4th Graders Learn uses of some California Native Plants

Last week Ms. Chaides 4th graders spent time in our new Native American Garden. The garden contains a lot of California sagebrush, monkey flower, deer grass, toyon and manzanita. We'll be adding more plants to it this winter.  We reviewed the fact that these plants can be found in our local Santa Monica Mountains that are visible from the school patio.

Manzanita has been used for medicine and food.  California sagebrush is used for medicine and is a plant used in smudging. It's leaves are very fragrant. Sticky monkey flower leaves are sticky, thus the name. Parts of it are used for medicine. The Native Americans have used the branches of deer grass to make baskets.

The students observed a white sage plant that we'll plant soon. The leaves are very fragrant and the Chumash made smudge sticks from the plant for use in ceremonies.

California sagebrush

Ms. Keller's Class Plants in the Jefferson Garden

Last week Ms. Keller's class learned about Thomas Jefferson our 3rd President. Their learning centered around his interest in plants. They learned that he farmed at his plantation in Monticello, Virginia. His vegetable garden was 1,000 feet long and his slaves worked on the plantation. His favorite vegetable was peas and one of his favorite lettuce varieties was tennis ball lettuce. The students planted seeds of Champion of England peas and tennis ball lettuce in their garden bed. We purchased the seeds from Monticello.

We discussed seed saving-Jefferson saved seeds and in fact had Lewis and Clark bring back seeds and plants from their travels. The heirloom seeds that we plant were saved from plants at Monticello. We also discussed the meaning of the term heirloom, eg. something that is saved and passed down.

Jefferson made detailed notes about his planting, his successes and his failures. That's why we know so much about his gardening! Thanks to our scribe for the day for taking notes.

Thanks to Amanda Keston for making Sugar Snap Peas and Pasta from www.epicurious.com. The kids loved it!  Thanks also to Carolyn Hasselkorn and Ms. Evie for helping the kids plant!