Mr. Lantos', Ms. Smith's and Ms. Keller's 5th Graders Eat Like Thomas Jefferson

The Marquez 5th graders concluded their study of Thomas Jefferson the vegetable loving president and horticulturist by preparing a vegetable-based meal. Thanks to the Wahlings, Vizoni's and Patty Wong Smith for coordinating the cooking lessons!

The students in Mr. Lantos' class enjoyed cutting the vegetables which were then cooked in an electric skillet and combined with pasta. The students loved the meal and had seconds!

In Mr. Lantos' class the cooking experience followed a discussion of facts about Jefferson's gardening led by parent Michele Wahling. She used information from the Monticello website.

In 1819 Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I have lived temperately, eating little animal food, and that ... as a condiment for the vegetables, which constitute my principal diet."

His 1,000-foot-long kitchen garden terrace was an experimental laboratory where he cultivated seventy different species and 250 varieties of vegetables and was Jefferson's chief horticultural achievement at Monticello. Here, Jefferson himself sowed peas, cabbages, and okra , lettuce, etc 

The English or Garden pea is usually described as Jefferson's favorite vegetable because of the frequency of plantings in the Monticello kitchen garden, the amount of garden space devoted to it (three entire "squares"), and the character-revealing playfulness of his much-discussed pea contests: according to family accounts, every spring Jefferson competed with local gentleman gardeners to bring the first pea to the table; the winner then hosting a community dinner that included a feast on the winning dish of peas. He documented 19 pea varieties. 

Jefferson's butler, Lemaire, however, only recorded purchasing peas for the President's House six times in 1806 for the elaborate state dinners Jefferson hosted. (Parsley, by comparison, was purchased on 79 different occasions). There is no record Jefferson or his family members purchased peas from slaves at Monticello. Perhaps Jefferson enjoyed growing peas more than he liked to eat them.

Jefferson would plant a thimble full of lettuce seeds every week during the growing season.

However, Lettuce was the most common vegetable purchased in the Washington markets for Presidential dinners; Lemaire purchased it over ninety times in 1806. Lettuce was planted an average of five or six times annually in the Monticello garden between 1809 and 1824. 

Salad oil was a perennial obsession for Jefferson. He referred to the olive as "the richest gift of heaven," and "the most interesting plant in existence." 

Jefferson was a pioneer grower of "tomatas." He mentioned how tomatoes were virtually unknown ten years earlier, but by 1824 everyone was eating them because they believed they Akept one's blood pure in the heat of summer."

Purple Sage

Common Name: Purple Sage. Named for its light-colored, lavender-pink flowers which appear in early spring, this plant is also called Gray Sage for its light-colored foliage.

Botanical Name: Salvia Leucophylla

Where found: Common in areas with coastal influence. Native to the coastal foothills from San Luis Obispo to Orange County.

Use by Chumash/Tongva: Leaves were eaten; also used as hair ointment/wash because of its fragrance. Used in ceremonies and as medicine. Smoked.

Use by wildlife: Its flowers provide nectar for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees

Information researched by Grade 4 student 2015 Logan.

Some native plants in the Native American Garden that attract wildlife

The native plants in the Marquez Native American Garden are popular with wildlife. They would also be good choices for drought tolerant home gardens as they don't require much irrigation. We are watering our new plants deeply once or twice a week. The area around the plants is mulched, therefore the ground stays more moist.  Here are some of the plants:

Bush Anenome: flowers attract hummingbirds and other pollinators
Cleveland Sage: attracts hummingbirds
Coffeeberry: pollinating insects and birds like the flowers and berries;
Deer Grass: provides nesting material for birds
Hummingbird Sage: hummingbirds like the pink flowers;
Island Alum Root: attracts hummingbirds
Mugwort: attractive to butterflies and birds;
Narrow Leaf Milkweed: attractive to monarch butterflies;
Pink Flowering Current: hummingbirds love the flowers and birds like the fruit;
Purple Sage: butterflies such as Painted Lady and Checkerspot like the flowers;
Yarrow: flowers attract butterflies
Island Alum Root: attracts hummingbirds
White Sage: hummingbirds like it. Pollinated by native bees
Black Sage: birds like its seeds; butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted
Coffeeberry: attracts small pollinators
Yankee Point Ceanothus:

Sources of information about these and other native plants: "Flowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California" by Nancy Dale; "California Native Plants for the Garden" Carol Bornstein, David Fross and Bart O'Brien; California Native Plant Society, www.cnps.org.

Purple Sage

                                                                                   Purple Sage  

Dedication of the Marquez Native American Garden

On May 7 we dedicated the Marquez Native American Garden.  This garden in front of school has been cleared and then planted by all of the 4th grade classes.  It is a teaching garden for lessons on Chumash and Tongva, pollinators and drought tolerant planting.

We thanked representatives from the Pacific Palisades Garden Club for their generous donations. Betsey Landis from the California Native Plant Society donated four copies of Nancy Dale's book, "Flowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California" to the 4th grade. These guests and Dr. Hananel each received a booklet about the garden which included some reports on the plants as well as a pressed monkeyflower done by the Kissane girls.

Many 4th grade students have researched the native plants in the garden. Twelve of them spoke at the dedication about their plants. Many of the plants in the garden have QR codes attached to the plant signs. Visitors can use the QR code app on their smart phones to access information written by the students that's posted on the Marquez website. (http://marquezcharter.org/about/learning/growing-ground-edible-garden).

The dedication concluded with tours of the garden given by 4th grade students to parents and other guests.

A California Poppy, our state flower

Some 4th grade garden tour guides

Diane Goldberg, Barbara Marinacci, Ms. Marie and Betsey Landis

Ms. Soo's Class Plants on May Day!

On May 1, Ms. Soo's 1st grade class planted in their raised bed. They planted a zucchini seedling, melot lettuce seedlings and marigold seedlings as well as radish seeds. They'll be able to harvest the lettuce and radishes before the end of the school year. After a discussion of their favorite vegetables, we determined that cucumber and carrots would be good to add to a salad of lettuce and radishes!

Each child planted a seedling and seeds. They used trowels and learned that trowels are used to dig small holes while shovels are used to dig large holes.

The children wrote stories about planting when they returned to the classroom.

On Monday, Ms. Yoshida's class celebrated Earth Day by planting seeds in biodegradable pots and having an organic snack. As last year, Whole Foods provided fruit and vegetable platters, seeds and organic potting soil. The children had their choice of fruit and vegetables. Next, they planted either radish, lettuce or kale seeds in pots which are made of peat moss and wood pulp and are 100% biodegradable.  The students were told to keep the soil moist and other directions will be sent home via their teachers. The children enjoyed looking at the worms and watering plants after they planted.
One of the students had the bright idea of collecting the water that overflowed from the drinking fountain and watering plants with it!

Using QR Codes to Learn about the Edible Garden

 
Salsa Garden
Hello! We planted a salsa garden at Marquez Charter Elementary School.
We planted onions, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, and garlic.
We will make salsa next year in 3rd grade.
There are two types of salsa that we will be making, salsa verde and salsa rojo.
Verde is green in Spanish and rojo is red in Spanish.
There is another kind of salsa.
It is sweet and has fruit.
We love gardening with our garden teacher Miss Marie.

By Eleanor and Coco, 2nd grade students