What I Learned This Week

I missed my gardeners!  I gardened all by myself on Friday, 10:00-12:00.   I cultivated, weeded, and fertilized the plants in the gardens.  I also placed tomato cages around the tomato plants.  The scarecrow's head had fallen off so I reattached it with duct tape.  Then I sprinkled organic deer/rabbit repellant around all of the gardens.  I ate my picnic lunch and really missed my gardeners.

There's lots to do when you are a gardener.  You are invited to garden, with your parents, any time at Brooks but I will be in the Brooks garden every Friday, from 10:00-12:00. Also, every class is responsible for gardening during one week in the summer. Please read the schedule below.  If you would like to continue working in the garden, come in during your assigned week to weed, water, and harvest crops that are ready to pick.

This week, I also learned you might want to store the bottle of deer repellent outside, as far from the area as possible, because it really stinks when it is stored in the Mobile Garden Shed.

Because of the constant rainfall, we have our own little water feature in the garden area.  Some might call it a gutter, downspout, and large puddle but it sounds like the calming flow of a creek.


Class                           Week to Garden
Mrs. Kelly                                      June 19-25
Mrs. Young                                    June 26-July 2
Mrs. Farnum                                  July 3-9
Mrs. Miller                                     July 10-16
Mrs. Powers                                  July 17-23
Mrs. Knudsen                                July 24-30
Mrs. Hojnacki                               July 31- August 6
Mrs. Adams                                  August 7-13
Mrs. Cushman                               August 14-20
Mrs.  Brinkman                             August 21-27

Garden Jounal Entries

A garden journal serves as a record of gardening experiences, observations, and understandings.  It is especially valuable to use when planning a garden and scheduling routine maintenance like watering, weeding, and fertilizing.  The journal is also helpful in noting when crops are ready to harvest.  Above all else, journaling is fun and can be shared with other gardeners. 

Two Peas-in-a-pod Planting Peas

Planting Stinky Marigolds



"Let's see if they smell as bad as she said...Yep!"




"She said, don't pull on the stems; push on the bottom of the container."





"Pat the soil gently around the plant."



"I have to remember to loosen the roots with my fingers."



"I'll water everything thoroughly and we can watch our plants grow!"



From the Garden



Patient gardeners wait for the cabbage head to grow.  In the meantime, small tender leaves can be cut and eaten.



Kindergarten and third grade gardeners planted the lettuce.

Marigolds not only keep the mosquitoes away, the flowers can be cut and added to stews for color or salads for flavor.

Ms Miller's First Grade Class of Poets



Select something to observe.



Settle onto the cool grass and write about it.



I treasure my Poetry Journal.



Let's see...they are gold, yellow, and rusty orange in color.

A Harvest Cheer

A Brown What?

I Spy Some Ruffly Lettuce

Mrs. Farnum's Poets Are in the Garden

Get comfy in the garden.

What do you see?

Describe it.

Observe it with all your senses.

Write about your observations.

Tell me about what you observed.

What I Learned This Week

Your fear of large, black garden spiders will vanish the minute you see one crawling on the glove of a young gardener.  You will be amazed at the speed in which you can flick the spider back into the garden.  You might even retrieve the egg sac it was carrying and return it to the frightened spider.

This is really important, especially on a hot, sunny day. Remember to disconnect the sprinkler before you turn on the hose.  There just might be 20 gardeners working in the area screaming, "Ahhhh!  Turn off the hose!"

Check the leaf of parsley for a camouflaged caterpillar before tasting the parsley.

The dried pea is what you plant to grow peas.

Planting popped popcorn will not grow popcorn plants.  Pop the corn after you harvest the ears of popcorn from the popcorn plants.

Don't touch the baby tomatoes growing in the garden.  They might just fall off the plant.

While explaining how to draw a map of their garden in their journals, take a look at all of the crestfallen faces looking at you.  Realize they just want to touch the soil and check out their growing plants.  Scrap the journaling plans and watch the faces shine.

Our First Harvest

I was kneeling garden-side with one student who asked me about harvesting the green onions, "How do you know when they are ready?  What happens if they break off?  Are they ruined?".  Her questions made me realize it was time to demonstrate the fine art of knowing when and how to harvest.

The others had just started cultivating and watering...or so I thought.  We practiced pulling a few onions out of the soil and I  told her she could take home the three green onions in her hand.  I searched in my basket for a ziplock bag. When I turned around, a handful of gardeners were pulling green onions from their gardens.  Before I could ring the bell to stop them and give them some direction, almost every gardener was happily yanking green onions out of the ground.

The third graders lined up with fistfuls of onions, ready to return to class.  I stopped the gardeners at the office door, to find Mr. Chisik surveying the abundance of onions being brought into the school.  I asked for some ziplock bags.  As he handed them out, he joked about them having bad breath and instructed them to wash the onions before devouring them.  I started to lead the class down the hall. All of a sudden, Mr. Chisik realized the real issue.  He yelled,"Hey, don't leave those onions in your lockers!"

Onions are a girl's best friend.

What I Learned This Week

When a scheduling change forces kindergarteners and third graders to work in the garden at the same time, don't panic.  They will form buddy gardening teams all by themselves.

Earthworms can have play dates with each other.

Earthworms eat banana peel crusts.

Even when you are trying so hard to make every minute count, be sure to check your legs when the kids keep asking, "What's that on your legs?"  Don't dismiss the question, thinking, "It must be time to shave." Instead, take a moment to check it out.  It just might be the bumpy pattern deeply imprinted on your legs from kneeling so long on the sitting pads.

Because each earthworm is both male and female, it is not a HE or a SHE, but an IT.

Just because a container has a cap, it doesn't mean it's on tight and won't spill.  The Mobile Garden Shed just might end up smelling like Orange Organic Ant spray.

Voluntary Summer Garden Club Schedule

If you are interested in continuing to work in the Brooks’ vegetable gardens, each class will be assigned a specific week to tend to the gardens during the summer.  They will need watering, weeding, and harvesting. You are welcome to garden any time but please make it a priority to garden during your assigned week.  I plan to garden most Fridays, from 10:00-12:00.   Pack a lunch for yourself and the kids.  We can garden and picnic together on Fridays.  Hope to see you gardening this summer.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Stoddard

Class                           Week to Garden
Mrs. Kelly                   June 19-25
Mrs. Young                 June 26-July 2
Mrs. Farnum                July 3-9
Mrs. Miller                  July 10-16
Mrs. Powers                July 17-23
Mrs. Knudsen             July 24-30
Mrs. Hojnacki             July 31- August 6
Mrs. Adams                August 7-13
Mrs. Cushman             August 14-20
Mrs. Brinkman            August 21-27

But I'm Not Finished Watering!

I told the Garden Club members

I would ring the 100 year old school bell

that was used, many years ago, (not by me)

to call students in from recess. 

The ringing bell is the signal

to put garden tools 

away and line up.  My son and daughter

gave me the treasured bell when I retired.  Listen

to their protests as the  

bell calls them to quit.  These are serious gardeners.   

Garden Poetry by Mrs. Hojnacki's Class

The garden tools are
The rocks are
The sun is
The vegetables are
The mulch is
The roots are
The soil is
In the garden

by Ryan Gilsoul



The worms are,
The rocks are,
The seeds are,
The weeds are,
In the garden.

by Tyler Coombs



The ants are
The seeds are
The plants are
The roots are
In the garden!

by Rachel Palaian





The people are
The kids are
Mrs. Stoddard is
The water is
In the garden

by Autumn Barnes



The soil is
The kids are
The tools are
The plants are
Working in the garden.

by Trevor Martin



The mole is
The vegetables are
The worms are
In the garden.

by Nick Klopf



Planting



"I'm labeling the garden stake.   It says, Cucumbers."





"Hey, stop!  Water this!"





"The wind has really dried out the soil."





"I'm cultivating the soil so the rain water will drain through it."





"This is back-breaking work!"





"Let me get this just right."





"A fresh drink of water will do wonders!"





"Let's see..."





"She said to carefully ease the plant out of the pot.  Don't pull the stem."



What Do Earthworms Eat?

Earthworm Bin Video of Kindergarten Students on a Windy Day

What I Learned This Week

Earthworms really can break dance when held in the palm of the hand.


When it is 90 degrees and the Mobile Garden Shed's air conditioning isn't working well, don't run errands on the way home, when the worm bin is in the back seat.


Stop the lesson and pay attention, regardless of the teachable moment, when a student yells, "Look and all the ants!"


Rubbing itchy eyes and gritty eyelids at the end of the day was probably caused by the wind blowing the road dust across the gardens and into my eyes.


You can get so hot gardening, you can sweat where you have never sweat before.


A tossed out bag of popcorn can attract a whole colony of ants within 30 minutes.  Discover them before putting the wastebasket into the Mobile Garden Shed.