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WEEK 15: END OF YEAR CELEBRATION -- MAKING HOMEMADE PICKLES
Usually with 2nd grade - we make home-made pickles our last day of class. We make what are called "fresh" pickles -- which means you don't need a stove. It also means you can eat them right after you make them. Fresh pickles are whatever vegetable you want to pickle, salt and vinegar -- pretty simple. In an ideal world we would use the cucumbers we grew ourselves -- but since we don't have any ready, we will use cucumbers from a a farm and perhaps zuchinni...
Some people season their pickles with dill -- some add additional spices or herbs. Check out this story about PICKLES, PLEASE!
Pickles add a pop to a sandwich, salad or can just be eaten by themselves. Some people like pickles to be sweet. I prefer them salty. How about you?
CLICK HERE to share your family recipe for the Birney Recipe Book! Let me know any feedback about this recipe on FLIPGRID
Here are some Monarch activities you can do:
Click here to learn a fun song about the Monarch migration, or click here to see it in Spanish!
Draw and color your own Monarch butterfly.
Watch: MONARCH MAKING A CHRYSALIS
Questions, comments, report of monarch sightings? Leave Ms. Mindy a FLIPGRID: MONARCH FLIPGRID
WEEK 14: THE MONARCHS RETURN!
Each school year in the fall,students at Birney usually join students from around the world in celebrating the amazing migration of the monarch butterflies in the Symbolic Migration program. Students create their own paper butterflies, and we send our butterflies to join others in a symbolic migration, like the real butterflies who migrate up to 2,500 miles to parts of Mexico and other warm locations to spend the winter. Packages were delivered to more than thirty Mexican schools, in the communities in Mexico where the most Monarchs spend the winter months. Click here to watch a news video about the migration. In the spring, when the Monarchs were beginning their migration back into the more northern parts of the United States and Canada, we received a package of butterflies made by students from other schools. Sadly, the Monarchs are in trouble and their population has dropped by 90% in the past 20 years. Because of this, Monarchs might become listed as an endangered species. Click here to read an article about how some farmers are helping, and think about ways we can all help as well!
WEEK 13: BACK TO BASICS -- COMPOSTING:
WEEK 13: BACK TO BASICS -- COMPOSTING:
Students at school are helping to get the garden ready for summer crops -- which we usually would have done in February and March. This last year is different. We adjust! That is what nature does -- ADAPT.
SOIL is the focus of organic gardening -- especially here in this San Diego climate where we always have some amount of sunshine, the temperatures are mild, so we can grow ALL YEAR LONG. If we build our soil with COMPOST - our soil gives more nutrients to plants and ALSO helps the ground hold the water. Good compost makes soil like a sponge -soaking up and holding on to the water! This week is INTERNATIONAL COMPOST AWARENESS WEEK Check out the poster to the right that a high school student made!
You are invited to do the following projects this week:
Compost questions & Compost experiences -- share about it on FLIPGRID: https://flipgrid.com/98176e1e
do a trash audit at your place - Here is some categories you might use: WASTE AUDIT SHEET
hang out on the composting tab here on the garden webpage: Ms. Mindy's Compost Info
ALSO
Harvest of the month for April (and the beginning of MAY) is LOQUATS. Garden Webpage info here: Loquat Info Help our Birney Family find the LOQUATS in your neighborhood! Put the nearest address into this this google form: LOQUAT LOCATOR FORM and I will help map it - check back to see the LOQUAT LOCATOR MAP!
WEEK 12: FIRST GARDEN LESSON SINCE SPRING BREAK
How are you doing? Have you been doing any gardening or looking out for things in nature?
Here are a few things I encourage you to keep your eye out for:
LOQUATS - You can read more about this month's HARVEST OF THE MONTH at Birney: CLICK HERE They are ripening all over. See how close to where you live you can find LOQUATS!
Monarch Butterflies are about. If you see butterflies, there are likely caterpillars about. Do you know which plant to look on? MILKWEED
For gardeners and farmers summer crops should be in the ground. Would you like to plant some of our SQUASH or AMARANTH family for the summer? Zuchinni or cucumber or watermelon or pumpkin? Let me know if I can help you get some seeds.
STANDBY for Ms. Mindy's OFFICE HOURS coming soon!!
WEEK 11: SPRING EQUINOX
The day half way between the shortest (and often coldest) day of the year to the longest (and often hottest) day of the year. The beginning of Spring starts on the Equinox. Since it is our last day in garden before spring break we usually do cooking. And often in class we would taste BEETS.
But today, reminded by a friend of the Persian New Year - I decided to make a Persian dish that includes SPINACH from our Amaranth Plant Family. This dish also has fragrant herbs and spring greens that make it very GREEN. Watch this video by Paris of how to make Kuku Sabzi. My wish is we can eat together soon!!! Happy Spring!
WEEK 10: FAMILY TRADITIONS
What is "family" to you? Are some of your "traditions" from people that are "chosen family"? Sometimes our deeper lessons in life come from mistakes! And sometimes the people connected with those learning experiences become family because they teach us a deep lesson. In this story what traditions does the story adopt? Do you have any experiences like this?
This time of year is the time for Nasturtiums. With the rain they start to creep every where. Because of this -- they are our Harvest of the Month. Check out the recipes on the Harvest of the Month Page: HERE. Find a nasturtium flower and notice the flower parts (First Grade has the diagram Flower Diagram on First Grade Page
WEEK 9: EAT A RAINBOW! EAT ALL THE PLANT PARTS
Over the next couple weeks we will be further exploring how to make our life more COLORFUL! Eating a mix of fruits and vegetables can help us stay healthy. See the chart on the left and how each color relates to different nutrients your body needs! Click here for a body to draw on: BODY OUTLINE We also listened to this song of singing colorful fruits and veggies: RAINBOW FRUITS & VEGGIES SONG
Besides color - we eat different plant parts. When you are eating -- can you identify which part of the plant you are eating? Here is a link we explored about plant parts: PLANT PARTS GAME
How about noticing if something you are eating is SYMMETRICAL?
Can you make a drawing of it?
WEEK 8: PATTERNS AROUND US - SYMMETRY!
This week we noticed how there are patterns -- in so many things in nature there are patterns that we call SYMMETRY. Some patterns are even more exciting -- SPIRALS. We watched this artist as she explains the FIBINACI patterns -- MATH is BEAUTIFUL!
And so are beautiful snacks -- when you make a symmetrical pattern. Can you make a healthy and beautiful snack for yourself and/or someone in your household?
WEEK 7: WELCOME BACK TO GARDEN AFTER WINTER BREAK!
As we get back into being in class together Ms. Mindy invites you to wake up your senses, like we would in class. Play the TRICKING GAME and CAMERA game with people in your pod. Pick up a KUMQUAT (our BIRNEY Harvest of the Month ) in the office or at grade level pick up -- and record your tasting for others on FLIPGRID . Also - as we start to see some rain - interspersed with warmer days -- watch out for MUSHROOMS! The part we see is the "fruiting" part of the FUNGI -- there is a whole world of MUSHROOM roots, called mycelium under ground.
WEEK 6: COOKING TOGETHER
WEEK 6: COOKING TOGETHER
(COOKING DEMONSTRATION)
(COOKING DEMONSTRATION)
If we were in person we would have cooked and eaten together! So I rigged up a camera at my house and I am going to cook for you -- two recipes -- Pumpkin Muffins and Pumpkin Curry. These recipes are linked here -- but Ms. Mindy slightly adapted them in our lesson -- so I hope you took notes! Have a fabulous holiday break. Stay healthy and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.
WEEK 5; DIGGING DEEPER INTO SOIL
WEEK 5; DIGGING DEEPER INTO SOIL
Last week we talked about how AGRICULTURE is a source of problems in our soils - globally. What may not have sunk in is - when we talk about erosion - we are usually talking about soil that is DEAD! Healthy soil is home to a whole WEB of LIFE -- SOIL is alive!
Rewatch some of these cool soil videos , get to basics and do some composting or join neighborhood composting with food to soil , plant a TREE ! (NOTE: EACH UNDLERLINED word is linked to more opportunities!)
WEEK 4: THINKING ABOUT SOIL!
WEEK 4: THINKING ABOUT SOIL!
This week we started to learn about SOIL -- and what makes SOIL different from DIRT. Weather around the world causes the earth to shift -- however SOIL has the structure to hold things in place from LIVING THINGS!
We watched this video (to the left) ...
Notice around you -- is it DIRT or SOIL? TRICK QUESTION: How can we make DIRT into SOIL?
REMINDER : Go get PERSIMMONS - the SDUSD HARVEST OF THE MONTH!
WEEK 3: OUR 2nd GRADE PLANT FAMILIES: AMARANTH & SQUASH
WEEK 3: OUR 2nd GRADE PLANT FAMILIES: AMARANTH & SQUASH
Today we discussed the bags of seeds that Ms. Mindy gave you. If you haven't picked up the seeds - stay tuned for more opportunities.
In the bag are two seed varieties to save from our AMARANTH family. One is AMARANTH -- red amaranth flowers that have tiny little black seeds inside. Get a plate or paper and shake the seeds out of the red part. You can collect those seeds into a little envelope. Learn more about AMARANTH family in the HARVEST OF THE MONTH PAGE: HERE.
The other seeds to save are CHARD seeds (cousin to AMARANTH). The crinkly chard seeds can be placed in the other envelope.
Now you are ready to plant. Ms. Mindy is offering pots of soil and little pots for sprouting your seeds in. Fill each little pot with soil, dampen the soil with water -- it should be like a squeezed out sponge for the seed t start growing...you will need to check it daily and make sure it is still damp. Place some of the AMARANTH seeds in one pot and 2-3 CHARD seeds in the other pot. Happy GROWING!!
WEEK 2: TRASH WEEK: FIndying things that will COMPOST means knowing what items are BIODEGRADABLE (IT BREAKS DOWN) or not. Are you making compost? Are you thinking about trash in your community??
ASSIGNMENT: Find something BIODEGRADABLE
Help show other Birney Bees what is BIODEGRADABLE by making a:
Help me show other Birney Students what is BIODEGRADABLE by sharing on PADLET or FLIPGRID.
ALSO keep your eyes out for DECOMPOSERS (the critters that break things down). You can use this handy sheet to identify them by name: DECOMPOSER SHEET
WEEK 1: Getting oriented to GARDEN on ZOOM: WELCOME BACK! This week we talked about our plant families...some of you may have come to pick up a BIRNEY POMEGRANATE -- if you didn't get one and you want to get one, contact Ms. Mindy (see the page footer). More information about pomegranates on my HARVEST OF THE MONTH PAGE: HERE
WEEK 1: WHERE IS THE SUNLIGHT IN YOUR HOME?
Today in Garden Class we talked about that soon I will be giving you seeds to take home. You will be growing them in a sunny window in your house. This spot needs to have at least 6 hours a day of direct sunlight. Can you draw a map of your space and where your plants can grow?
Noticing the plants in your home, if you already have some, and drawing them -- can also show important information!
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