Wunderland Kitchen

“Wonderland Kitchen”
The 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students’ ASB Garden Committee refurbished a child-sized picnic table and wooden kitchen to give to their youngest schoolmates in the kindergarten and multi-age classes. This activity served to connect the upper grades with the primary grades and to create a connection for the older students with the garden. I am so impressed with the creativity and enthusiasm the ASB students showed for this project! They seemed genuinely excited to be creating this gift for their youngest schoolmates. The actual painting design they came up with also took me by surprise. “Wonderland Kitchen,” as they have dubbed it, was uniquely their idea!

...All that and a Chicken Coop Too!

Our Annual Fall Garden Work Day was very productive! It's remarkable how much gets done in such a short time with our dedicated parents, teachers and kids!

In the "Kindergarden" a berry trellis was erected, beds were cleaned out, herbs were planted, a new sink was installed and more of the chain link was covered in reed fencing for privacy and to beautify. We accomplished everything we wanted to in that area!

Over at "Phoenix Farms" a tee-pee and a tunnel were built for peas, beans, nasturtiums and other climbers. We planted passion vines and wisteria to cover our outdoor classroom.
The plan is to turn this area into a working kitchen. We have added picnic tables and we are working on a sink and counter top area with a cook stove. As the food is harvested we can wash prepare and eat all in one place!

And, did we mention the chicken coop?
Yes, after a bit more work from a handful of very dedicated parents with chicken raising experience, we will be welcoming 4 chickens to our school!

It is really amazing what can be done in just 4 hours at SDCCS.
Thanks to everyone involved and we hope to see you soon in the garden!

The Kindergardeners in Natures Classroom

Kathy and Claudia (two volunteer parents) have been spending time with Jacob's kindergarten class out in the garden with great ideas and lots of motivation! They harvested pumpkins together, and read a book about how many seeds the pumpkin's might have inside them. They also cut open the pumpkins, roasted the seeds and learned about decomposition. So many opportunities for learning that came from just a few seeds !


Morgan's kinder class got together with help from a volunteer Grandmother to make a very creative scare-crow. Stop by and see it in person !






This is what our school is all about and
the kids love it!

Off to a Great Start!

We returned to school this year with the gardens looking beautiful and within days we had teachers, kids and parent volunteers working to clean out beds and replant for fall. So much has
been accomplished in just a few weeks.





This will be the 4th year since the SDCCS garden projects began and it is wonderful to report that almost every child is spending time working and learning in our growing spaces. Most classrooms have weekly plans to spend time outside.

Weekly Schedule (so far...)

Tuesdays: ~Erica and Bernie's Multi-age classes, in small groups, 45 minutes each.

Thursdays: ~Gardening Day for all the Third graders !
~Jacob's Kindergarten class

Fridays: ~ 5th grade classes garden day.
~ ~Jennifer Kelly's nutrition class
~Kate and Anthony's Multi-age classes,
in small groups, 45 min each.
~Morgan's Kindergarten class


SO, if you are interested in spending time in the garden with your class on a regular basis, Mondays and Wednesdays are available and there is always work to do. We can teach parents to take kids out and we have wonderful garden curriculum books with lots of ideas.


Upcoming Projects :
The 4th grade classes will be starting a brand new California Native Garden! (in this corner of the blacktop)
The 7th graders were given a wrought iron pergola and have planted passion fruit vines in that area!
Water Saver Barrels are in the works.
We will be welcoming a chicken coop and, soon after, CHICKS!!!

AND, mark your calendars....

GARDEN WORK DAY
Saturday
OCT. 16
9:00-12:00

Also be sure to check out all the smaller gardens and the school beautification projects going on around campus. We still need wooden picnic tables, chairs, umbrellas and benches to extend and expand our classrooms to include the outdoors!

Garden Volunteer Opportunities for the 2010/2011 School Year

Its a new school year, and we have lots of plans to make our school gardens more productive and beautiful. In addition we would like to see more students & teachers learning, exploring, cooking & working in the gardens. This takes a whole community effort to achieve !

Please take a look below at what you might want to do, then email Amy Zink, alzycat@gmail.com, with your choice, name, number & grade/grades your children are in. We will announce a meeting in the next few weeks via email to get started !

If you would like to get your hands dirty right away, we will be having a Garden Clean Up Day this Thursday, from 8:30 till Noon, come for as little or as long as you can ! Meet in the Kinder Garden after drop-off.


Below we have put together four different area's of volunteer opportunities based on levels of commitment for our parents, grandparents, & family friends at SDCCS.

1)Open Volunteer Days (Super Flexible) *come anytime Monday or Thursday mornings to help water/weed (1/2 hour - 1 hour time commitment per week). *Note - if you are available other days, please let Amy know *


2)Weekly Water & Weed (Super Simple) (20 minutes per week on your time schedule)
*pick one or more area’s below*

☐Native plant bed, (next to the storage/janitorial room)
☐Succulent’s & potted plants (gardens around the auditorium)
☐Newly planted trees
☐Fruit Trees, Berries, Grapevine
☐Compost Care
☐Quick tidy of gardens (rake leaves, pick up trash etc.)
☐Creating & Maintaining signs for plants & garden

3)Garden Guides (Most involved) (2 times per month)

☐ Work directly with children in the garden. We will take beginners in these areas, you don’t need to have any knowledge here, and we can teach you! Its super fun! We will have quarterly meetings to plan accordingly. We need volunteers in all grades !

4)Construction/Building (Great for Handy Folks). We do have some simple design plans for all of these projects for you to follow.

☐Benches & Tables (outside 3rd,4th & 5th grade classrooms)
☐Sinks/Table
☐Rain Barrels


One last thing, we will be having Saturday workdays in the Gardens, which are great for working parents to attend. We will announce those in the next week or two.

Any questions, please contact Amy Zink at alzycat@gmail.com

Summer Garden Care 2010

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. 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 and enjoy the grass and shade...

If you are interested in helping us out, e-mail Amy at alzycat@gmail.com with the week you can sign up for and your phone number.

Meet Amy in the Kinder-Garden for a walk-through on Thursday June 17th from 11:15 to 12:30pm just before school lets out, to go over a care checklist. Its important that you attend in order to help out for the summer. Thanks !!


June 21 and 24....1)Susana A 2)Shannon J
June 28 and July 1....1)Susana A 2)Chelsea W

July 5 and July 8....1)Lydia/Caroline 2)Julie

July 12 and 15...1)Thomas M 2)Susana A
July 19 and 22...1)Susana 2)?????
July 26 and 29...1) Susana 2)Chelsea W
August 2 and 5...1)Michelle 2)Joan G
August 9 and 12..1)Shannon J 2)Joan G
August 16 and 20..1)Amy/Annie 2)Marilyn
August 23 and 26...1) ????? 2)?????
August 30 and September 2...1)Tim B 2)?????

"Pickings" from the SDCCS School Garden

We hosted our very first SDCCS Farmers Market this week at school ! It was a huge success . We raised money to give back to our PSA for the past 3 years of funding our Garden Education Program. All year long the 3rd grade students along with their committed Teachers have spent at least a hour each week learning the skills of farming. Yesterday it came full circle as we harvested, washed and bagged our bountifull harvest of winter vegetables and herbs.

A big heartfelt thanks goes out to the parents behind the scenes who helped set up the table, wash the harvest, and work with the students at the market. Of course thank you to the families who purchased our produce, it was lovely to see all you just as excited as we were to share in the joy of what we have worked hard on all year. I think it finally resonated with the 3rd graders that they are real farmers. Thats what its all about ! Thanks to all.
We plan to have more "Pickens" in the future so stay tuned for the announcement via email.

The Giving Garden!

November 12th in SDCCS's 3rd grade class, a wonderful thing happened!
It began as an idea to celebrate the completion of the kid's service projects. Each student had been given the assignment to somehow make the world a better place.... and there were so many great projects. Really wonderful. (Check out this video by Bidane !!!)
But then to top it all off it was decided, with the inspirational direction of 3rd grade teachers Merrill and Dmitry and help from art teacher Allison Bell, that the "project completion party" should become its own service project.
For $10, family and friends were invited to a feast. We each received a handmade pottery bowl made by the kids filled with classroom-made vegetable soup and school grown salad (lettuce, radishes and herbs picked that morning from 3-8th grade raised beds) and fresh bread. Desert was delicious... apple bars (made by Cindy, Dmitry's wife) from the apples picked by the kids on the field trip they went on last week.
And all the proceeds went to Food Not Bombs.
Wow.
It was a lovely meal...and one the kids deserved more than any other as they grew it, nurtured it, and put thought and love into it.
There were over 100 people there!
It felt like thanksgiving.
It was inspiration for all the many future events where we can incorporate the fruits of our garden labor combined with the cooperative spirit of giving!

Kids in the Garden!

This is what it's all about.

The SDCCS kids get to work in the dirt, plant, grow, tend, harvest, eat, cook, and share.

From seed to table!!

Here are just a few pictures of the goings on the garden over the past few weeks.

Many things have been planted: peas, parsley, lettuce, swiss chard, collard greens, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, lambs quarters and green onions.

We still have broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke, potatoes, malibar spinach, fava beans and more of the above to plant. AND the plan is to KEEP ON PLANTING!!! Every 3 weeks or so. The idea is to have a continuous harvest!

Come one come all...volunteers, kids, teachers, parents!

Another Successful Workday in the Garden!

Lots of eager hands and willing hearts showed up on Saturday to construct a new, well-organized composting area & to re-build raised beds out of mortar and rock in the Kinder-GARDEN!
With our Cooperative spirit, our Garden Program keeps improving. We expect there to be a substantial amount of food planted and tended by our kids this year, along with several parents & teachers to guide them.

And as a parent at the school for 8 years I just have to say...we should all be very PROUD!

We are part of the solution...teaching our kids, by example, that work and community is important and that
much can be accomplished by caring for our world through organic gardening and the slow food movement. For the third year now, the children at SDCCS, especially those in the younger grades, have been able to spend a lot of time in the garden and are learning the benefits of growing food & EATING lots of vegetables. We feel this will not only benefit them now, but in the future as well.

Thank you to every one who helped this past weekend and who want to volunteer in the future. It is proving already to be a very worthwhile endeavor.
We STILL need parent volunteers to take small numbers of kids out the garden every week for 1/2 hour of tending/harvesting/observation in the middle school. If you are interested, contact Amy Zink (e-mail at right).
Thanks again for the wonderful work....see you in the garden!
~Annie

Garden Volunteer Oportunities for 2009/2010 School Year

Its a new school year, and we have lots of plans to make our school gardens more productive and beautiful. In addition we would like to see more students & teachers learning, exploring, cooking & working in the gardens. This takes a whole community effort to achieve !

Please attend the GARDEN MEETING
This THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH AT 12:30 (right after school in the Kindergarten playground.)

If you are unable to attend the meeting but are interested in any of these opportunities, please email Amy Zink with all your information!!




Below we have put together four different area's of volunteer opportunities based on levels of commitment for our parents, grandparents, & family friends at SDCCS.

1)Open Volunteer Days (Super Flexible) *come anytime Monday or Thursday mornings to help (1/2 hour - 1 hour time commitment per week)


2)Weekly Water & Weed (Super Simple) (20 minutes per week on your time schedule)
*pick one or more area’s below*

☐Native plant bed, (next to the storage/janitorial room)
☐Succulent’s & potted plants (gardens around the auditorium)
☐Planter boxes (outside First & 4th Grade classrooms)
☐Newly planted trees
☐Fruit Trees, Berries, Grapevine
☐Compost Care
☐Quick tidy of gardens (rake leaves, pick up trash etc.)
☐Creating & Maintaining signs for plants & garden

3)Garden Guides (Most involved) (2 times per month)

☐ Work directly with children in the garden. We will take beginners in these areas, you don’t need to have any knowledge here, and we can teach you! Its super fun! We will have quarterly meetings to plan accordingly.

4)Construction/Building (Great for Handy Folks). We do have some simple design plans for all of these projects for you to follow.

☐Storage Sheds
☐Sinks/Table
☐Strawberry Tower
☐Rain Barrels
☐Benches

One last thing, we will be having Saturday workdays in the Gardens, which are great for working parents to attend. We will announce those in the next week or two.

Any questions, please contact Amy Zink at alzycat@gmail.com

Summer Garden Watering, Please 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. 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 and enjoy the grass and shade...

If you are interested in helping us out, e-mail Amy at alzycat@gmail.com with the week you can sign up for.

Meet Amy in the Kinder-Garden for a walk-through on Friday June 12th from 11:15 to 12:30pm just before school lets out, to go over what needs to be cared for. Its important that you attend in order to help out for the summer. Thanks !!


June 15 and 18.....1)Stacy 2)Tammy
June 22 and 25....1)Caroline 2)Lydia

June 29 and July 2......

1) Annie 2)Tim
July 6 and 9.....1) 2)
July 13 and 16...1)Jorgi 2)
July 20 and 23....1)Tracey 2)
July 27 and 30.....1)Annie 2)
August 3 and 6......1)Stacey 2)
August 10 and 13......1) 2)
August 17 and 20...1)Annie 2) Amy
August 24 and 27.....1)Tracey 2)
Aug 31 and Sept 3......1) 2)

Earth Day. Remember?

Like the first three months of the year, April slipped by all too quickly, and here we are nearly half-past May! I know it's been three weeks since our 5th graders hosted our Earth Day celebration, but better [21 days] late than never, right?




It was a great success, with CJ Hawk and Rachel Ulloa's 5th grade students hosting booths and demonstrations developed from their "Wonder" essays. We were even treated to a couple live music performances, for which our outdoor classroom made the perfect stage.

Harvesting & Cooking Fava Beans in the K-2 Garden

Amy had more garden fun with Miss Karen's 2nd graders, this time harvesting some fava beans!


Everyone had a great time harvesting and shucking the beans...


...collecting a big bowl of husks...


...and a big bowl of beans...


...which was then prepared and cooked by Amy and Daleth.


Some fava bean facts:

Known as Féve in French, Garten-Bohnen in German, Valske Bonner in Danish, Hava in Spanish, the Fava Bean has been cultivated for centuries and is still considered a staple of the Mediterranean diet. Also known in English as the Broad Bean or Horse Bean, it was the only bean known to Europe before contact with the new world. Remnants of favas have been found in archeological sites and medieval peasants made a purée of favas seasoned with a bit of salt pork.

The fava resembles such shelled beans as limas and butterbeans, but it is actually more closely related to the pea family. Although available in their dried form, fresh favas are very difficult to find in supermarkets—farmers markets are the most dependable source for the freshest beans.

Many farmers plant a small-seeded variety of favas as a winter cover crop because they are very cold hardy, and because (like peas and beans) they are a legume and have the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil.
~ from Whistling Train Farm