Mr. Jacobs' Class plants in the garden

This week Mr. Jacobs' class reviewed the lesson about what parts of the plant we eat and then planted seeds in the garden. We reviewed lettuce, tomato, beets, radish, carrots and other vegetables by making riddles. Here's an example: You eat only the leaves of me and I am green--answer is lettuce; you eat my roots and I am usually orange--carrot (it can also be red, purple, yellow and white). The children wrote in their garden journals and then planted.

The children planted beet seeds, lettuce seeds and broccoli seeds and then watered. They enjoyed sampling chives and parsley before they left.

Thanks to garden volunteers Carolyn and Ellen for their assistance.

Ms. Conn's Class Plants Prince Albert Peas

Ms. Conn's 5th graders learned about Thomas Jefferson the horticulturist on Nov. 4. We discussed that he was the 3rd President, that his plantation was in Monticello, VA, and that his vegetable garden was 1,000 feet long. A student in each group took notes in the class garden journal. Jefferson himself also wrote in a garden journal. The students planted Prince Albert Peas which are similar to the English peas that were Jefferson's favorite vegetable. We defined "heirloom" as the kids are planting heirloom seeds. Heirloom is something passed down (and saved) from prior generations.

Ms. Yoshida's and Ms. Connor's classes Plant in the Garden

Today Ms. Yoshida's and Mrs. Connor's classes visited the garden. We reviewed the prior lesson about parts of the plants that we eat. I played riddles with them and encouraged them to play riddles with their teachers. Here are a couple of examples: "You usually eat the root of me but you can sometimes eat the stem and leaves,  I can be red, yellow or pink and white"-answer is beet. " You eat the flower of this plant and it's green"--answer is broccoli. We did the riddles with these vegetables, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, celery, and carrots.

Today's lesson was on seeds. We looked at peas that had been soaked overnight in water  so the root would form. I drew a picture of the seed and they copied and labelled it.

The kids planted lettuce seeds, pea seeds, lettuce seedlings, kale seedlings and broccoli seedlings today.

Thanks to Carolyn, Ellen and Ashley for helping the kids in the garden.

Watering the butterfly garden

Planting kale seedlings

Mr. Lantos' Class Starts the Jeffersonian Garden Unit

Today Mr. Lantos' class started their study of Thomas Jefferson the horticulturist. We reviewed some basic facts first: Jefferson was the 3rd president of the United States, his plantation was at Monticello, VA and he sent Lewis and Clark to explore Louisiana. The garden facts included: definition of horticulture-study of science of ornamental plants, vegetables, fruit and grains; definition of heirloom-something that has been passed down and saved, e.g. furniture and in our case, seeds;size of his vegetable garden-1,000 feet; favorite vegetable-English pea; and that Lewis and Clark brought seeds back from their travels.  After discussing the importance of healthy soil (we had amended the soil before with worm castings), the kids planted tennis ball lettuce seeds. The lettuce seeds are heirloom seeds purchased from Monticello. This was one of his favorite varieties of lettuce.

Monarchs at Marquez

We're a monarch butterfly nursery! What a difference a day makes! Today a monarch butterfly emerged from its chrysalis in one of our raised beds. We opened the bed to let it fly away. Also, the children at lunch recess saw five monarch caterpillars in the butterfly garden. The caterpillars move quickly around the butterfly garden and are eating a lot of milkweed. Maybe we'll have some more form chrysalises!

October 29

October 30

Ms. Gardner's Class Eats Succotash and Sees a Chrysalis

On October 29, Ms. Gardner's 4th graders visited the edible garden. Today's lesson was a review of the Three Sisters' Garden that 3rd graders planted last spring and also a review of local plants used by the Chumash and Tongva.

The students remembered many of the local plants including hummingbird sage, white sage, black sage, monkey flower, California Poppy and Cleveland Sage. We discussed that the Chumash made potpourri from Cleveland Sage and that the students had done that last year. Today each child took home a branch of Cleveland Sage.

The Three Sisters are corn, zucchini and squash.  Many Native American tribes planted them together, including the Iroquois. The Native Americans celebrated the corn (or maize) harvest at the end of summer. The children enjoyed eating the succotash made from corn, beans and zucchini. Several children enjoyed the zucchini even though they usually don't like it!

After eating the children worked in the garden planting seeds and seedlings, feeding worms in the worm bin and watering. They enjoyed looking at the monarch chrysalis and caterpillars.
October 30---Great news...the monarch emerged from the chrysalis on Thursday morning and we set it free in the garden!!

Thanks to JodiLynne and Ms. Gardner for helping in the garden today! Thanks to Gelson's Market for providing the ingredients for the succotash! Here's a comment from JodiLynne that illustrates the importance of our program: "We have seen a direct link between what kids taste from the garden and what they turn out to like. Just a moment before sampling the three sisters' succotash, children were convinced they wouldn't like it. Low and behold, a moment later, they were asking for seconds!"

Succotash Recipe

• 12 ounces green beans, trimmed, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 large ears fresh corn, husked
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 small summer squash or zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions: 

1. Steam, microwave or cook beans in water ( 15 minutes) until tender.

2. Cut kernels from corn cobs. 

3. Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the corn. Stir to coat well, then add squash (or zucchini), the beans and 2 tablespoons of the bean- cooking liquid or water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn and squash are tender, 8 to 12 minutes. 

4. Garnish with scallions and or cherry tomatoes for color.

Planting in the butterfly garden

One of two caterpillars in the garden

Planting beet seeds

Ms. Abram's Class Visits the Garden on October 27

Today Ms. Abram's 2nd graders visited the garden for the first time. During introductions they and the parent volunteers shared the names of their favorite vegetables. Carrots were the most popular.

We reviewed the parts of a plant and then discussed which parts of vegetables we were going to eat in today's salad. The children also identified the various vegetables. The salad contained the leaves of lettuce, the roots of beets, carrots and radishes, the seeds of corn, the stem (or stalk) of celery, the flowers of broccoli and the fruit of tomato.  The vegetables for the salad were organic ones donated by Gelson's Market. We are planting all of the above vegetables this fall except for corn and tomatoes which are warm season vegetables.

The children wrote in their garden journals after the lesson. After writing a title, they drew an illustration of a plant, labelled the parts and then wrote a sentence about their favorite vegetable.

Some of the children planted seeds of carrots and radishes while others looked for worms and rolly pollies in the worm bin.  Children from the class also visited at recess and saw some monarch butterfly caterpillars in the butterfly garden.

Today we had two guests from Raw Inspiration who took photos of the garden,  http://www.rawinspiration.org/gardenintoschools.php, the non-profit operator of California Certified Farmers Market. They manage the markets in the Palisades and Brentwood. In 2012 we became a Jennifer McColm Certified School Garden, a beneficiary of their gardens-into-schools program.

Thanks to today's volunteers: Carolyn, Agnes, Lauren and Sharon.

Salad anyone?

Looking for worms in the composting bin.

Planting seeds

A monarch chrysalis in the butterfly garden