Trinity Elementary School Garden

Daikon radish harvest!

While the blogging has been lax, the garden has remained as busy as ever over the last two months. We finished winter classes with a special guest speaker, Sarah Marie Leone. Sarah engaged the students in a very lively discussion of all the creepy crawling creatures that live in the garden. This is the subject in which we receive the most questions and the kids get the most excited about, so it was great having Sarah there to provide good answers. We can’t wait to have her back!

Insect summit with Sarah!

After the long holiday break, we began a new round of classes with the second graders. They have learned about composting, planting seeds for spring, and harvesting daikon radishes to make into Do Chau (Korean dish of pickled radish and carrots). We are also working with the school to train the 4th and 5th graders to take control of composting their lunches every day. I think we are going to need more compost piles! But I should let the last 8 weeks describe themselves in pictures:

Learning about compost on the 100th day of school.

Do Chau! Half the class liked it (which I consider a raving success).

Still learning! (no citrus peels!)

65 degrees outside! We’re in the Active Zone!

Children have a unique viewpoint in the garden. I am usually looking down at the plants whereas they look straight ahead and see amazing hidden things. In this case, one observant third grader spotted this guy:

My eyes had scanned it from afar, but I was fooled. (Imagine it without the orange “tongue”, which only emerged later after being agitated.) As I later learned on Wikipedia, “As larvae, Spicebush Swallowtails have two stages of mimicry. While the larvae are in the early stages, they are dark brown in color and thus appear to resemble bird droppings, which encourages predators to leave them alone…. When the larvae have progressed and are nearly ready to pupate, they turn a yellow-green color and are marked by two large black dots with a white highlight. The placement of these dots on the swollen thorax creates the illusion that the caterpillars are common green snakes. Mimicking snakes help the caterpillars to ward off predators, specifically birds. The caterpillar Spicebush Swallowtails enhance the physical resemblance behaviorally, as they have been observed to “rear up and retract the actual caterpillar head. The osmeterium of the caterpillar also helps to enhance the resemblance to a snake. When attacked, the larvae will expose the osmeterium, a y-shaped organ typically folded up within the caterpillar. For many Spicebush Swallowtails, the osmeterium is red in color, thus creating the illusion of a snake tongue and even further enhancing the disguise.”

Amazing! And in a few weeks that strange-looking creature will metamorphosis into one of the biggest butterflies in the world! We are constantly amazed at the wildlife that have made our small garden off Martin Luther King Blvd their home.

In less exciting, but no less important news, between our water emergency and the Thanksgiving holiday, the garden needs a great deal of TLC. The last two classes have learned mostly about important garden maintenance activities: planting fall vegetables & flower seedlings and how to make compost. Here they are transplanting nasturtium seeedlings from my own overgrown garden into the common space. We really hope these edible flowers take off. To help them do so, they built forts around them to help protect them from playful feet. Next week I can’t wait to tell the kids what that crazy caterpillar is, and a special thanks to my Aunt Kim for identifying it.

Today we began a new five-week session with two third-grade teachers and their classes: Mr Chow and Ms Mendoza. Again we spent the first ten minutes silently observing a part of the garden and writing down the observations using all of the five senses. From these observations, the students developed questions. This is how all science begins! Then we discussed what was observed in small groups. New vocab word: hypothesis. I like this website for all Monarch related questions (currently the focus of many observations).

The water system is broken, and the plants are obviously feeling it. The seeds planted weeks ago have yet to sprout and the summer plants are dying precipitously. We hope it gets fixed this week! Until then Mrs. Hopson has agreed to water them on Wednesday. A bucket at a time, however, will not be a solution that lasts long. A long-term project may be to build a rain-collection tank from the school buildings for use in the garden…

The weather has been adamantly fighting us on our fall/winter planting schedule. Everyone in Los Angeles feels it this time of year. A few days of cool, rainy autumn weather easily give way to another string of 90+ degree days. -sigh- This week we went ahead and planted a few of our fall crops anyway. All the seeds were harvested from the prior year’s plants at Trinity: leeks, beets, broccoli, and radishes. What an example of sustainability! First the beds were cleared of summer melons, butternut squash, and tomatoes and then we spread a layer of compost. The students planted their seeds and watered them in. They are all excited to watch them grow throughout the academic year. Here’s hoping in January we’ll be harvesting our second-generation veggies and planning for the third! Here’s a photo from last year’s winter veggies (baby leeks, cabbage, and cauliflower):

This week we took an extensive look at one of Trinity garden’s most prolific vegetables: Rainbow Swiss Chard! One of the garden beds is overrun with it after the plants from last year dropped hundreds of seeds. Luckily the 5th graders just completed a science segment on vascular plants (ie celery) so they knew more about the plant than we did! Each harvested a beautiful leaf to eat raw, and I also made beet and swiss chard risotto the night before as a snack. Not all were convinced to try out such a new concoction, I think our eating segments are better received when the children make the food themselves, but at least something new was put in front of them to experience.

In other news, Governor Brown signed a bill this week to allow school gardens to sell their produce and use the profits to support the garden program. Although not every school garden will be able to take advantage of the new law, depending on its size and management, this is an exciting development! School gardens are becoming more and more prevalent and integrated into school curriculums and campuses.

You wouldn’t know it by the thermometer, but summer has ended. School began three weeks early and caught us by surprise! Ben and I have been at the garden getting it ready for the students, but there is still much to be done! Above are a few photos from our last couple weeks at the garden. We’ve been 1. harvesting pounds upon pounds of tomatoes, assorted squashes, and corn; 2. collecting bean, beet, and swiss chard seeds; 3. endlessly removing overgrown weeds; 4. replacing broken soaker hoses with drip hoses; and 5. observing the flourishing wildlife, among other tasks. A few neighborhood kids stopped by as always to help us out and take garden veggies home. We will not begin classes for a few more weeks, but Monday we will start being at the garden during recess and continued garden maintenance.

Elizabeth and Anthony earned two pints of cherry tomatoes, a bunch of swiss chard, a red cabbage, and a giant carrot for all their hard work in the garden today. Elizabeth said her family had never had red cabbage before but after she took one home from the garden a few months ago now they really like it. Exactly the kind of small change a community garden can make! We picked up all the litter, watered the border plants, swept the mulch from the walkways, and pulled a hundred weeds. We’ve been so busy with school activities lately the garden itself has been a little neglected but I think the plants have mostly benefited from minimal intervention. Still it was good to get these maintenance items accomplished and keep the garden looking great through the summer.

May 2012

Dear Ben and Megan,

I am happy I met you because I learned more about plants. I really loved the wonderful, sweet, and nicely smelling flowers in the garden. My favorite flower is the sunflower. Ben and Megan, you are the nicest people in the world. From you I learned all about plants and flowers. Sincerely, Amber

Thank you for the edible garden. I didn’t know it was our last day to go to the edible garden, but I want to thank you for volunteering. I wish I could still go to the edible garden each Friday. I thought going to the garden was not going to be that fun, but it was! When I came to the Beauitification Day, Ben, you gave me a cup. We had to put a soil in the cup, and then you put a tiny, mini, short seed. We had to poke a little in the soil, so we could put our seed in. Then you made us a hole for fraining. My plant is a strawberry tree. I water it every four days. I hope I can see you both again. Sincerely, Robert

The first time I met you I knew you were persistent. I thought you were farmers, but you were gardeners. The time you made a salad, it came out good. I wanted to bring you guys some salad, only I couldn’t find the ingredients. I got to come one day and plant a seed. I had lots of fun. I also loved when we all took a picture with you and my class. Love, Joseline

Thank you for coming to our school. I love the plants we planted on Beautification Day. I even loved the trees. I wish we were going to learn about plants with you guys still, but I know the other classes need to go. It was fun. Love, Ashley

I really appreciated you coming to our wonderful school. I learned that worms help the garden, the plants, and the grass. Thank you for sharing your garden. It looks super good. I wish I could do it again because it’s super-cool. I had never worked in a garden before and I want to do it again. It is a fantastic garden! Thank you! Love, Kavonte

Thanks for having an adorable garden. I appreciate you coming to this school. I enjoyed the salad that you made. Thank you for all the things you have done for our class. I had so much fun in the garden. My best part was when we got to pull out the weeds. It was nice meeting you and I did like going to the garden every Friday. From the first day we went to the garden I was happy that we were doing something fun. Sincerely, Carmel

Thank you for teaching my classmates and me about gardening. I appreciate that because my backyard doesn’t have a single flower. Now I can plant any flower I want. The flowers in the garden are so cool. I planted sunflower seeds in my backyard and my mom was proud of me. Sincerely, Cesar

Thank you for teaching us all about plants and for the delicious salad and oranges. I had a lot of time to spend with the plants, and I had a lot of fun with the plants. Why do you guys feed the little worms? What I like most is the radishes. Why are radishes white? Do you know? Thank you for your help. Sincerely, Alvaro

Thank you for teaching us about different plants and showing us around the garden. Also thank you for letting us taste the salad that you guys made for us. Thank you for volunteering to help our community garden be spectacular. Thank you for letting us plant stuff and for letting us draw. I thought what you planted was impressive. We enjoyed being in your garden and we would like to learn more about plants. When Ben was talking we learned about a plant that stings you and a plant with a red flower. I forget what it is called, but I remember that Ben said the birds will eat the red flower. I learned a lot. I hope we can visit you again. Sincerely, Kayla

Thank you for coming to our school and showing us about plants. It was very fun when we were pulling weeds. The salad was delicious when we ate it. I used to think that planting plants was boring, but now I don’t. Thank you. Sincerely, Jose

You taught us a lot of things about plants. You were so nice and good and I learned a lot about plants. I was so happy you came to the school. The snack we had was so good because it had fruit and good vegetables. I was so happy to just meet you in the garden. Sincerely, Ingrid

Thank you for taking you time and being with us. The garden is a good place because we like the garden and we also like to see animals. The lettuce tasted very appetixing. The salad tasted special. Thanks for helping us learn about the garden. Love, Laura

Thank you for coming to our garden. When it was the first day, I was nervous that I didn’t know you. You showed us the name of the plants I didn’t know. When I was little I didn’t learn about plants. The best Friday was when you let us write on the table with all the chalk colors. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Daisy

Thank you for volunteering in our school. Thank you for making a garden in the school and making the garden beautiful. I though going to the garden was cool. Leanring about plants is very fun too. Thank you for teaching us about the manure and what it does to the plants. Thank you for teaching us about the ladybugs that live on the leaves of the plant. We learned a lot. Sincerely, Joanna

Thank you for volunteering at our school. All of us love to come to your garden because we learned so much about plants. Thank you for showing us about the worms that give the ground new air. Now I love worms getting in my garden. I also know that the grass weeds there are bad. I take the weeds out of my garden. The best part was when we ate salad. I didn’t know that you could eat flowers in salad. That was delicious, “yum, yum.” Thank you for helping the earth by planting plants. Ben and Megan, I had a great time with you guys. Thanks for everything. You made out school better. Sincerely, Elizabeth

Thank you both for volunteering to teach us about plants. All of us enjoyed going to the edible garden because you always showed us something new. I learned a lot about the salad. I also loved the flowers that you showed us. I love to go garden all the time and I learned many new things. Thank you! Sincerely, Miguel

I would like to thank you for volunteering to help make our attractive and beautiful garden. We know that without you none of this would be as good as you made it be. I would also like to thank you for coming every Saturday and working hard. I apprecaite what you showed us during the weeks we were together. Our class liked working in the edible garden. We also like the salad you prepared for us. The salad was sweet and splendid. I hope you come again. Sincerely, Jacqueline

Thank you for letting us come to the garden because you taught us and we learned a lot about plants. You were generous to show us you garden and teach us about the plants and the animals in the garden. I liked when you let us color the table with chalk. I appreciated you two at our school. You gave us healthy snacks to eat. Thank you. Your friend, Carla

Thank you for the time when you showed us the compost. When you showed us the compost, it smelled. I liked it when we had salad. It was really good. I was fun going to a real garden. I had a fun time with you. I liked it when we dug up roots. It was really hard. Thank you for all the things you showed us. Sincerely, Kenneth

Thank you for letting us come to the garden and for letting us make our own salad. I wish I could go to the garden on Saturdays, but my mom won’t let me. I hope I can go there again next year. Thank you for showing us different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Also, thank you for letting us come during our recess. Sincerely, Bryan

Thank you for teaching us about compost. I learned a lot about nature and how to plant. It was really fun learning how to make compost even though it really smells. I think nature is really cool and lots of fun, just like you guys! Love, Dario

Thank you for letting us come to the garden. I enjoyed when I got to pull out the radishes. I also liked when I got to taste the salad you made for us from the garden. I loved when you told us about the insects you had. There are a lot of chiles at my house in my garden. Sincerely yours, Anahi

I like your garden because it has vegetables. Gardens are beautiful because they help us stay healthy, and it is peaceful in the garden. I really like your fruits and vegetables. The garden is like being on a farm. Farms have fruits and vegetables and they give them to the market. I have a garden at my house. My garden has roses, fruit, and vegetables. I always like to go to the garden, because I like to help. Going to the garden is the best and it is fun too. Sincerely, Brenda

Leek flower with Bee

This leek plant began as a seed nine months ago. In January we harvested the majority of leeks, and waited another 5 months for this flower to bloom. Gardens, and children, change and grow so much over a nine-month period. It has been incredibly rewarding to observe. See how our garden has bloomed in 5 months:

September 15

June 15

Mostly I focus on taking care of the plants but every once in awhile I am reminded that I am also taking care of developing minds. Ms. Manion’s 4th graders attended garden lessons in the fall and early spring. Today they gave Ben and I bound books with a letter from each student and photos of our sessions. I’ll share them all in a separate post, but here is an example:

Dear Ben and Megan,

Thank you for volunteering at our school. All of us love to come to your garden because we learned so much about plants. Thank you for showing us about the worms that give the ground new air. Now I love worms getting in my garden. I also know that the grass weed there are bad. I take the weeds out of my garden.

The best part was when we ate salad. I didn’t know that you could eat flowers in salad. That was delicious, “yum, yum.” Thank you for helping the earth by planting plants. Ben and Megan, I had a great time with you guys. Thanks for everything. You made out school better.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

For the last class we harvested beet seeds and sampled Zucchini Bread with Moroccan Spices. I made it yesterday with the bumper zucchini crop.

Over the summer there will be community volunteers (Thankfully; we have squash and tomatoes to feed an army!), but I know I will miss these kids. Until the fall, that is

The extremely lovely Butterfly Bush:

It’s called that for a reason Trinity’s garden is blessed with four of these plants and they have been a great source of beauty, aroma, and utility. They are extremely easy to care for and make great cut flowers. Consider them for your home garden!

With the abundance of spring and summer upon us, every week the garden produces a basketful of veggies to offer to the faculty. This week it was swiss chard, rutabaga, cherry tomatoes, red cabbage, artichokes, and golden beets (not pictured).

We will have a huge tomato harvest soon, if they are not consumed straight from the vine! The symmetry of this photo is beautiful:

Our class was introduced to composting and the necessary elements: greens for nitrogen and browns for carbon. They used our new compost thermometer and turned the bin.