The FOG meeting for January will
be held tomorrow (Tuesday, January 6).
Please join the meeting to discuss the upcoming Garden Work Day, the Spring
Fest, future garden projects and more. The meeting is held from 8 - 8:30
am with teachers and from 8:35-9:00 am with parents that cannot make the
earlier time. Agenda for the meeting is attached
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a restful
break. The break brought more rain and some frigid overnight
temperatures. I am researching some cover cloth materials for the
vegetable beds that will be handy for winter weather. This week we will
have a FOG meeting on Tuesday, January 6 at 8 a.m. with teachers and parents
that can make it and at 8:35 a.m. for anyone else. The FOG meetings are
held in the teacher's lounge. There will also be a Garden Work Day
on Saturday, January 10 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Tasks for the Garden this week:
1)Search for
mushrooms. This is the season to find mushrooms. Remember that
mushrooms should never be eaten unless positively identified by an expert as
edible (when in doubt, throw it out) and poisonous mushrooms can only harm you
if ingested (eaten, not just touched).
2)Plant any bare spots
in the beds - there are seeds in the shed marked for fall/winter plantings that
include Brassica family (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower,
kohlrabi, mustard greens, kale), root vegetables (beets, carrots, radishes,
rutabagas, turnips), leafy greens (lettuces, chard, arugula), peas (sugar snap
peas, Chinese snow peas), and alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, shallots).
There are also seedlings in the greenhouse that should be used first to get a
head start. Keep a garden journal of what/when/where/how you plant.
Contact me if you need any help.
3)Water the greenhouse
seedlings if they appear dry (mark the clipboard to keep track of when the
seedlings were watered). Teachers and garden parents should determine
whether the seedlings are dry before allowing children to water as it appears
that the seedlings have been getting overwatered.
4)Check the worm bins
to make sure they have enough dry/brown material; if it seems damp or if fruit
flies are present, shred newspaper and add it to the bin. Always make
sure to cover the food and newspaper with the cardboard which will also help
keep the flies away.
5)Cut off any dead
flower buds on rose bushes and any other flowering plants
6)Pull weeds in and
around the vegetable beds
7)Load up a
wheelbarrow of woodchips from outside the fence behind the compost area and
distribute them on any exposed dirt pathways and throughout the orchard area
(this will keep the pathways from getting to muddy and will act as a natural
soil builder as the wood decomposes)
8)Pick up and dispose
of any trash
9)Make sure the bird
baths have water
10)Clean and return
tools to the shed
11)Return wheelbarrows
to compost area or behind shed
Garden Curriculum:
If you ever are left wondering how to use the garden to tie into
the lessons that the children are currently studying, there are grade level
appropriate garden binders available in the Teacher's Lounge and Life Lab
lesson books that may give you some ideas. Also, Mari Allen (allenmari@hotmail.com) is our parent
volunteer garden-curriculum advisor. Contact her if you have any
questions after reviewing the garden binders.
Garden Record Keeping:
We would like to start keeping an online Garden Journal that
everyone will have access to on the garden blog (http://ednamaguire.org/garden/) so that other garden
parents can compare notes or to allow parents to see what is happening in their
child's class. Linda Dunne has created a journal spot on the garden blog
so we are ready to start recording weekly notes. Please email me once a
week to let me know what you did with your class that week (any tasks, planting
or other activities) and I will post it.
Composting Alert:
Composting is a great way to
reduce the amount of garbage that gets sent to the landfill while also
producing a valuable fertilizer to feed our garden (this weekend we used many
wheelbarrows of our compost to amend the pumpkin patch and reading area).
Edna does a great job of diverting a lot of food waste from the garbage and
into the compost. In the garden, we have two parts to our composting program:
worm bins in the tool shed and a compost pile in the back of the garden.
Please remember to only put food waste into the worm bins and not on the
compost pile. Food can attract wildlife and rodents so it should only be
added to the worm bins which are sealed. We now have two wooden worm bins
(one in the tool shed and one just outside the toolshed) as well as the plastic
can o' worm bins. Thanks for keeping Edna green!
Owl Boxes:
Next time you are in the tool
shed, you may notice two owl boxes that we just purchased for the garden to
invite barn owls into our ecosystem. Barn owls are voracious predators of
rodents (rats, mice, gophers, moles, etc.). Learn more at http://www.hungryowl.org/ . We hope to get
them installed soon.
Spring Fest (Sunday, May 31, 2009):
Jen Sheets (Jmsheetz@hotmail.com) and Barbara Bleckman (barbaracrampton@comcast.net)
have volunteered to coordinate the Spring Fest. They are seeking volunteers
to assist with the Spring Fest, including (but not limited to), Bake Sale
Coordinator (Lisa Joss? Please?), Cool Beverage Coordinator (lemonade, iced
tea, water), Crafts Coordinator-Teacher Liaison and volunteers to work the event.
If you are interested, please contact them to sign up. This is one of the
garden's biggest fundraisers.
Garden Club:
Please let your students know that the Garden Club meets informally
every Thursday at lunch in the garden. Carrie Morgan supervises the
garden club and Rebecca from Next Generation is there every other Thursday to
help with garden projects. All grade levels welcome.
Garden blog:
Check out the garden blog on the school website for garden news,
pictures and garden recipes (http://www.ednamaguire.org/garden/).
Please send me your nutritious garden recipes for posting.
REMINDER: At the end of the
school day, please lock up the garden if it is unlocked. The garden is
usually unlocked during the school day and I am not always around at pick up
time so please take a moment to make sure it gets locked up. Also, hang
up your gloves and put away your tools. Barbara Bleckman and Luz Castro
cleaned and organized the garden shed. The gloves are now cleaned,
organized and hanging above the worm bin. Please make sure they are
returned to their place when you are done using them.
Last Day to Shop Local to support Sloat and your Children's Garden
(Dec. 8, 2008):
Attention all Mill Valley Children's
Garden supporters: Sloat Garden Center is sponsoring Growing Up Green Week,
December 1 to 8, 2008. During this time, if you bring in our Edna flyer
(attached to this email), a percentage of your purchases will be donated to the
Children's Garden by Sloat. The higher our participation, the greater the
benefit we will receive. So if you were thinking about fall plantings
(good time to plant trees now that the rain is beginning) or purchasing some
garden tools or furniture, shop at Sloat between December 1 to 8, 2008, 2008
and be sure to present them with our Edna Flyer. Thanks for supporting
the garden.
Interesting Tidbit:
Earlier, we reported that one of the common weeds in our garden
(purslane) is a highly prized edible in some circles. I just recently discovered that another of our
pernicious weeds in our garden is a choice edible, common mallow or Malva parviflora.Mallow was among the plants raised at Delos,
Greece for the temple of Apollo as a symbol of the first nourishment of people.Pliny wrote that a spoonful of mallow would
rid one of all diseases.The young
shoots are used for salad in France and Italy.The fuzzy leaves are cooked like most winter greens, steamed or stir
fried or added to soup.Have the
students identify mallow in the garden (it's especially prevalent around the
toolshed/teepee area).
Tasks for the Garden this week:
1)Search
for and identify common mallow, as described above.
2)Plant any bare spots in the beds - there are seeds in the shed marked for
fall/winter plantings that include Brassica family (broccoli, Brussels sprouts,
cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, mustard greens, kale), root vegetables (beets,
carrots, radishes, rutabagas, turnips), leafy greens (lettuces, chard,
arugula), peas (sugar snap peas, Chinese snow peas), and alliums (onions,
garlic, leeks, shallots). There are also seedlings in the greenhouse that
should be used first to get a head start. Keep a garden journal of
what/when/where/how you plant. Contact me if you need any help.
3)Water the greenhouse
seedlings if they appear dry (mark the clipboard to keep track of when the
seedlings were watered). Teachers and garden parents should determine
whether the seedlings are dry before allowing children to water as it appears
that the seedlings have been getting overwatered.
4)Check the worm bins
to make sure they have enough dry/brown material; if it seems damp or if fruit
flies are present, shred newspaper and add it to the bin
5)Cut off any dead
flower buds on rose bushes and any other flowering plants
6)Pull weeds in and
around the vegetable beds
7)Load up a
wheelbarrow of woodchips from outside the fence behind the compost area and
distribute them on any exposed dirt pathways and throughout the orchard area
(this will keep the pathways from getting to muddy and will act as a natural
soil builder as the wood decomposes)
8)Pick up and dispose
of any trash
9)Make sure the bird
baths have water
10)Clean and return
tools to the shed
11)Return wheelbarrows
to compost area or behind shed
Garden Curriculum:
If you ever are left wondering how to use the garden to tie into the
lessons that the children are currently studying, there are grade level
appropriate garden binders available in the Teacher's Lounge and Life Lab
lesson books that may give you some ideas.Also, Mari Allen (allenmari@hotmail.com)
is our parent volunteer garden-curriculum advisor.Contact her if you have any questions after
reviewing the garden binders.
Garden Record Keeping:
We would like to start keeping an online Garden Journal that everyone
will have access to on the garden blog (http://ednamaguire.org/garden/)
so that other garden parents can compare notes or to allow parents to see what
is happening in their child's class.Please email me once a week to let me know what you did with your class
that week (any tasks, planting or other activities) and I will post it.
Composting
Alert:
Composting
is a great way to reduce the amount of garbage that gets sent to the landfill
while also producing a valuable fertilizer to feed our garden (this weekend we
used many wheelbarrows of our compost to amend the pumpkin patch and reading
area). Edna does a great job of diverting a lot of food waste from the
garbage and into the compost. In the garden, we have two parts to our
composting program: worm bins in the tool shed and a compost pile in the back
of the garden. Please remember to only put food waste into the worm bins
and not on the compost pile. Food can attract wildlife and rodents so it
should only be added to the worm bins which are sealed. This weekend we renovated
an extra wooden worm bin that will stay just outside the tool shed with the
plastic can o' worm bins.I will pick up
more worms for the new bins and then they will be ready for use by Tuesday.
Thanks for keeping Edna green!
Owl Boxes:
Next time
you are in the tool shed, you may notice two owl boxes that we just purchased
for the garden to invite barn owls into our ecosystem.Barn owls are voracious predators of rodents
(rats, mice, gophers, moles, etc.).Lear
more at http://www.hungryowl.org/ . We
hope to get them installed this month.
Spring
Fest (Sunday, May 31, 2009):
Jen
Sheets (Jmsheetz@hotmail.com) and Barbara Bleckman (barbaracrampton@comcast.net) have volunteered to
coordinate the Spring Fest.They are
seeking volunteers to assist with the Spring Fest, including (but not limited
to), Bake Sale Coordinator (Lisa Joss? Please?), Cool Beverage Coordinator
(lemonade, iced tea, water), Crafts Coordinator-Teacher Liaison and volunteers
to work the event.If you are
interested, please contact them to sign up.This is one of the garden's biggest fundraisers.
Garden Club:
Please let your students know that the Garden Club meets
informally every Thursday at lunch in the garden. Carrie Morgan
supervises the garden club and Rebecca from Next Generation is there every
other Thursday to help with garden projects. All grade levels
welcome.
Garden blog:
Check out the garden blog on the school website for garden news,
pictures and garden recipes (http://www.ednamaguire.org/garden/).
Please send me your nutritious garden recipes for posting.
REMINDER: At the end of the
school day, please lock up the garden if it is unlocked. The garden is
usually unlocked during the school day and I am not always around at pick up
time so please take a moment to make sure it gets locked up. Also, hang
up your gloves and put away your tools. Barbara Bleckman and Luz Castro
cleaned and organized the garden shed. The gloves are now cleaned,
organized and hanging above the worm bin. Please make sure they are
returned to their place when you are done using them.
Please contact me with any questions.
Also, please let me know if you do not wish to receive this
email. Thanks.
The FOG meeting for December
will be held tomorrow (Tuesday, December
2). Please join the
meeting to discuss the upcoming Garden Work Day, the
Spring Fest, future garden projects and more. The meeting is held from 8
- 8:30 am with teachers and from 8:35-9:00 am with parents that cannot make the earlier time. Agenda for the meeting is
attached
