Ms. Fein's and Mr. Jacobs' classes in the Garden on Jan. 25

At the beginning of the garden time Mrs. Vander Veen showed the students the worm salad that they'd made in December. The food was rotten (or decomposed). The pine twig was not. She added the items to the worm bin. The students saw several decomposers in the bin-pincher bugs,  pill bugs and red wriggler worms.

At Marquez we emphasize the importance of vegetables and fruits in our diets. Today these 2nd graders generated alphabetical lists of fruits, herbs and vegetables. Some letters had many foods, e.g. "c" and "s".  There were a few unusual plants named such as dragonfruit and star fruit. Also, many were not familiar with spaghetti squash. We'll bring in some of these from the farmers' market when they are in season.

After generating the list, each student received a piece of paper with a letter of the alphabet. They then wrote the fruits, herbs or vegetables associated with the letter and illustrated their page. The pages will be compiled into a class book.

The students were given homework: on a sheet of paper they are to write the days of the week and then list the fruits or vegetables that they eat that day. Next Monday, we'll collect the sheets from their teachers and reward them with a treat!

A decomposed worm salad from December= food for the worms!