Thank you Seed Savers!

Today we received a donation of seeds through the Herman's Garden Seed Donation Program through Seed Savers Exchange. We are grateful for the wonderful seeds which range from eggplants to peppers to carrots to herbs & flowers. The highlight for me is the Moon & Stars Watermelon, which is known for being especially tasty while also displaying a beautiful skin that looks like the night sky. From the Events and Outreach Coordinator: "The mission of Seed Savers Exchange is to help save North America's diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity."

In the spirit of this mission we will do our best to collect seeds after this coming growing season to replant and to pass along seeds to the King County Seed Library which currently functions through the Seattle Farm Co-op.

While the kids are away.....

There is one very distinct advantage to your parent being a volunteer in the school garden. You get to go to the garden over winter break! Today we went over to take stock of what was happening while we have all been away. The bird feeders were empty, to be sure, but we also noticed that things just seemed quiet and bare. My goal was to get the rain barrels moved to the back of the greenhouse, where we plan on adding gutters to feed them. This was no small task, as the barrels were all half full of water and the location where I was moving them required moving cinderblocks from one side of the garden to the other. I was up for it, and took to the task while the kids busied themselves on the other side of the garden. With a little muscle and a lot of sweat, I got the barrels to their new home.

It turned out that the kids found an interesting project as well. They found a pile of small concrete blocks that students of yore had painted with garden images such as bees and butterflies and suns, so many suns. My children decided to gather these "stones" and place them around the entrance to the garden. I think it turned out nice and gives the entrance to the garden a whimsical appeal.

 

The Students Assess the Raised Beds

 On our last day before winter break 3 fourth graders and 2 fifth graders joined me in the garden. The fifth graders skipped making gingerbread houses with their class to be out there, now THAT is dedication! I gave each student a clipboard with a map of our garden and a pen. I sent them out to get their bearings and determine North from South. Once they figured out orientation I asked them to make notes on their maps about the state of each bed. Many of the boards were rotten or broken and would need to be replaced. I also had the students make notes about anything else they observed that needed some attention before we would be able to use the beds in the spring. One student observed that there were two beds that had boards in good shape but the grass and weeds had overgrown them to the point that they were barely visible. We determined that even before putting down cardboard and wood chips around the beds we would need to dig out the mounds of grass, weeds and dirt that were obscuring these two beds. After finishing our maps we took some time to look inside the beds and found that there were lots of vegetables still growing from the past summer. There were small bok choy volunteers in a few beds and lots of kale still going strong. We also found that there were some plants that had gone to seed and decided that we needed to save those seeds and see if we could propagate them when we start our seedlings in the greenhouse in a couple months. 

Many boards were rotten and needed to be replaced

The second group to join me on this last day before break were 3 second graders having their first experience in the garden. The bird feeders we made a few weeks ago had been eaten clean of seeds and peanut butter. I had planned on refilling the feeders with these students, however one student had a peanut allergy. Those type of feeders can also be made with corn syrup, however, I had not come prepared for that. Instead, I had two suet feeders that we put together and hung in the garden. Suet feeders are loved by many birds and as soon as we put them up a few visitors made use of them right away, which was very exciting for the students. Next, we talked about how some birds like to eat off the ground instead of in the trees, so we found a nice, flat area hidden in the bushes behind the garden. We spread black oiled sunflower seeds and cracked corn in this area for those ground-feeders. Just before our time was up we also did a walk through to observe what vegetables were still going strong in this cold weather. 

Getting Organized

It was a pretty rainy day in the garden this week so we again took refuge in the greenhouse. We took the opportunity to get a little organized. We had a lot of seeds donated by parents and decided they needed to be filed so we would have an easier time with them come planting time (When is that again?? Soon, we hope.) We labeled dividers and got all the seeds into a filing system. The students had discussions about whether individual varieties should be labeled separately, or whether we should group them by vegetable. In the end, the children opted for broader categories. Even the herbs were clumped together rather than be separated into "basil," "oregano," "cilantro" etc. One of our students was excited to find a seed with whom she shared a name. The "Veronica broccoli" now has a big fan and will surely get planted this spring. The students also noticed that all of our pine cone bird feeders were eaten clean; no seeds, no peanut butter, not a crumb to be found. Clearly, our bird friends were loving them. We made a note to re-fill them the next garden-work-day that it wasn't raining. Hopefully, that will be before May.

Feeding the birds....

What do we do in the garden in the winter when it's 35 degrees Fahrenheit and the kids are shivering? We feed the birds, of course! Three 4th graders and three 5th graders joined me during afternoon recess to help in the garden. It was just too cold to do any garden work, we sought refuge in the greenhouse where we made these simple bird-feeders. After making sure that no student had a nut allergy, we proceeded to cover pine cones in peanut butter and then rolled them in sunflower seeds and cracked corn. Then, we went to the back area of the garden, which is quiet and tree-covered, to place the feeders around. There are now six cone-feeders hanging, we will check on them frequently to see if the birds are using them.  

While in the garden today, one of the 4th graders noticed that there is a HUGE nest in one of the trees behind our garden. We talked about what kind of bird must have made such a big nest and most children thought it must be an owl or a hawk. We talked about what Raptors are and how the bird that made this nest must be in the raptor family because of the size of it. Owls, hawks, eagles, peregrines, and turkey vultures all fit into the Raptor family. They are "birds of prey" that eat small mammals, fish and other birds and grab them up with their enormous strong claws. What a wonderful spontaneous opportunity for a lesson!  

A Big Thank You

A big thank you goes out to the lovely people at Firefly Kitchens for donating a huge quantity of clean cardboard, 3 clipboards and a seeding trowel to our garden. If you haven't heard of them, Firefly is a local small business that makes and sells fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kimchi. They go through a lot of cardboard boxes and were kind enough to respond to my request for cardboard on the Seattle Farm Co-op email list service. The cardboard will be put down throughout our garden and then wood chips will be placed on top of the cardboard. Putting the wood chips directly onto the grass would be a disaster for weeds so the cardboard is essential to the process.

Thanks to Firefly for the boxes, and for the delicious sample of 'kraut! You can check out the products they make in their small warehouse in Ballard at the following link, and they can be purchased at all the local Whole Foods and PCC's.

www.fireflykitchens.com

Seeking Donations

A thorough assessment has been made of all the assets and supplies our garden already has, and where there are deficits. We have many wonderful things in our garden already in use, like the greenhouse, tool shed and raised beds. We have a handful of gardening tools, including lots of hand trowels and a wonderful yard cart. We have a worm compost bin and quite a few black plastic pots and seed starting trays. There are things missing, however, that any garden should have and a few things that would enhance the learning experience of the garden for our students. The following is a list of supplies that would be welcome donations to the Maple Monarch Garden. Anyone wishing to donate can contact our parent garden contact at clarissa.helton@gmail.com. Thank you, our students appreciate it!

Small garden gloves: 30 pair

Flat-end shovels: 4
Wheelbarrows: 2

Hand sheers: 9

Hose nozzle: 2

Long hose: 1

Clipboards: 22

Plastic storage containers for small tools, gloves, etc: 9

Seeds

Kneeling pads: 6

Tile to replace broken tiles on outdoor sink: 4’X6’ total size

Clean cardboard

Wood chips
Gravel or small stones

Gutters for collecting water into rain barrels from storage shed

Blueberry bushes

Lavender plants

Rosemary plants

Butterfly bushes

Rain gauge: 1

Outdoor temperature gauge: 1

Outdoor clock: 1

Magnifying glasses: 30

Sun dial: 1

Garden scale: 1

Bird feeders