Ms. Yoshida's Class Harvests, Eats a Salad and Plants

Today Ms. Yoshida's students harvested, planted and ate a colorful salad. They harvested peas, beets and carrots from the Peter Rabbit Garden. The carrots were yellow, purple and white as well as orange. A few crooked carrots had grown around each other since they had not been thinned.

Some students then planted tomatoes and basil in the Salsa Garden. Later they will plant cilantro and onions and jalapeno peppers. We had discussed the ingredients in salsa earlier in the garden time. We also discussed the correct way to plant tomatoes and the students wrote about that in their garden journals.

The students ate a colorful salad with peas, carrots, red grapes and lettuce. Sugar snap peas are the Vegetable of the Month at Marquez.

Crooked carrots

Harvesting and planting

Ms. Fein's Class and Mr. Jacobs' Class Harvest and Plant a Salsa Garden

This week Ms. Fein's students and Mr. Jacobs' students harvested peas, beets and carrots from the Peter Rabbit Garden and planted in the new Salsa Garden.

The second graders had planted peas, beets and carrots in the fall. They became the centerpiece of a colorful salad.  We harvested white, orange and purple carrots! We are discussing eating a rainbow at school and this salad reflected one!

Each spring second graders plant a salsa garden and then harvest the vegetables and make salsa when they return in August. Before the students plant we discussed the ingredients in salsa such as tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro and they wrote about this in their gardening journals. This group of second graders planted jalapeno pepper seedlings and onion seedlings and cilantro seeds.

The Marquez garden program follows the theory that if the kids plant it they will eat it!

The harvest

Planting in the Salsa Garden

Eating a rainbow

Fifth Graders Celebrate Jefferson's Birthday

Recently the Marquez fifth graders celebrated Thomas Jefferson's birthday by eating pasta with vegetables. The vegetables included peas as they were Jefferson's favorite vegetable! Before eating, the students reviewed some facts about Jefferson such as: he was the third president, his plantation was called Monticello, and his favorite vegetable was peas.

The students were able to choose from the following combinations to add to the rotini pasta: sauteed peas and tomatoes, raw peas, raw zucchini, raw carrots, feta cheese and parmesan cheese. Thanks to the students in each group that served the others.

The recipe is adapted from one on the Barilla box:

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta
4 T. olive oil
1 minced shallot
16 oz. cherry tomatoes
1 zucchini, sliced thinly
cheese

Bring a large pot of water to boil.
In a large skillet, heat half of the oil and saute shallots for 3 minutes. (Note: you can substitute onion or garlic for the shallot)
Add zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3 minutes. (We used peas cut in bite sized pieces).
Stir in tomatoes and cook for 2 additional minutes.
Cook pasta according to pkg. directions.
Drain and toss with sauteed ingredients in skillet.
Stir in remaining oil and top with the ricotta salata cheese before serving.

(Note: we used different cheese and served it as a cold pasta salad).

Ms. Connor's Class Harvests and Plants in the Salsa Garden

On April 6 Ms. Connor's class harvested carrots, peas and lettuce from the Peter Rabbit Garden. These became the centerpiece of a colorful salad. Some of the carrots were purple and white! Some of the students peeled carrots to add to the salad. We also added blueberries to the salad!

The main lesson focused on planting a salsa garden. We discussed the ingredients and the students wrote about them in their garden journals. After learning the proper way to plant a tomato and some students planted tomato seedlings. Others planted basil and cilantro seedlings. We discussed the fact that basil and tomatoes are companions, aka friends, in the garden and grow well together.

Ms. Gardner's Class Plants Seeds in a Grow Light Garden

Last week Ms. Gardner's 4th graders planted tomato and zucchini seeds in their Grow Light garden. This system from Gardener's Supply ensures that the emerging seedlings will receive enough light to grow. The students will graph the progress of the plants once they emerge. The seedlings will be ready to transplant when they have two sets of real leaves!

Mr. Lanto's Students Plant

Today some of Mr. Lantos' students planted in the Jeffersonian Garden. They planted two types of peas, Jefferson's favorite vegetables. They also planted some zucchini. Both types of vegetables will be harvested before the end of school. Peas are generally cool season vegetables and zucchini is a warm season vegetable.

Ms. Gardner's Students Plant in Their Garden Bed

On March 2 Ms. Gardner's fourth graders planted in their garden bed after voting for their favorite vegetables. Broccoli, peas, carrots, tomatoes, kale, lettuce and cucumbers were popular. The students differentiated between cool season and warm season vegetables.

The students worked cooperatively in three groups to weed, amend the soil and plant. This allowed smaller groups for the math lesson.

The students planted a tomato seedling as well as seeds of peas, carrots, lettuce and nasturtiums. They also planted chocolate mint, thyme and parsley seedlings.

Their homework is to monitor the seeds and determine when each variety germinates.

Planting seeds