Ms. Fein's class and Ms. Yoshida's class learn about composting

On Jan. 27, these two second grade classes learned how to compost. The book, "Kids Can Compost" by Wen Chia Parker, was the basis for the lesson. The two basic components of compost are greens and browns. Composting is recycling. Vegetable and fruit waste (the greens) isn't put in the disposal or in the trash can. The browns (things from trees, e.g. shredded paper, newspaper, paper towels, leaves) aren't put in the green bin. Instead, they are combined 1/2 and 1/2 with water and a small amount of soil, turned, and become food for the soil.  At school we have a black square compost bin where we put greens and browns. We also have a worm bin for vermiculture, where only greens are added. The first bin has a bottom to encourage earthworms to migrate upward. The second bin uses special red wriggler worms.  We will look at the worms with magnifying classes during a subsequent lesson.

The kids wrote about composting in their journals and also illustrated their pages. The message of the morning was "compost is good for the soil".

We looked at Jacobs' class bed and the children identified the vegetables that were growing: beets, carrots and sugar snap peas. (Both Fein's and Yoshida's beds have been ravaged by squirrels and will need to be squirrel-proofed with the assistance of parents before they are planted again.)

At the end of the lesson the children had a choice of arugula or chives to taste. (A couple of kids also had ripe strawberry guavas).

Thanks to Dana who volunteered with Ms. Yoshida's class. We are still looking for a volunteer for Ms. Fein's class.

At home I collect my vegetable waste, coffee grounds, egg shells in a small container and then place the contents daily in my compost bin.

If you wish to compost at home, you can purchase one of the above bins or make your own. LA City Dept. of Sanitation sells bins at a site in Griffith Park. This is their schedule: http://www.lacitysan.org/solid_resources/recycling/composting/bin_sales_events.htm. LA County has Backyard Composting Workshops and sells bins such as the worm bin that we use at school. The local schedule is here: http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/sg/wk_scheds.cfm.

At recess we had approximately 10 children who came to help compost and water in the garden. See photos below.

Adding vegetables to the compost bin

Watering the plants in the butterfly garden

Chives in the butterfly garden

Early December in the Garden

The second graders are continuing to learn and to work hard in the garden.   The last two weeks they learned about composting, continued to hunt for grubs, weeded and planted some seeds in seed trays. Some of the seeds which they planted earlier in the ground and in seed trays have germinated.

We used "Kids Can Compost" by Wenchia Parker as a resource. I have two copies if anyone wants to borrow them. The book is also available online at kidscancompost.com.  The kids learned that compost contains greens and browns and that it's food for the soil. Compost needs: greens, browns, air, heat and water.  Greens are fruits, vegetables, bread, rice, pasta, coffee grounds and tea leaves. Browns are leaves, newspaper, paper towels, wood chips, grass clippings and cardboard pieces. We have a small compost container in the garden and will continue to have the kids compost by tearing the greens and browns in small pieces.

We are almost ready to plant in two more beds that have been "degrubbed" by the kids. The grubs would eat the roots of the plants, thus we need to remove them. They are being fed to Sara Houghton's chickens.

Tips for those who took home some seeds: cover the container with plastic to keep the seeds warmer and keep them moist. When the seeds germinate, i.e. you can see the green stems and leaves appear, take off the plastic.

This is what they did, in their own words: Jake: We dug up the dirt to find grubs; Alexandra: My friends and I made compost; Elula: We broke things into small pieces. We planted round carrots. Angie: We dug up dirt to find grubs and we pulled out roots. Others: We planted lettuce. We planted arugula.

We are keeping the garden open at recess as much as possible. We post a sign-in sheet at the gate. On Wednesday, 55 kids came to the garden between the two recesses! We are open for kids of any grades and have had several first, third and fourth graders visit.

Plans for the garden include: transplanting seedlings into the ground; working on the butterfly garden in the center circle. (We have planted butterfly bushes and milkweed.  The first graders will plant wildflower seeds there soon); red trumpet vines along the fence bordering Marquez Avenue; planting of all the remaining beds with cool season vegetables and herbs; creating a birdbath; composting in a worm bin; and shortening the wooden supports for the bed covers. We plan to expand to other grades after the winter break.

Note to parents: it's not too late to plant lettuce and radish seeds at home with your young gardeners. You can plant in the ground, in containers or in small pots by your kitchen window.

Some good books to read with the kids: Kids Can Compost; Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots; Rah, Rah, Radish.

Sara and I welcome volunteer parents to help with the kids, to help water over vacation, and do some manual chores e.g. shortening of bed supports.

The kids are very enthusiastic workers!