Garden Reflections for May 22nd, 2008

Group A
“Today Group A transplanted [beets]…. We had [the seedlings] in pots. We pinched them on the sides, pulled them out and if there were two in one pot, we would split them in half. Then we dug a five-inch trench. Then we put them on either side of it. Then we buried them to the soil line. Then we watered them to let them start growing in their new home.”

“I had lots of fun planting today. It was really cool… I like to play in the dirt a lot and I also think getting dirty is fun…”

Group B1
“Today in garden groups I made a wall to prevent a mudslide: a.k.a. erosion. I got to use tools: a drill, sledgehammer, and a shovel. I liked using the drill… I split a wood chip, calling it the "Wood Chip of Honor." I gave it to a special teacher. I had fun. But one thing, I don’t know why, but the drill was getting quite hot... “

“Today in Garden Group we first picked radishes (red and white). I didn’t like either of them Then (our custodian) Kevin came outside and I went to get the sledgehammer because Kevin told me to. He told us that we needed to build a wall. Kevin gave [my friend] the drill and he drilled a hole. I thought it looked pretty hard but then my friend did it and I did it and it wasn’t that hard. Then we took metal poles (rebar) and stuck them in the holes so the blocks of wood went into the ground. It was a really fun day. I learned how to drill holes. “

“Before [we built the wall] we checked the asparagus. Two plants were growing.”

Group B2
“Today in garden group we transplanted lettuce besides onions and carrots. Why did we plant lettuce next to onions? Because they grow good together. We also watered the lettuce and rhubarb and beets. “

“Today in garden group we used scissors to cut greens two inches away from the white hairy roots. Then we gathered up the greens, washed them, and spun them to dry. Then we put the greens in bags and carried them to the Kindergarten and first grade classes. We also looked up what lettuce’s companions were because we planted them [together]. [Some] plants grow well together. [For example] they have different root lengths…The plant that has longer roots gets nutrients from down low and the plant that has shorter roots gets the nutrients from up high…. “


Group C
“Today I put the compost in the garden! It started out as a damp day and group C was planting pac choy My job was to bring compost over when I was asked to. I had to be very patient and wait. Finally it was my chance to put compost in the garden. The soil was very cold and felt damp. I learned that it was important to put the compost in the garden. I also learned pac choy could be used cooked or just raw. I had lots of fun on garden day!”

“Thursday I transplanted. I liked it. It was lots of fun. We got to use tools... [One tool] was a trowel to make holes for the plants. Another tool was a rake so we can get the straw [mulch] off of the bed for the plants…”

Group D
“Today at Garden Group I raked leaves out of a spot in the garden on the corner so we could plant marigolds, hollyhock, and two more flowers I forget the name of. I also got to laugh a couple of times: two of my “sworn enemies” had to fill up watering cans in the boys bathroom (note that they are both girls. Ha ha ha!!!)…”

Group G
“Today in the garden was really fun. We put some fresh soil in the herb garden. To do that we took shovels and pitchforks and we loosened the soil, then put fresh soil in. We also put rocks around the herb garden that we had collected from the West River last week. I thought it was really fun to put the rocks around the herb garden because you get to put the rocks where you want to...”

Garden Reflections for May 15th, 2008

Group A
“Today Garden Group A planted and found things. What we found were little mini oak trees! …We also transplanted collards. We ate some, which I personally did not like. [A friend and I] had to carry 20 pound soil buckets. They were heavy. The also were at least 2 feet tall by my estimate.”

“When I went out to the garden I planted some [collards] and spinach. I thought it was pretty fun. I liked digging up the soil. The kale we tasted in the garden was good but sour…I learned that you need to be extremely careful planting plants.”

“Do you like plants? Well I do. I love planting… Plants are useful in this world and that is why I love planting. You also must be very delicate and gentle or you will hurt the plant. It is also good to remember to grab it by the leaf...”

“In garden group A we planted collards. I learned you have to plant them 1 foot or 12 inches apart. I also learned that when you take the plants out of six packs, if the soil inside the roots has two or more plants in one you have to squeeze gently to pull them apart. I thought it was fun lining up the ruler to make the holes so we could dig later in the group time. We added a lot of compost because the soil was all rocky and other stuff had been planted there before the collards so it didn’t have a lot of nutrients left…”

Group B
“Today in garden group we worked with our greens garden. First we thinned out the garden. This means that you remove some of the pants to make room for other plants to grow...”

“Today in garden groups I went outside and took plastic containers and began picking a certain kind of kale from a raised bed and putting it into a container. We did that for a while until we had filled a container with each kind of [green]. [My friend went to get a salad spinner] and my other friends and I played tag with Ms. Hartz. Three minutes later my friend came back [with the salad spinner] and we washed and dried the [greens]. Then we got a piece of rhubarb and went to band. It was fun. I learned how to use a salad spinner.”

“ How we picked the greens was by pinching the bottom of a plant and pulling them out. We picked mizuna, red kale, green mustard, tatsoi, etc… Then we gave the sixth graders a taste of each of the greens that we picked. We did the same for the Librarian, the Principal and the Nurse… I learned that with your greens you have to pick some roots out and make space for other roots to sprout and and grow, otherwise they will grow slowly…

“…I liked everything but thinning the greens. It was really dirty, slimy and really wet. The greens were really good, especially the kind of green called mizuna. I learned that if you want to have a garden that has a lot of room so that roots have some room to grow then you need to thin the plants so they can grow big and strong instead of getting squished and crowded.”

Group C
Today in garden groups I transplanted. It was fun. My favorite thing was shoveling the compost…”

Group D
“Today in my garden group we were planting kale. It was fun. We were digging deep holes. We made 12 deep holes… It was a fun garden group today.”

“Today in a garden group at Green Street School I prepared for planting kale. We had to search everywhere in the garden to find a good spot and we have a little spot near the rhubarb plant. Next we had to take out the sticks and leaves and we twisted up the soil. Then we added compost and topsoil. Next we dug holes and added the kale plants. Before we dug holes we mixed up the soil, topsoil and compost. Lastly I picked some rhubarb and ate the stem because the leaf is poisonous."

“We tried and tried but we couldn’t find what we were looking for which was the kale sign. We even got [my friend] to climb in the shed,,, but we still couldn’t find it…“”
Group G
“Today I went to a river called the West River. My group picked some pretty rocks for our new herb garden we are making at school. I thought today at the West River was very cool because of all the rocks there that had different colors and different shapes. Today I learned that there is this beetle that crawls under the rocks. But the beetles are a really dark green and they are pretty small… My favorite kind of rock is the dotted ones.”

Garden Reflections for May 8th, 2008

Group B
“In Garden Group B we planted some asparagus in a big hole. The hole was deep and black. It was our second hole. The first one didn’t work because it was too small.”

“A few weeks ago in garden group B we planted a greens garden with all different kinds of greens in it. This week there were plants sprouted up and we were allowed to eat some. Then some preschoolers [who were visiting the school for a special Teddy Bear Tea in preparation for kindergarten next year] came walking by and they wanted to try some greens! They even asked what we liked best!”

Group C
“Today we took soil tests called the K test, the N test and the P test. We took water with straws and put it in the containers and then we took the little capsules that match the cap and broke them apart and the stuff inside made [the water] change color after ten minutes.”

Group D
“Today in Garden Group D we decided on which plants to grow in our herb garden. One thing we decided on is lemon balm. We had a good time in the garden today.”

Garden Day Reflections for May 1, 2008

Every Thursday each fourth grader gets to spend 45 minutes to an hour in the garden in a small group. We have 6 garden groups. We try to involve students in all steps of gardening from choosing where to plant each type of plant to reading the instructions to set up a grow lab. This week the students wanted to plant the carrots in zig-zag rows… so we did! Here are some student reflections from our fourth grade garden day on Thursday, May 1st.

Group A
“Today in the garden we did soil samples and planted flowers. What we did for the soil samples is we dried out the soil and put two parts of soil and fiver parts water in a jar and mixed them together to make a solution so we could test it for pH and other things that will tell us if we need to add anything to the soil.
The flowers we planted were ones that look like zinnias and can be used as medicine (calendula). We planted them in front of the zinnias because they are shorter than the zinnias.”

“Today in garden group A we did soil samples and solutions. Solutions are made of distilled water and dirt… They were slimy and just plain gross! One of the three solutions we made tipped and it drenched me! I was soaked till midday! The soil samples were huge… We worked really hard in Group A today.”

“Today I planted seeds shaped like a half moon. I thought working in the garden was great. I also thought working in the garden was a very great pleasure. I learned that there were tulips and pretty white flowers in the garden.”

Group B
“Today in Garden Group B we set up Grow Labs. Grow labs are trays where you can put plants to grow until they are big enough to be transplanted. The trays have lights over them to be like the sun. We are going to plant some seeds to grow under the grow labs and when they’re big enough we will transplant them into the garden. I felt very good setting up the grow lab because I knew that they would help contribute to the garden. I also felt good because my garden group showed a lot of teamwork. We each had different jobs setting up.”

“Today in garden groups I got to build a plant grower (grow lab). It was fun. I even got to build it with my friends. It took a lot of pieces but we did it… We were seeing who could build it faster, girls or boys? It was the boys… My friends and I took it into the classroom by carrying it. It was light. So all of us looked at it and we were proud. And we won the race even though our teacher said it was not [a race]. We still looked very, very proud.”

“In my garden group I helped make a Grow Lab. It was made of metal and had two plant bins for the plants. I thought it was so cool that we got to build something in school. Also there were teams of people working… We got to play with the Styrofoam that came out of the box.”

“During garden time we made light holders (grow labs) for the plants. It was really fun. First we took two things that looked like archways and attached them of each other (so they were about one and a half feet apart) using poles and screws. Then we put two other things on the top. After that we opened the light bulbs, put them in the light and put the lights on and it was done! After that [my friends and I] took rectangular cardboard tubes about two feet long and started sword fighting but [a teacher] yelled at us and we stopped. It was fun. Today I learned that I shouldn’t sword fight in the hallway and that putting stuff together is hard.”

“Today in Group B the girls were separated from the boys . We were making green houses (grow labs) and one was going in Mrs. Hodgdon’s classroom and one was going in our classroom… We had to do rock, paper, scissors, shoot. The boys won so they got to put their greenhouse (grow lab) in our classroom… It was a big day!”

Group C
“[After soil samples…] the second thing we did was that we made a rut and [a friend] and I got some fresh compost to put in the ruts because we were planting onions that grow to be almost the size of a soda can. I had lots and lots and LOTS of fun in the garden today.”

Group D
“On May 1st, Garden Group D went outside to plant carrots, but first we had to do a lot of other stuff like finding places where erosion could happen. We also found some kale and parsley that we could eat. It was really good!”

“In garden group D we planted two different types of carrots. First we found a spot in the garden that would be best to plant carrots. Then we raked out the area where the carrots would be planted. Next we turned over the soil with shovels. After that we added compost and leveld it out with the ground. The very last thing we did was we each stuck one finger in halfway in the soil and made a straight zig-zag line. Next we put the seeds in the zig-zag lines. The seeds were not cluttered but mixed everywhere. Then we pinched each side of the zig-zag lines and patted down the soil gently. I thought gardening today was fun… I learned that to a farmer its very important to find a flat surface and that helps prevent erosion.”

“Today was a really fun day in the garden. My group planted some carrots. The first thing we did was move all of the weeds from the spot we [chose]. There was a whole lot of weeds The second thing we did was mix in … compost. Then we smoothed out the compost and made lines to put the seeds in. Then we covered the seeds with soil… My day was so enjoyable. I will never forget that day in the Green Street School garden.”