Archive for the ‘Soil’ Category
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 »
Friday, February 10th, 2012
My daughter wanted to plant a banana tree in our backyard. She’s brilliant; think of the money I would save! (Her eagerness to plant everything she likes to eat makes me giggle!) I would love to send my three monkeys out to the backyard to pick their own bananas. Those of you living in zones 8-11, I envy you. You CAN plant and grow a banana tree in your backyard. I live in zone 6; we cannot plant tropics, like the banana tree, it’s too cold. (more…)
Tags: garden, Gardening, kids, Landscape, plants, Soil
Posted in Gardening, Landscape, Soil | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
I don’t know how long he had been floating but it was obvious, our beta fish had passed away. After I broke the news to my three girls, it was time to bury our beloved (often neglected) fish, Goldie. When Mom is a gardener, the fish does not get flushed, it gets buried deep in the compost pile. Morbid I know, but fish emulsion and fish meal are common garden fertilizers and the little ‘ole fish will add nutrients to our compost. You are not supposed to put meat in your compost pile because it will draw rodents. I went ahead and buried Goldie deep in the middle, hoping the mice won’t sniff him out. (more…)
Tags: Compost, Compost Bins, fertilizer, fish emulsion, fish fertilizer, fish meal, inorganic, inorganic fertilizer, Native Americans, nutrients, organic, organic fertilizer
Posted in fertilizer, Soil, Sustainability | No Comments »
Friday, December 30th, 2011
In the same breath, I can tell you that I am exhausted from Christmas but also full from all of the memories created. The tree is still up; suitcases are sitting full of dirty laundry. Toys are strewn from one end of house to the other, and there are three girls silly, full from sugar, creating yet one more memory. There is time to reclaim the house, but right now, I sit and reflect on 2011 and look forward to the promises of a new year.
(more…)
Tags: Compost, Education, fertile, Four seasons, New Year's Resolutions, resolution, Vegetables, Weeds
Posted in Education, fertilizer, Gardening, Life, Service Projects, Soil | 4 Comments »
Monday, December 12th, 2011
Can you imagine gardening in the 18th century? If not, I suggest you visit Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Historians have done a fantastic job re-creating early American gardens. Garden historians have used the writings of John Randolph who pinned, A Treatise on Gardening in 1793, as a guide to rebuilding the Williamsburg gardens. Here is a snippet of Mr. Randolph’s advice to the 18th century gardeners, including many of our founding fathers: (more…)
Tags: 18th Century, Cauliflower, chardoon, Colonial Williamsburg, dung, fertilizer, gardening advice, thistle, winter gardening, Zone 7 garden
Posted in Education, Gardening, Landscape, Life, Soil | 2 Comments »
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Pictures of kids playing in leaves have been constant on my Facebook page the past few weeks. Children have big smiles as they are literally covered in nature. Of course, it makes me smile to see the fun they are having! I often post a virtual high five to the parents for bringing the kids out to experience the effects of fall. I am a bit jealous as I scroll through pictures. My children do not get to experience a large pile of leaves unless we visit a different neighborhood. The trees in our landscape are too small to create a big fall mess (a negative aspect of living in a new housing development). (more…)
Tags: Fall, family, lawn, leaf, leaves, mulch, Nitrogen, Soil, Trees
Posted in Gardening, Landscape, Life, Soil | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Do you remember last spring when the daffodils and tulips made you smile? I do! I remember thinking I need to plant more of these bulbs, because they made me so happy and excited for summer. Today, we planted tulips around a tree in our front yard. (more…)
Tags: blood meal, daffodils, Dee McKenna, Fall, family, fertilizer, flowers, garden, Gardening, tulips
Posted in fertilizer, Gardening, Life, Soil | 2 Comments »
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Recently, I shared a video with you demonstrating how I took a soil sample from my garden. I brought my “bags of dirt” to our county extension office. For a fee of $10 per bag, the soil would be analyzed and the results would be mailed to me within ten days. (more…)
Tags: Annuals, Crops, fertilizer, flowers, gardens, Nitrogen, nutrients, pH level, Phosphorus, planting, plants, Potassium, Soil, Vegetables
Posted in fertilizer, Gardening, Landscape, Soil | No Comments »
Thursday, September 15th, 2011
Get the most out of your garden! Dee McKenna, Nutrients For Life blogger, takes you to her backyard and demonstrates how to take a soil sample. (more…)
Tags: Analysis, Crops, Dee McKenna, fertilizer, Fertilizer Best Management Practices, garden, growing, Nitrogen, nutrients, Phosphorus, Potassium, Soil, soil analysis, soil sample
Posted in fertilizer, Gardening, Landscape, Soil | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 9th, 2011
Amidst our bedtime routine, my four-year-old daughter was sitting at my side, listening to me read, while she was eating an apple. I was getting annoyed, because the squirmy girl was picking and playing with the apple, rather than just eating it and listening to the story. (more…)
Tags: Air, Apple, Apple Tree, Junior Master Gardener, Light, nutrients, P.L.A.N.T., Soil, Thirsty
Posted in Education, fertilizer, Gardening, Soil | No Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Here’s to fall! I have had enough of this summer! How about you? Depending upon where you live, your garden season may not have been as dry and hot as ours. Consider yourself lucky. The daily temperature still feels like summer but now is the time to talk about extending our growing season and planting a fall garden. (more…)
Tags: fertilizer, garden, Gardening, Nitrogen, nutrients, Phosphorus, Potassium, Soil
Posted in fertilizer, Gardening, Soil | No Comments »
