The last few weeks of school are always full of a flurry of activities. School gardens are not an exception; we feel the squeeze as the students start to count down the days. There are so many i’s to dot and peas to pick and so little time to get in the summer vegetables and plant the sweet potatoes slips.
Are you feeling the same squeeze? Are you scratching your head trying to figure out how to fit it all in?
The answer may be different for everyone but for us at Mallinckrodt Academy, Shaw VPA, Gateway Elementary and Clay is that we make time for outdoor education and we stick with it against all odds, sort of how you would to lunch periods.
I wanted to share our week in the nutshell using pictures to convey all the ways we have used our school garden this past week or two.
It will be all over before you know it but while you are at it don’t forget to enter the Sweet Potato Competition and pick up your sweet potato slips. It makes for a great finale.
Gateway Greening Board members came and worked alongside of Mallinckrodt students and parents one fine April Saturday morning. Here they are preping student made pavers.
GGI’s executive director was at Mallinckrodt work day with his whole family. Here they are sharing with the group the highlights of their experience on this workday.
GGI staff and board members, Mallinckrodt parents, and students sitting down at the school’s outdoor classroom at the end of the work day to share a salad made using ingredients from the garden.
This is the aftermath of the Earth Day. Thank you Earth Day for helping Gateway Greening squirrel away all the strawbales for the season. Thank you Laura Allers-Lowry.
A student had made a nest during art class that she wanted to bring outside so the birds can use the yard from to create a real nest. Garden fever comes in many shapes and colors.
2nd Graders at Mallinckrodt hatched out some chickens and 3rd graders raised them. A few students created a chicken hotel out of boxes for them to live in. Here a student is creating a little library.
Students came out to the garden to learn how to make a salad using the lettuce from their garden. Thank you Diana Finlay for the lesson on the easy dressing recipe.
Not too long ago my co-worker taught me about this beautiful native black locust. They were in bloom in our region last week. Here students at Shaw VPA are getting to know about black locust.
Seeds we had collected during our seeds class in fall are being used this spring for soap making. Be sure to check out our YouTube channel to see our video on how to make soap in the garden.
All planned activities come to an halt when this guests visit or are discovered by students. And when these guests are discovered by students in our garden they stop all planned activities and focus on them.
Serious weeding at Gateway Elementary. This all girls class just got done with MAP testing and we heard weeding is quite an antidote to test related stress.
Planting ninebark they secured from Gateway Greening’s Great Perennial Divide. Thank you Hannah for all the effort you put in to GPD to beautify our city.
Go Gateway! The all girls class and their teacher cleaned up a patch of weeds quite nicely to plant some plants they got from Gateway Greening’s Great Perennial Divide.
