We added some plants to the garden at the front of the school. We chose butterfly friendly plants to encourage butterflies to visit. It is fun to find worms in the soil. Look how dirty our hands are!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Week 5: Adding a butterfly garden
We added some plants to the garden at the front of the school. We chose butterfly friendly plants to encourage butterflies to visit. It is fun to find worms in the soil. Look how dirty our hands are!
Week 5: Tending the Garden
This week we weeded the vegetable garden, turned the soil and added manure.
Week 5: Kohrabi and Sweet Peas
Today we tried two new veggies.
Kohlrabi, a bulb-like stem from the cabbage family. It tastes a little more mild and sweeter than a broccoli stem. We peeled and sliced it and ate it raw with lime and salt.
Sweet Peas
Again, Mrs. Rettler harvested some peas from her garden and we all munched on them raw. They were so tender and sweet after being freshly picked!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Week 4: Mixed Greens
Our featured vegetable this week was Mixed Greens. Mrs. Rettler harvested some salad greens from her garden the morning of Garden Club. We mixed them with some homemade poppyseed dressing.
Poppyseed Dressing Recipe
1 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. white vinegar
4 oz. silken tofu (we used plain yogurt)
2 T. poppy seeds
1 1/2 t. dry mustard
1 1/4 t. salt
2 T. minced onion
Place oil through salt in a blender or food processor. Process
until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in onions.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Garden Club News
East K-8 Garden Club News
NOTE: Day change
Due to some conflicts we will be changing the garden club to Thursday mornings, same time,
Farmer’s Market Challenge:
We encourage you to visit the Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and find a local product (veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese). Use it in a recipe and bring it to garden club on Thursdays to share. Please copy the recipe as well to share with club members. We will also post the recipe on the blog.
Anyone can enter home-grown produce in the Ottawa County Fair. We would love for garden club members to try to grow something at home and enter it in the fair. They offer cash prizes! What a fun experience. The fair is in July so the best vegetables to grow in that time frame are spinach, lettuce, onions and radish. Just find a spot in your yard to dig up or even a large pot with some soil!
In the next few weeks, we will create a butterfly garden in one of the existing gardens at the school. We welcome plants. Watch for close-outs in the stores. We are looking for butterfly-friendly plants, such as zinnias, cosmos, petunias and sweet william. You could also ask a garden expert at the store for other plants that butterflies love.
Tomato Cages and Trellis
We need some tomato cages and a trellis-like support for our squash plant. We are looking for some creative ideas that anyone might have for creating these structures. Does anyone have any scraps around that could be used to build something? Does anyone have any building expertise?
http://eastgardenclub.blogspot.com/
Don’t forget to check the blog for updates, pictures, recipes and other garden club news.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Week 3: Sorrel
Things are just beginning to sprout in the garden. It will be exciting to see how things grow!
Today we tried Sorrel, an herb with a lemony flavor. It came from our CSA, Groundswell Community Farm. Check out this link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrel.
Sorrel Recipe:
Spread cream cheese on your favorite crackers and top with a sorrel leaf. It also tastes great in salads and on sandwiches.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Reactions to the "Green Drink"
I wish that I had brought my camera or, even better, my video camera! I introduced Spinach as the vegetable of the week. We passed around a leaf and each child pulled off a little piece to try. They were surprised as we began putting the spinach leaves in the blender. They heaved a sigh of relief when we added sweeter things, pineapple juice and banana. One group of students in particular makes me smile. Each student was so hesitant that they would only try a taste, certainly not a full cup. They all waited until each one was holding a cup, at the count of three they all tasted it. You should have seen their faces! Oh, for the video camera! They smiled, licked their lips and begged for full cups of the cool, green, frothy drink. Every student in the group loved the green drink! Mission accomplished, our garden club members are trying local seasonal vegetables, and telling their families about it. Hopefully next week's vegetable goes over just as well.
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