Gardening Workshops

Seedy Saturday
When: Saturday Feb 28th, 2 pm - 6 pm
Location: Artscape Whychwood Barns, 601 Christie at St. Claire.
Entry: ~$2, and workshops are free.
What: One of the biggest events of the year for organic gardeners. Seed exchange, Heirloom seeds for sale, gardening workshops, and kids activities.

For more information visit: http://www.tcgn.ca/wiki/wiki.php?n=CommunityEvents.SeedySaturday2009

Downtown Alternative PS - Harvest

Downtown Alternative PS - Harvest

Did you know that Downtwon Alternative PS had a fabulous Harvest Lunch? Many students helped at the harvest lunch, and made delicious vegetable soup using some of the vegetables they grew in their own school food garden!!