Harvest Our Seeds

When the first frost hit our farm, it really changed the look of the land. The kids immediately took notice and as we pulled out the dead stalks and plants, they really could see what the weather did to our beds. I had to explain to my farm friends that the freeze cycle is part of the process. It gives farmers a little break so that they can regroup and plan for the next growing season. Tools need organized and repaired. The soil needs to be turned and ammended with organic material from the compost and then plans need to be made about what to plant and where.

We had such a great harvest this year which gave us not only veggies and flowers, it also produced many seeds as well. We dead headed flowers, separated the seeds and labeled them in bags so that we can use this  Spring. Our seeds are a great product from the farm. They will give us a jump start on our planning and planting.

Our activities this winter will be focussed on prepping and planning. The kids have such great input and I love hearing about their ideas as well. The more we grow, the more they know.

 E I E I O..., Watch us keep growing!

Herb Infused Oils - We love them!

With the end of our growing season, came a ton of herbs that needed harvested. We dried many of them to make seasoning packets and the rest we used to infuse olive oil.

First, we harvested buckets of fresh herbs from the garden.

Next, we filled bottles with olive oil and added cloves of garlic and different herbs to each bottle. We let them sit for a week, then we had our taste test day.

The kids got to sample the oils with a bread dipping station on the way to recess. They tried tarragon oil, oregano oil and thai basil oil.

Most of the kids' favorite turned out to be oregano. They thought that one won since that was the flavor in many of their favorite foods like pizza and spaghetti.

In any event, we had another fun taste of the farm event where we were able to use local organically grown food to show the kids how delicious gardening can be.

Herb Wars

 Herb Wars gave us some fun data.

We are always looking for ways to connect our students learning with garden curriculum. There are countless opportunities for meaningful, hands on learning, which is what tends to stick with kids for the long run.  Since one of our important partners is the American Heart Association, we are also concerned with the health and nutrition of our kids. 

A garden helps kids learn about vegetables, fruits and herbs that they may not have in their kitchens at home. I have noticed that even the pickiest of kids, are likely to try the foods that come out of our garden. If you grow it, they will eat it.

I got to see this first hand when we had Herb Wars at our school. 

Some members of the Garden Club harvested Cilantro, Parsley and Dill. We found some dip recipes that we could whip up and make a spread for the kids to sample. 

Cilantro was picked before it went to seed.

We set up a table in the hallway that leads to the playground and collected the data on which herb the kids at our school liked the best. It was a close race, but Dill came in first place.

We made herbs an event. We also used many academic concepts like data collection, graphs, tallies, research skills, and nutrition. 

The kids literally "Ate It Up"! 

Kids line up to try our farm food!

Including the entire school bonds everyone together and teaches way more than just gardening. At our school, the farm has helped us become a community of learners who have a common ground where everyone can feel success and pride. There are no barriers and no rules for belonging. 

We all can benefit from tasty harvests!