Archive for 2012
Monday, May 14th, 2012
I had the pleasure of taking my five-year-old to “Kindergarten Round-Up” (and for another blog, I will tell you why we were tardy – not winning mother of the year that morning)! This event was pretty exciting for my Pre-K girl and emotional for me. How do they grow up so fast and right before our eyes?
The future kindergarteners walked independently to the classroom for screening, while the parents got a tour of the school and some words of advice from the principal and counselor. Now let me remind you, we have been attending the school for five years; I thought this was going to be a waste of my time. However, it turned out to be very inspiring. During the middle of the tour, we were escorted to the outdoor classroom and learning garden, of which I was introduced as the leading expert – ego boost! The principal explained how we obtained funding, a brief description of where we were in the construction process, and what the final learning garden would look like. It was awesome to see the expression of excitement on the kindergarten parents’ faces; I was not expecting this kind of reaction. Their comments were supportive and affirming of our desire to bring such a classroom to our students. (more…)
Tags: Azek decking, garden in a box, Kindergarten, landscape pavers, landscaping, Learning Garden, lumber, Outdoor classroom, plastic lumber, raised bed, red cedar, School Garden, treated lumber
Posted in Education, Learning Garden | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
To celebrate Earth Day, a few of my fellow master gardeners and I led eight small groups of sixth graders through a nature trail. As we stood under a mulberry tree, with its immature green berries, I asked how many had ever picked fruit from a tree. In each group of twenty, only three to five students raised their hands (gasp…really?). Picking fruit from a tree and enjoying its freshness should not be a unique opportunity; but it is! Oh how I wish the mulberries had been ripe and each student could have experienced a fresh mulberry. Reaching up through the limbs to pick a mulberry is in itself a valuable lesson in science. Is there a better way for our youth to learn about nature; to learn how food is produced; to experience first-hand how a farmer works with earth to feed the world? I think not! (Preach it, Sister!) (more…)
Tags: Classroom Garden, Dee McKenna, Earth Day, Education, fruit trees, How-to, kids, Learning Garden, Outdoor classroom, raised bed, School Garden, Soil, Watering, well-drained soil
Posted in Education, Learning Garden, Service Projects | 5 Comments »
Friday, April 20th, 2012
Have you heard the joke, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”? I might add, “with a lot of volunteers!” That’s how this garden project is going; we tackle one step at a time. First the vision, then the fundraising, and now the building: All of this is accomplished with the help of parent volunteers. We can hardly wait to see our kids learning in the outdoor classroom! Until then, we have skid loaders, scaffolding, tools and piles of dirt. (more…)
Tags: Classroom Garden, Dee McKenna, Gardening, Learning Garden, ourdoor classroom, School Garden, volunteers
Posted in Education, Learning Garden | 8 Comments »
Monday, April 16th, 2012
As I drive to the grocery store, I pass a school with an outdoor classroom and learning garden. I have often been envious of the space and considered how lucky they are to have it. A few years ago, the school principal contacted the Extension Office asking for help from the Master Gardeners. Despite having an amazing resource, only one (yes, one) teacher uses the space. An incredible resource left fallow and neglected by most of the staff. How can this happen? What went wrong? Why aren’t they using it?
(more…)
Tags: Annuals, Dee McKenna, Education, educators, Gardening, landscape plan; extension education services, Learning Garden, Master Gardeners, nutrients, Outdoor classroom, Soil, Teacher, wish list
Posted in Education, Learning Garden | 6 Comments »
Monday, April 9th, 2012
Read more about this topic in our Learning Garden blog series:
Learning Garden 7: Raised Beds
Learning Garden 6: Building
Learning Garden 5: Volunteers
Learning Garden 4: Designing the Garden
Learning Garden 3: Validation
Learning Garden 2: Long-Term Sustainability
Learning Garden 1: Overview
Gardening makes me happy, especially when I am gardening with my three girls, as seen in the picture below. The benefits of a garden are undeniable. As we work with the soil to grow our vegetables, we learn about soil fertility (science). When we plant the seed, we read the label directions on the seed packet (English) and learn the depth at which we need to plant the seed (math). We look at the sun that provides the heat to warm the soil and we add water that provides the moisture for the seed to germinate (botany). Then we wait (delayed gratification) for the seed to root and pull up nutrients from the soil (science) and grow into a plant that produces a vegetable (food production). We grab our harvest basket and collect the vegetables that we have grown (teamwork). We sit down at the table (sense of belonging) to enjoy a meal (nutrition) grown from our hard work and care (nurturing). I am excited that our schoolchildren have the opportunity to learn these subjects, skills, and attributes from our new learning garden. (more…)
Tags: classroom garden; outdoor classroom, community garden, Dee McKenna, Education, Gardening, How-to, kids, Learning Garden, Soil
Posted in Education, Learning Garden, Service Projects | 4 Comments »
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
After a week of rain, progress on Benton’s Backyard outdoor classroom and learning garden can be seen. Sunburnt and covered in dirt, a few hard working dads framed up the sidewalks, shed floor, pergola floor and mow strips in preparation for concrete to be poured. Our students returned from spring break to witness all of the changes. (more…)
Tags: budget, building additions, classroom gardens, community service, construction, Dee McKenna, Education, family, financial constraints, Gardening, How-to, Learning Garden, Outdoor classroom, School Garden, schools, staff changes
Posted in Education, Gardening, Landscape, Learning Garden, Service Projects | 6 Comments »
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
Read more about this topic in our Learning Garden blog series:
Learning Garden 7: Raised Beds
Learning Garden 6: Building
Learning Garden 5: Volunteers
Learning Garden 4: Designing the Garden
Learning Garden 3: Validation
Learning Garden 2: Long-Term Sustainability
Learning Garden 1: Overview
Back in September of 2010, I started a new journey with my local elementary school, and now I would like you to join me on this journey, as I create a series of blogs that describes how a school and its community built an outdoor classroom and learning garden in 2012. During this journey, we will discuss the role of soil in a learning garden- how to maintain the soil in the garden and essential learning activities educators can do with their classes on soil science. In addition, our soil science curriculum, Nourishing the Planet in the 21st Century, is available online for free; all three levels of our curricula have been favorable reviewed by the Smithsonian Institution and written in conjunction with the BSCS. I understand that not every school and community will need or want a garden as large scale as the one I am working on. But I hope you will follow this series to get inspired and learn some best practices. There is so much you can teach with soil science in an outdoor setting!
(more…)
Tags: Benton's Backyard, Classroom Garden, community garden, courtyard, Dee McKenna, Education, garden, Gardening, gardens, How-to, kids, landscaping, Learning Garden, Nutrients for Life, Outdoor classroom, planting, PTO, School Garden
Posted in Education, Gardening, Learning Garden, Service Projects | 4 Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2012
The broccoli seeds we started ten days ago, have sprouted! Smiles and high-fives were exchanged when we saw green leaves pushing through the dark potting soil. It was a great opportunity to show my three daughters nature in action. It’s amazing to plant a tiny little seed and watch it emerge from the depths of the soil. (more…)
Tags: Dee McKenna, DIY, fertilizer, flowers, Gardening, gardening activities with children, grow light, How-to, kids, leggy seedlings, light stand, Nutrients for Life, plant light, planting, plants, PVC light stand, PVC pipe, seed, seedlings, Soil, sprouts, starting seeds
Posted in fertilizer, Gardening | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
I ran into our local farm and home store to buy a bag of dog food for our well-fed overweight, four legged family member. To my delight, there was a large display of seed potatoes, onion sets, garlic, seeds, soil, garden hoses, starter fertilizer, etc. Gardening season is quickly approaching in my zone! Without any planning, I gave into the impulse and bought what I thought I would need to get started. I could not resist and bought far more than I needed (also had forgotten what I had already bought from the seed catalog). I think my solution will be to expand the garden or give my extras to the neighbors. (more…)
Tags: beginner gardening, frost, Gardening, kid gardening activities, seeds, starting seeds
Posted in Education, Gardening | No Comments »
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Switzer presents at Nutrients for Life workshop at MAEOE Conference
Rhoda Switzer, a teacher at an independent Montessori school in Maryland, recently created a comprehensive book list about agriculture, gardening, and everything in between for a Nutrients for Life workshop at the Maryland Association for Outdoor Education Conference (MAEOE). As a whole, children today know less and less about where their food comes from and what it takes to get food on the table. But teachers like Rhoda Switzer are working to educate students on the importance of agriculture in their day-to-day lives. In the spring, her students work on Lesson 5 of our Nourishing the Planet in the 21st Century elementary curriculum: Planning a Garden. Ms. Switzer sees the value environmental education, such as having a vermicompost bin as a classroom pet and integrating environmental lessons into her classes. Her school is also developing and installing a new playground for the school, in which they aim to have certified as a Nature Explorer space through the Arbor Day Foundation, and maintaining a butterfly garden. Below is an excerpt from her book list; do you have other books to suggest for teaching soil science? (more…)
Tags: adolescent literature, agriculture, book list, Classroom Garden, cooking, Education, farm, Farming, Gardening, Learning Garden, Norman Borlaug, Outdoor classroom, reading, reading list, Soil Science, Teacher, Teacher Resources, Teacher Resources for Gardening, vermicomposting
Posted in Education, Gardening, Soil | No Comments »
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
It finally arrived! I had been anticipating the CHS magazine with a feature story on the Nutrients for Life “mommy blogger” (that’s me). It’s not every day your blog is featured in a Fortune 100 company magazine with a circulation of 235,000. I quickly thumbed through and found the article. I called my three girls to the kitchen and showed them the article. They giggled and recalled the photo shoot with CHS photographer, David Lundquist. This “mommy blogger” is humbled and honored to be featured by CHS Inc. (more…)
Tags: CHS, Dee McKenna, Education, farmer, fertilizer, Gardening, Iowa, Kansas, Nutrients for Life Foundation, spokesperson
Posted in Education, Life, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
