It may be Winter but.., We are Busy!

 Spring-like temperatures have geared up activity on the farm, and we like it that way! After a successful MLK day where we had over 65 kids and adults show up to dig in, our classes were able to get back to learning in the dirt. 

Fifth grade received a Whole Kids Foundation Innovation Grant. With this funding, the fifth graders will learn about local agriculture from experts in our community, visit the Dallas Farmers Market to shop from a farmer and it will all culminate with a seed to table meal that they will prepare from the food that they plant this spring.

 Vermicompost (aka worm poop) is magic in our garden. Ask a 5th grader what they did to amend their soil.

 

Another exciting initiative is a sixth grade curriculum developed around the Lexicon of Sustainability Project. During the 1st semester, the students learned about agriculture terms and our food system in the United States. This semester, they will put this knowledge to work by learning from local agriculture experts. There will be 4 guest speakers who will come during their farm lessons and 6 opportunities for the kids to make site visits to organizations in our community who are supporting the local agriculture movement. This project ends with an informational art exhibit that we will share in the Spring at our school, Earth Day Texas and A Peep At The Coops Urban Chicken Coop Tour on May 7th. Sixth grade's first guest speakers were our beloved Master Gardener team, Lois Diggs and Patti Brewer. These two ladies have been involved in the garden from the start and tirelessly volunteer to keep our garden program growing and blooming.

 

We also made our first site visit to the Texas Worm Ranch. Heather Rinaldi knows her worms and how they contribute to the health of the soil, food and people. We can't wait to share more about what we learned from her. We were in awe!

If that wasn't enough exciting news, this week we planted onions- Lots of Onions! Over 1000 onions went into the farm fields. We look forward to a great big Onion Fest in May! Pick some up today and get them in the ground! They are easy to plant and will grow anywhere.

Gifts From The Garden

During the holiday season, our garden work slows down, but our learning continues to grow. Throughout the year, our farmers collect seeds from spent flowers, overgrown okra or when milkweed seeds explode. The kids were reminded about how a plant produces a flower and where the fruit and/or seeds develop. They love looking at the many varieties and making comparisons of the different types and how they travel to produce offspring. The students separated seeds and created little seed packets to give as a gift to someone special or back to the earth. We love all the excitement that gifts from the garden give back to us! Happy Holidays!