Fall Highlights from the Lindley Garden

As we begin to think about spring, it's also fun to remember what we did in the fall. Here are some of our highlights:

We planted a small crop of corn before school let out, and it was in perfect form when kids returned to school. So many children had never seen corn growing! When it dried, we made a little "corn maze" for the younger students, and then created a scarecrow with the stalks! "Bob" withstood many a storm this fall!

Since kindergartners work on counting, we had them in the garden counting okra seeds they harvested. Each child had an index card with a number from 10-25 for the number of seeds they had to count and attach to tape on their card.

What to do with dried okra?

We had lots of leftover okra in our garden in the fall, so 4th graders made snowmen at their winter party! It was easy to do. I spray painted the dried okra white, then drilled little holes for the "carrot" nose (broken tooth picks painted orange). We cut fingers off cheap gloves for the hats and leftover material for scarves.

Gardening in the Cold weather: Smith High School

Today our soil temperature  is shown below zero degrees Celsius in our garden. We harvested collard greens and lettuce from the garden.

If you would like to have some, please come and get. I am in room 116. We also like to thank Ms. Aberg for designing English lesson plans for this project.

 First come first serve!

Tip Tap- The Simple Garden Handwashing Station

This past MLK Day, a National Day of Service, I had the opportunity to join my fellow FoodCorps Service Member, Caroline, in Warren County for a day of garden rejuvenation at Warren County High School. My task was to lead a group of high schoolers in building a hand washing station using all free or recycled materials. Luckily, with the aid of instructions from sendacow.org, we were able to create a working hand washing station in an area of the garden without access to water.

Now, these "tip-taps"are used by some African villages to reduce disease risk after working in gardens or with livestock, and are a convenient and easy device to construct in places where plumbing is not an option. Using bamboo, a gallon jug, some twine, a pencil, a mesh baggie, and bar soap, your garden can feature a really fantastic tool for teaching garden hygiene, and some cultural appreciation!

More complete instructions can be found on Send A Cow's website, but basically you construct a lever that tilts the jug downward, creating a steady stream of water through a small hold in the handle. The neat thing is that it is controlled by a foot pedal (small bamboo stick), leaving both of your hands free to wash with soap and water. To lessen the chance of a muddy pool of water below, dig the soil down a few inches and add gravel or stones for drainage.

Have students be creative in their design, but it may take a few tries to get the physics right!

Syngenta supports our GC Coop Ext. School Garden Network!

Thank you Syngenta for your support of our 
GC Coop Ext. School Garden Network

 this school year!

Kirkman Park 2nd graders: "THANK YOU WHOLE FOODS MARKET!

Kirkman Park Elementary Second Graders and their teachers,Ms. Rushby (on left) and Ms. Gunn (right) say "THANK YOU WHOLE FOODS MARKET"

They are so excited about composting this spring!

Madison Elementary loves their Compostor!

Our school garden friends out at Madison Elementary are happy to receive their compostor from Whole Food Market in Greensboro!

In the photo are Renee Ford-McDougle (1st grade teacher) on the left, Carolyn Burke (Media Specialist) center, and Ashley Gordon (guidance counselor) on the right.