Friday, April 7, 2017

Ms. Chaides' 4th Graders Learn More about Native Plants and Drought Tolerant Planting

This week, Ms. Chaides' 4th graders learned more about native plants. They identified deer grass, white sage, monkey flower, California Poppy and California Sagebrush. They liked the smell of California Sagebrush.  We discussed that these plants, used by the Chumash, are also adapted to our climate and need little water once established.  These plants and others in the Native American Garden attract our local pollinators.  The Margarita BOP Penstemon and red salvia are also attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Ms. Marie made a bundle of white sage which we'll make into a smudge stick once the leaves are dry. The Chumash use such a stick in ceremonies. We reviewed that deer grass is woven into baskets.

The students also learned about scientific or botanical names, which come from Latin.  These names can be understood by people all over the world. Here are some examples: the botanical name for White Sage is Salvia apiana, Black Sage is Salvia mellifera, California Sagebrush is Artemisia Californica and Cleveland Sage is Salvia clevelandii.

The students helped weed the garden again. They are very industrious! We will be putting down cardboard and  Kellogg's Xerimulch to keep the weeds from growing back.

Deer Grass


White Sage being dried 

Native plants require less water and attract wildlife. Many of the plants in our garden were and are used by Chumash and Tongva.


Hummingbirds like this penstemon and it's tubular flowers.

Ms. Schwartz's 3rd Graders Plant a Three Sisters Garden

This week Ms. Schwartz's 3rd graders planted a Three Sisters Garden in the edible garden. The three sisters are corn, beans and squash. The have been planted for generations by indigenous peoples in America. By the time Europeans came to America in the 1600s, Iroquois had been growing the “three sisters” for more than 300 years!  This is a good example of companion planting.

The three plants help each other. The corn is the support for the beans which climb up the stalk. Beans provide provide nitrogen for the soil. The squash keeps the ground cool during the warm summer.  We planted heirloom Brinker Beans which we got from Turtle Tree Seed Initiative. We also planted Hjerleid Blue Corn, an heirloom corn which was donated by Seed Savers Exchange.

Different tribes plant different types of beans or corn or squash depending upon where they live.

Here is a link to an Iroquois Three Sisters legend: http://www.iroquoiswhitecorn.org/about/the-three-sisters.