Celebrate Summer Solstice at a Local Organic Farm !

If you & your family would like to get away from the city this Saturday, and spend some quality time at an amazing farm, check out the information below. I have been attending the monthly potlucks at this farm for over a year now, and each time I walk away nourished, inspired and in awe. For more information about LaMilpa Organica farm you can go to their website here.

Also, check out the San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project Website at the end of this post. Read about The Willow Glen Farm Project and watch the video produced by the students at the Terra Nova Garden at Morse High School, some amazing stuff happening right here in San Diego ! San Diego Roots has served as inspiration for us at SDCCS.


SUMMER SOLSTICE, June 21!
Roots Fundraiser & Farm Summer Fest
@ La Milpa Organica Farm | Escondido
Saturday, June 21 @ 4pm to 10pm
9928 Protea Gardens Road, Escondido California 92026

Live Entertainment | Puppets & Circus Acts | Potluck & Pizzas
family-friendly films under the oaks after dark

This is a perfect opportunity to visit this little agricultural gem. Farms are nice places to hang out, and what Barry Logan (farmer) has created  is a perfect example of how beautiful things happen when a community embraces a farm -- and a model of what  Willow Glen Farm is intended to be. There will be fun entertainment and they'll serve freshly made, wood-fired pizzas. After dark they'll show a family-friendly, inspiring food-related short film -- including a cartoon or two -- under the oak trees. Rain cancels.

For a map or more information about San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project, visit their website: www.sandiegoroots.org

Have a Wonderful Summer Everyone!

While relaxing on the beach, let
your mind wander to our school
gardens and try to imagine how you
would like them to be. Design an
"outdoor classroom" in your mind. If you
come up with something please let us know.
We would love input from the entire school
community if possible.

And if you are one of our fabulous teachers,
ask yourself how you'd like to use the garden
next year and how/if it could be incorporated
into your curriculum planning.


See you in September!

Summer Watering....HELP!

There are 11 weeks in summer and we hope to have 2 people/families per week to "adopt" our gardens. It will involve coming in on Monday and Thursday of that week during business hours to water and turn the compost. It will take about 1 hour to accomplish this. (That's only 2 hours the whole summer to put towards your volunteer hours!!) Your kids will enjoy helping or playing at the K-2 playground while you tend the garden and you are welcome to bring a picnic ... enjoy the grass and shade...
The schedule/sign-up will be posted all summer long on the link section to the right, but here it is so far. If you are interested in helping us out, e-mail Amy at alzycat@gmail.com We will have a quick walk-through on Thursday June 12th from 11:30 to 12:30pm just before school lets out, to go over what needs to be cared for.


June 16 and 19.....1)Annie 2)Amy Z
June 23 and 26....1) Gabby 2) Tara Border 3) Susana Anaya (June 26 only)
June 30 and July 3......1)Tammy 2)Mark Decker (7/3 only) (need one other 6/30)
July 7 and 10.....1)Polly Camp 2)Amy Hooker
July 14 and 17...1)Annie 2) Gabby
July 21 and 24....1)Juanita & Lee 2)_______
July 28 and 31.....1)Lydia 2) Robin Roberts
August 4 and 7......1)Robin Roberts 2) Susana Anaya
August 11 and 14......1)Lydia 2) Susana Anaya
August 18 and 21...1) Susana Anaya 2) CJ Lucke
August 25 and 28.....1) Amy Z 2) Susana Anaya
Sept 1 and 4......1)Juanita & Lee 2)_________

Thank You

We are so happy to announce that our SDCCS gardenening project has been selected to receive a 2007-2008 Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF). This grant will award us the sum of $5000, which we will use to expand the 3rd through 8th grade raised garden beds, build an outdoor classroom, and a Greenhouse ! A big thanks goes to our own SDCCS Parent Kari Finch for writing this and other grants for the garden.

We would also like to thank The Village Garden Club of Lajolla for a generous financial donation which funded our reed fencing in the K-2 garden and our Succulent Garden. In addition, we would like to thank Rain Bird for donating irrigation supplies that we will be installing sometime over the summer or at the beginning of the new school year.

One last thank you goes to the National Gardening Association for awarding us the 2008 Youth Garden Grant earlier this year. With this award we received a $500 gift card for Home Depot, and an assortment of excellent books to help us learn more about Garden Curriculum. They believe that "today's youth are the future of American Gardening" ! So do we !!

The 3-8th Grade Garden is Looking Healthy!

Corn, beans, tomatos, squash, strawberries, california natives...and more!
Thanks to many different classrooms and a few very dedicated parents, this garden is flourishing! In a month many of these veggies will mature and it will be time for a feast!

Botanical Drawings

One of the garden options is always to make botanical drawings.
It's amazing how much easier it is to learn about and remember the names
of plants when examined through the art lens. The drawings above
were made by some of our 1rst and 2nd graders. (click to enlarge)

Beyond Our School Garden

~For Earth Day ~

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
~Native American Proverb

In the spirit of Earth Day, please take a some time to read this article, "Why Bother", and think about how you can start your very own Garden.

4th Grade Spring Planting

Check out the newest garden addition; a Culinary and Medicinal Herb Garden planted by our fourth graders:

Ready for some soil, water and hands for planting:

Out in the gardens bright and early this morning, our fourth grade kids...

Watering and diggin in the soil:
Tag teaming the sage plant...
By the end of the year they will be able to enjoy putting these herbs into yummy salads or on breads or pizzas. We might even get crazy and make some gorgeous smelling sachets.

PLANT LIST
Culinary Herbs: Basil, Bay Laurel, Curly Mint, Licorice Splash, Greek Oregano, Himalayan Silver Mint, Thyme Mint, Creeping Thyme, Lemon Frost Thyme, Hopi Red Amaranth, Royal Burgundy Pole Beans, Chamomille

Medicinal and Aromomatic Herbs: Andean Sage, Cleveland Sage, Germander Sage, Chamomille, Sarah Lavender, patchouli

The Three Sisters

Miss Karen's Second Grade just planted the beginnings of what we call "The Three Sisters Garden" What is that you ask ? The Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) are traditional plants that were used by various Native American Tribes throughout North America. They are a wonderful example of what is called "Companion Planting"

Corn, Beans and Squash have a very close friendship, in that they are companions, or "best friends" as the Second Graders learned. The Corn grows tall, the beans use the corn as a pole to grow up, at he same time the beans fix nitrogen into the soil, and then the squash with its large leaves and shallow root system, covers the ground below keeping out weeds and animals. We spent some time before planting, learning what it felt like to be each one of these plants and how they relate to each other. The class was separated into Corn, Beans, Squash and Weeds. A circle was created, then the corn kids took root in the ground, some pesky weeds entering and tried to take up all the space. The corn decided they were not very good friends with the weeds, so they asked the beans to come in and hug them, after that they invited the squash in to make sure to cover the ground. We asked the weeds to come back in to see how much space they could take...they were clever weeds, they still found a place to lay, but they were definitely limited. Now we will water, weed and wait for our Three Sisters to grow !




This is really a fascinating subject to teach children in the Garden. Not only is it fun to plant, and learn about the plants, but there is an abundance of folklore, stories and history surrounding the Three Sisters Gardening. Below is a legend that came from the Iroquois"s about the Three Sisters


The Iroquois Legend of the Three Sisters

It was said that the earth began when Sky Woman who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea and spread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This Turtle Island is now what we call North America.

Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she also became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the new earth. From her grave grew three sacred plants, corn, beans, and squash. These plants provided food for her sons, and later, for all of humanity. These special gifts ensured the survival of the Iroquois people.

For more detailed information about how to start your own Three Sisters Garden click here.

Daisy Chains

Today during the Multi-Age Class "Specials", where the children get to choose from a variety of different activities such as photography, yoga, painting, music making and gardening, the kids that chose gardening had even more choices. They could either cut sweet peas, do some planting or learn how to make daisy chains.







Many chose to make daisy chains...and with more than just daisies. We used poppies, cauliflower, nasturtiums, flowering broccoli and ranunculus as well as mexican sunflowers and sweet peas. It was great fun and everyone seemed very focused and involved. All of this experienced to the music made by kids participating in the music special. It felt much like an impromptu spring festival!
Afterward, many decided to decorate the garden fence with their creations while others took theirs home to mom.

Second Grade Gardening

Miss Karen's Second Grade Class has been spending Thursday Mornings in the K-2 Garden. They have been busy planting, tomato's, bell peppers, and sunflower seeds. This week, we harvested the Onion, Garlic and Radish bed, and prepared it for new planting, with a rich blend of compost, chicken manure, worm castings and fish emulsion. Here is a short video of them doing the serious work of mixing !!



Next week we will learn about and plant what the Native American's called "The Three Sisters", Corn, Beans and Squash....

An Orange Tree is Planted!

Merrill's 3rd Grade Class planted a semi-dwarf orange tree on Monday morning...the second tree to grace our orchard, after the Meyer Lemon.


It is now quite small and has a long way to go but with the right amount of TLC and some 8-year-old wish-whisperings into its leaves, it should grow into a lovely, fruit-heavy tree.


In a few years we could have lemon and orange-ade days at school!

Hard Work Pays Off!

We hope more families get involved in our gardens and in our school beautification and clean-up projects. It won't be long until our school looks like a visual representation of all we stand for: creativity, love of learning, respect for eachother and our environment, appreciation of nature and art, the importance of activism and involvement. All of this realized in a cooperative way is really what we are all about!

It was a small group today, but we accomplished almost everything on our list...everyone worked really hard.

The succulent garden looks great... a new table was built and really beautiful art was hung to cover some chainlink.
This garden still needs some cube shelving and some seating but we are well on our way to having an outdoor student lounge of sorts.




Work was done in the 3-8th grade garden also!
Art was hung over the raised beds to beautify... and we were given a good amount of composted horse manure to add to the beds...this will really make for a productive spring garden.
Many of the old dying veggies were taken out and the beds are ready for planting!







Gourds were hung throughout the school, painted by Miss Bell's Art Classes!














"Aviary Alley" was created...an idea from C.J. Hawk... to make the breezeway a welcoming place for birds and butterflies. This bed was turned and a few california natives were planted in addition to some of the ones already there. This area is mulched with cocoa hulls...take a handfull and smell the chocolate!







Bamboo fencing, double strength,was attatched to our existing fencing in the k-2 bed to keep out the exhaust from Genessee and to make our garden a bit cozier. This was a huge job and was done by two very hard working folks... thankyou!
This garden was also fertilized and mulched ... there is more to be done but we got a great start thanks to some really hard work in the digging and weeding department!

More photos from the Great Garden Work Day!

Well, Annie beat me to the punch with posting photos, but I've got mine up on Flickr now. You can view them there, just scroll through them here:


Click on any photo to view it larger.

Welcome Luna!

Dmitry, our beloved 3rd grade teacher, and his wife Cindy
have a new baby girl,
Luna Charlotte.
Born April 2, 2008


Here is a 'blue moon flower' from the garden folks.





Sending out lots of good energy !
Congratulations!!

A Reminder...

Garden Work Day
And School Clean-Up
When~Saturday, April 5th, 2008 11:00-2:00

*A great way to get your Volunteer hours in!!*

What will we be doing ~ We will be working on bamboo fencing, composting and spreading chicken manure, digging up a few invasive plants, irrigation, hanging garden art, shelac-ing benches and fences and fertilizing the citrus trees. We will also be repairing broken things and taking all the 'beyond repair' stuff to the dump.

Who should come ~ YOU and anyone you know who doesn't mind getting dirty and working hard. If you have a truck we really need you!! (Children may come...they can play but there will be no childcare and many of the jobs are not so kid friendly!)

What should you bring ~ Just bring yourself, garden clothes, tools of all kinds, sturdy shoes, gloves, your TRUCK and something from our garden wish list (look right), if you want!

And Why ~ Because the SDCCS School Garden is for all of us to enjoy and
SPRING IS HERE!

Spring Garden News!

You may have noticed new growth in the K-2 garden...




~Jacob's Kindergarten classroom has started their "Powerful Puma" bed with tomatoes. A structure is in the works to support the pole beans that have now started to sprout! The idea developed by the class was to have a bean tunnel and tower. This classroom's garden enthusiasm is contagious!









Jenn's 1rst grade class has
started a garden project with
cucumbers, spinach,
yellow peppers and cherry tomatoes
and they take
great care of the garden every
Monday morning, watering
and helping out.












~Morgan's Kindergarten class takes time on Wednesdays to care for their pizza bed and are hoping to have a feast at the end of the school year! They also said good-by to the class hermit crab, burying him in their garden.




~Kate and Mr. V's Multi-age classroom continue to tend the herbs, sweet pea tee pee and the broccoli areas as well as recently planting sunflower seeds, pole beans, delphiniums, asparagus and artichoke.




This class also released Painted Lady Butterflies which we hope will stick around long enough for everyone to enjoy them. Next year we will have more passion vines flowering to support our classroom butterflies. Passion vines are favorites of gulf fritillaries and painted ladies (pictured)!




Hopefully everyone has had the chance to see the wonderful succulent garden growing out of shoes and boots in the lunch courtyard under the tree! Thanks for all the contributions...and to Alison Bell and all of her Art Students who have worked very hard to put it all together. We are still looking for Shoe donations, and Succulent Donations for the Native Garden planned behind the auditorium. The day we will be working on this new garden and on school wide Garden Maintenance is Saturday, April 5th, starting at 10:00am. If you would like to get more volunteer hours in, please come by and join us.


Spring is Almost Here! The Proof is everywhere. Check out the Weeping Mulberry...its almost ready to bloom! Ask your children to point out the new growth in the garden...they have all noticed and love to share!

For Those of You Who Enjoy Hiking...

...you may sometimes ask
yourself what are the names
of the many flowers you see
on your hikes...well, here's a
great website with pictures of
many of the common flowers
you may find on your California
hikes!
Check it out by clicking HERE!















After all the rain there are more
flowers than ever!
Look out for lupines (right) growing on the side of the freeway!

Mark Your Calendars!

Garden Work Day
When~Saturday, April 5th, 2008 11:00-2:00

*A great way to get your Volunteer hours in!!*

What will we be doing ~ We will be working on bamboo fencing, composting and spreading chicken manure, digging up a few invasive plants, irrigation, hanging garden art, shelac-ing benches and fences and fertilizing the citrus trees.

Who should come ~ YOU and anyone you know who doesn't mind getting dirty and working hard. (Children may come...they can play but there will be no childcare and many of the jobs are not so kid friendly!)

What should you bring ~ Just bring yourself, garden clothes, sturdy shoes, gloves and something from our garden wish list (look right), if you want!

And Why ~ Because the SDCCS School Garden is for all of us to enjoy and
SPRING IS almost HERE!

Bring Your Succulent Cuttings & Your Old Shoes!!

Our Fabulous Art Teacher, Allison Bell has begun collecting succulents for a California Native Plant Garden we will start in the spring, it will be located behind the auditorium, near the PE equipment bathrooms. We are really excited about this new garden !




The overall plan is to create a space that has an ornamental and artistic feel using recycled shoes with succulent cuttings planted inside them. We would love to have some shelving built to house them. Alison is also working with her students to create birdhouses with gourds she has recently acquired that will be displayed in the native garden as well. In addition we would like to have seating, benches with some shade, and eventually large raised mound's housing California Native plants. Succulents are so easy to grow. Just snip off a piece from your favorite plant at home and bring it to school. Alison has two boxes outside her classroom where she is collecting both items of request. If you have a moment have Alison show you the first official shoe and succulent that her students have recently created. We are very excited about this project, but we can't accomplish this without our school community, so please bring what you can!

We will be having a work day in all the gardens on Saturday April 5th and would like to start setting up the new native garden at that time. Look for our next post for more details on that day.

One last request, if there are any carpenters out there that would like to donate some time to build shelves & a few benches, we would love to have you ! Please contact Amy or Annie for more information.