Hampton Hills school near London plants Honeycrisp

Hampton Hills Junior School just west of London has a great school garden we visited in March. Here are the students planting the Honeycrisp apple tree we gave them. We look forward to seeing this tree when the class visits again next March and learning about apples in England and Minnesota. Apples are one of the 10 Plants that Changed Minnesota and a super plant for school gardens and for eating all year long.  

End of the year

Now that the semester has finally come to an end I'd like to write a recap of the last month working with Columbia Heights School District.  I was privileged to visit and teach at the school district on two different days.  On April 26th I visited North Park elementary and worked with three different classes. On May 3rd I worked with a total of five classes.  Two high school classes, one middle school class, and two elementary classes.

On the first visit I got my feet wet with teaching younger kids on how to plant seeds.  This was very enjoyable because it was fun to see the kids willing to get their hands a little dirty breaking up the soil.  This is something the older kids on the second visit did not want to do. 

On the second visit I was filmed by the Jeffers Foundation for a second grade class.  The foundation is constructing a year long video on school gardens and how they are incorporated into the classrooms as vehicles to teach the students.  To my understanding they were happy with the footage the had received and planned on continuing to shoot until the winter of 2013. 

Overall I had a very enjoyable time in the Successful School Gardens class at the U of M.  I would highly recommend this class to anyone interested in getting involed in teaching or working with younger kids.  As for now I am signing off.  Have a great summer everybody.

Sincerely,
Aaron

CBPA Fun Facts

To do a quick recap of Champlain-Brooklyn Park Academy for Math and Environmental Science, I want to list a few facts about the school.  CBPA is a public school, grades Kindergarten to 5th. There are about 760 kids total, with about 150 staff members. The first grade, which I got the wonderful privilege to teach about microgreens, has 7 classes with roughly 30 kids per class.  They have wonderful family volunteers that come in now and again to help out with anything they can.  There were a few that I was able to meet when working with the 1st grade, and they really love the way the school is run and being able to help out there!  Their garden program is run using a 20'x40' greenhouse, 11 raised garden beds (2 for each class except 5th grade who get 1), and a Greeting Garden in the front of the school.  The Hennepin County Master Gardeners play a big roll in helping out the teachers and classes by giving lessons to the students and being a big part of the gardens. Since the garden program was started at CBPA (three years at their current location), the staff have seen much more student interest in outside activity and have heard from parents about their enthusiasm to help out with the gardens at home.  Also, composting has been taken up in the school kitchen, and the entire school has become more environmentally conscious.

As for the curriculum, all 6 different grades learn something new this year; the students then have something new to look forward to in the garden every year. The Kindergarden learn about and plant perennials; the 1st graders have a Food Plate that is taught through the health class.  2nd graders grow a butterfly garden using perennials; 3rd grade learn about Prairie Restoration in their social studies class. The 4th graders learn about Plants Per Region in their social studies class, and the 5th graders have a flower garden and plant hanging baskets.  The hanging baskets are then sold at the end of the school year to pay for an end-of-the-year party, new greenhouse materials, and the rest is donated to the local food shelf.                   

The kids were so much fun to work with and were really excited to learn in the greenhouses. They all sat and listened very well while I taught them plant needs and parts and worked well together when I sent them to plant and harvest the microgreens.  CBPA has a great hold on their gardening program, thanks to the local master gardeners and the wonderful staff they have.  Most of the teachers showed a lot of interest in the greenhouse, but there were a few who were not very comfortable.  I think that, to better the gardening program at CBPA, the teachers could get a lesson(s) on how to teach about plants. I think that this would make them more willing to teach with plants, because they would feel more like they know what they are doing.

I want to give an extra thank you to our wonderful professor, Mary Meyer. We could not have taken the class without her, and I really appreciate all that she has done for us!  

Thank you, Mary, so much for everything!

           

Ideas for Winter Teaching

Many teachers have a hard time teaching using garden-related ideas in the winter because there is no outside access to the garden, but there are plenty of things to keep kids busy while still keeping the garden in mind!

One idea is to plant a Windowsill Garden.  Simply collect all of your supplies, put a few small rocks in the bottom of the terra cotta pots for drainage, fill with dirt, and plant the seeds.  All that is needed are the following items:

•7" terra cotta pots - $27.80/20•Potting soil - $17.20 for 4 - 20 lb. bags•Small rocks (for drainage) - Free•Packets of seed - $20/10

Total Price:  $65.00

Another idea is to watch seeds sprout in a ziplock plastic bag.  Wet the paper towels just until moist throughout. Fold and place them into a plastic sandwich bag and set 5 seeds on the inside of the plastic but on the paper towel. Set the bags of seeds on a windowsill ledge and allow to sprout.  The kids would get a big kick out of this because they get to see the results very quickly.

Materials:

•Sandwich bags - $8/box

•Seed Packets - $20/10

•Paper towels - $0.67/1 roll

•Water

Total Price:  $28.67

Another easy classroom activity is to make a terrarium.  Place 4 small rocks in the bottom of a mason jar. Fill 1/2 way full with soil, and plant seeds/plants. Set in a window to grow.

Materials:

•Mason jars - $18/24-4 oz jars

•Rocks for drainage - Free

•Potting soil - $4.30/1-20 oz bag

•Plants - $72/24 succulent plants

oor $24/12 packets of seed

Total Price: $94.30 w/ plants

    or $46.30 w/ seeds

No matter what your age, crafts are always a big hit.  Everyone gets to come up with their own unique ideas, and it is a great way to get ready for the garden! Here are a few ideas:

•Decorate pots for-

    oGifts

    oPlant people

•Hand-painted plant markers

•Homemade Whirligigs

•Birdfeeders

Resources:

University of Vermont Extension. Winter Gardening Activities for Kids. http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/wintrfun.htm

Stark, Loni. Gardening Project: Planting herbs for a windowsill garden. http://www.starkinsider.com/2010/05/weekend-gardening-project-planting-herbs-for-a-window-sill-garden.html

Lyon, Jennie. How to:  Make a recycled glass terrarium. http://www.inhabitots.com/how-to-make-a-recycled-glass-terrarium/

Why are school gardens important?

School Gradens can be helpful to students in many ways, whether it's for the classroom or for life skills. While in England i saw how the garden had helped the students compared to the students i have seen and met who do not have a graden at school or even at home. Before working in the garden many students are/ have:
Causing problems in class
No interest
Complaining
Do not want to get dirty
No motivation or attention
hard time focusing in the classroom
bad eating habits inside school as well as oustide school
Little to no physical acitivty outside of school
Low self-esteem and confidence

Not only do they learn math, english, history, art, physical education, health, etc from the garden but they also learn life skills such as:
leadership, teamwork, community engagement
better eating habits, more willing to try new foods
more physical activity
more confidence, self esteem, outgoing
therapy

According to Impact of School Gardening on Learning, "Another teacher remarked that the garden was removed from the flashing images of computers and the busyness of the classroom, and therefore gave the pupils more opportunity to be quiet and reflective. This can be seen in the following quotation from one pupil, for whom the garden provided:

A chance to get away from everyone in the classroom. They're all noisy and they ain't listening and they start shouting. And then some of us get in trouble and it’s not even us; people wind you up.

'Most of these boys come with other baggage, which is what is causing them not to be able to focus in the classroom and to display challenging behaviour. When boys have got their hands dirty they talk, they talk and get it off their chest without realising it and possibly without remembering afterwards what they've talked about. But they've gone through that process and they feel lighter because they have talked about it.'"

After working in the garden the students:
Students change their opinion of the garden being "cool"
More willing to learn and tech, help others
More focus and motivation in the classroom
Greater understanding of school subjects
Are able to step away from commotion and calmly reflect on homework, personal issues, etc.
Gives them a sense of accomplishments and a sense of purpose

Small Space - What to Do?

Click here to see a project on "Bringing Gardening to the Classroom in a Small Space" or click here to see the presentation on "Bringing Gardening to the Classroom in a Small Space". The project consists of 3 different projects which would brighten up the outside and inside of a school. They are easy to follow and have room for creativity. Enjoy!

The 3 Creative Projects

Eating Microgreens at CBPA

Harvesting Microgreens at Champlin Brooklyn Park Academy

Today we harvested our 10 day old microgreens with four 1st grade classes at CBPA.  The kids had a lot of fun.
We started off by talking about plant parts.  We each pulled one microgreen up, roots and all, to look at the plant parts.

First we looked at the roots.  Then we cut the roots off to look at the stem, and we all took a bite.  A lot of the kids thought the stem tasted like carrots.  Then we talked about the two kinds of leave on the microgreens- seed leaves and the first true leaves.  The kids tasted both of these plant parts and talked about what they tasted like. 

Then came harvest time. Each of the kids cut off a pile of microgreens, washed them, and ate them with crackers.  Some of the kids harvested some extras to take home and share with their families.

The microgreens sandwich was a huge hit.  Even the kids who said they didn't like the taste ate a few.  It was definitely apparent that they enjoyed eating them more because they planted them and watched them grow.  I'm sure the kids were also proud to bring some home to share.

 










Here's our new recipe: a bunch of sunflower microgreens sandwiched between two Ritz crackers.

Last Wednesday was our final time visiting the MNIC school. We started out by making posters about what consumers looked for when buying microgreens.  The students split into groups of 3 to 4 and created posters that discussed product quality, customer service, price, source, benefits, and production methods.  We then had a Chef E. from Big E's Soul Food come in to discuss what he looks for when buying microgreens.  We had the students prepare questions to ask Chef E. during his presentation.


Chef E. loved talking about the importance of microgreens at his restaurant.  He praised the students for how great the microgreens looked and was very interested in purchasing microgreens from the students on a weekly basis.   

Here, a student is negotiating a price for his tray of microgreens with Chef E.

Working at the MNIC has been a great experience for Tiereny, Jenny, and I. We have loved working with the students and teaching them about horticulture. Hopefully, we will be able to come back again.

CPBA

Champlain Brooklyn Park Academy

The first time visiting Champlain Brooklyn Park Academy, I contacted one of the many Master Gardeners that volunteers at this school:  Mary Cichon. She was more than glad to give me a ride there and was a huge help with setting up.  When Mary and I first arrived at the school, the buses were just arriving to drop the students off for classes.  We gathered supplies and headed through the school to the greenhouse. CPBA is such a neat school! There is plenty of artwork adorning the hallway walls; the theme for Kindergarten right now is Sunflowers by Van Gogh, so there is plenty of flower paintings.

The first graders were so much fun to work with!  All of them were very enthusiastic and had plenty of great answers to my questions.  I started out by asking what plants need to grow:  water, sunlight, soil (nutrients), and air (oxygen).  There wasn't one class that I needed to fill in the answers for; they knew every one.  I then showed the students how they were supposed to plant them.  First fill the bottom of the trays half full with soil. Then sprinkle the seeds on top.  I gave them the amount of seeds that were needed for one tray and told them to use all of them.  Next, sprinkle enough soil on top of the seeds just so that they are covered.  The final step was watering.  With the help of Mary and the class' teacher(s), we were able to supervise 4 groups at a time.  Each of the four classes were able to plant four trays of microgreens.  They each took one tray back to the classroom to be able to observe the growing of the plants until we harvested 2 weeks later.

The following Wednesday, I returned to CPBA with Mary Meyer to harvest microgreens with the other 3 classes that Becca G. planted with 2 weeks prior.  These classes were just as behaved and fun to work with as the last ones.  I started out by asking if the students remembered what was needed for plants to grow, and there were many hands up, willing to answer.  I then talked about the different parts of the plants.  I showed them the roots, stem and the 2 different type of leaves (true leaves are the smaller, fuzzier ones,  and seed leaves are the bigger ones). Next I showed them how they were to cut the microgreens about 1 inch from the bottom of the leaves (I just showed them where), rinse them off in the tub of water, and put them on a plate.  They got to try them with Ritz crackers and by themselves. Many of the students really liked them, but many didn't.  Each class had a different amount of kids in each category.  Once everyone got to cut their microgreens, we got together and tried the different parts of the plant, talking about texture and taste.  Compared to the other parts of the microgreens, the stem had a very bland taste, the true leaves had a rough texture and a very gross taste and the seed leaves were very smooth and sweet and the students that said they like microgreens liked this part the best.  They were then able to cut and clean as many as they would like to put in a ziplock bag and take home with them.  Most of the students were really happy for this!  Even some students that didn't like the microgreens cut some to bring home and have their family try them.

Going to Champlain Brooklyn Park Academy was a really great experience, and I am really glad that I got to work with the students and teach them something new!  I give my thanks to all of the first grade teachers that Becca G. and I worked with, Mary Cichon and Mary Meyer for transportation, and Denise Schnabel for helping set everything up.