September 2023

September 25, 2023 - composting

When food is thrown out into trash dumps, it releases methane contributing to greenhouse gases that warm up our Earth.  This is BAD!  We can help our Earth by composting some of those food scraps, which will turn it into healthy nutrients that our plants can use to grow.  

So, how do we compost?  We need a balanced amount of nitrogen, carbon, water, and air to make compost work. At school, we have a large tumbler and a stackable compost bin. 

Ingredients:

• Nitrogen rich material (aka "greens") - raw fruit and vegetable food scraps, tea bags/leaves, coffee grounds, grass trimmings

• Carbon rich material (aka "browns") - dead leaves, shredded newspapers, brown paper bags, woods chips, twigs, cardboard without tape or shipping labels

• Not for compost - bones, meat, weed seeds, chemicals, diseased plants

• Water - water is used to help break up the green and brown material.  We want the consistency to be slightly moist. The compost becomes anerobic when it's too wet.  It'll be harder to break down, and you'll notice a bad odor.  To fix this, you can add more browns.  If it's too dry, you can add a little more water or acceptable wet materials.

• Air - air helps break down the compost pile and keeps the bad odor away.  You can create air in the compost by turning the tumbler every few days.  If you have a stackable compost bin, you'll need a pitch fork to help pick up and stir the pile.  

****Helpful tip: cut up large pieces of material to speed up the breakdown process.****

Process:

For tumblers: 

1. Open tumbler door.

2. Insert green and brown materials.  

3. Add some water depending on how much material was added.  You want the material to be moist, but not soaked.

4. Close tumbler.

5. Turn the handle a few times.  

For stackable compost bins:

1. Remove lid.

2. Alternating adding in green and brown materials.

3. Add water to moisten as needed. Do not soak.

4. Come back in a few days, and take a pitchfork to stir up the bin. 

5. Close lid.

For both methods, repeat this process as necessary. Compost will be complete in about 3 weeks to a year.  How long it takes depends on what's been added, and how often the tumbler is turned or bin is stirred.  When it smells like nice soil, your compost is finished.  Enjoy your new compost!  

UC Master Gardener has wonderful instructions on composting. Click below for Composting 101.

Last school year, we had families bring in green and brown material to make compost at school.  We're planning to host this event again each quarter.  The first event will be in November.  Details coming soon.

After learning about compost, the kids learned how to plant some garlic in the ground.  They started by peeling each bulb apart.  Then they dug a trench, and inserted the bulb with the pointy side facing up.  The bottom part will grow roots into the ground. In November, students will learn more about bulbs!

See you next week in the garden!

September 18, 2023 - Parts of a Plant

Today, we learned about parts of a plant.  Each kid was given a garden journal, and drew along with Ms. Wildaliz.

Parts of a plant and their functions

• Roots - Roots are found under the soil.  Roots provide stability for plants.  They absorb water and nutrients from the soil to send to different parts of the plant.

• Stem - The stem is where water and nutrients travel to get to different parts of the plant. 

• Leaf - The leaf is where the plant food is made through a process called photosynthesis.  This process involves sunlight, carbon dioxide and water.

• Seeds - Seeds come from the reproductive part of the plant.  (the babies!).  Seeds can become new plants. 

• Flower - Flowers are the reproduction part of a plant.  Flowers consist of stamens and pistils.  When flowers are pollinated, they will produce fruit and seeds.

Afterwards, everyone went outside and learned how to propagate a succulent petal.  From this one petal, a new plant will form. Try it at home!

How to propagate a succulent petal:

1. Choose a succulent plant to propagate.

2. Pull off a leaf by gently twisting it from the parent plant. Make sure the leaf is pulled close to the stem.

3. Let the leaf form a callous for 2-5 days.

4. After the leaf forms a callous, get a small pot and add soil.  

5. Place the leaf with the callous down into the pot.

6. Moisten the soil with water.

7. Place in indirect sunlight.

8. Water occasionally.  Succulents don't need a lot of water.

We had a little extra time, so the kids peeled pole beans from our Kindergarten garden.  Such great teamwork! Then Ms. Wildaliz showed the kids about compostable green waste.  We can put the pole bean peels into our school compost bins.  The school has two in the garden - a stackable compost bin and a tumbler.  This will create helpful nutrients for our plants.  Next week, we'll be learning more about composting.  Come join us!

See you in the garden!!

September 16, 2023

Thank you to all the families that helped out on our Saturday Workday!  We appreciate all your hard work!  In the Science Garden, we planted chives, various kinds of onions, and leaks in Garden Bed #3. In Garden Bed #4 we planted eggplants, yellow California peppers, romaine lettuce, kale, and collard greens. In the Kinder Garden families and students were hard at work trimming overgrown bushes and clearing several garden beds to plant in the coming weeks!

September 11, 2023 - The Sun

The after school garden club kick off meeting was today!  The kids learned how sunlight helps create food that plants need to grow. This process is called photosynthesis.  Plants absorb the sunlight and combine it with water, carbon dioxide in the air, and nutrients in soil to produce sugar and oxygen.  Sugars (plant food) are moved through the plant to help it grow, and the oxygen is released in the air for us! 

We tested how warm the sun was by making s'mores.  You can try it at home!

Materials:

Plastic container
Foil
Graham Cracker
Mini Marshmallows
Chocolate Chips
Plastic wrap
Thermometer (optional)

Procedure:

1. Wrap foil around the plastic container.

2. Put in the graham cracker, marshmallows, and chocolate chips.

3. Cover with a plastic wrap. 

4. Place the creation out into the sun.

5. Watch the thermometer to see the temperature rise inside the bowl.

6. When it's toasted to your liking, ENJOY!

The kids also watched a short clip on how to make improvements on the solar oven.  Here's the short clip if you'd like to try at home!

We have some wonderful things coming up for the rest of September.  Next week, we'll be exploring parts of a plant.  Come join us!

Hope to see you in the garden!!