BUGS!!!!!

Snails, slugs, cockroaches, ladybugs, oh my!

We started out this lesson by showing the kids a snail that I had found on a leaf. The kids liked the snail, and wanted totake turns holding him, we named him Harold. 

We marched around the garden on a bug hunt. I played a game with my group where we picked our favorite pose, and stood in that position to count all the bugs we could see. Some saw 9, some saw 29! 

We talked about how we felt about the bugs, and how the plants probably feel about the bugs. We learned that some bugs are good for the plant and some aren't. We searched through the compost and saw cockroaches and spiders and creepy crawlers that most of us hadn't seen before. 

Kendal

Salad?

Favorite Vegetable: Salad?

It was a cloudy day in the garden when I asked the kids at Fairmount Park what their favorite vegetables were. The most common "vegetable" was salad.

Is salad a vegetable? No, of course not! It just means that they enjoy eating LOTS of vegetables! I heard lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes. But I did not hear any kale...

When the kids saw the baby kale trees, they were intrigued by this new leafy green. Many of them wanted to try it. Here are some photos from our vegetable party. 

Most of the kids LOVED the kale, we even had trouble tying their bags shut before they had to run to class. The other volunteers shared recipes for the kids to bring home to their families. We spent most of this lesson learning and trying new vegetables. 

I hope the kids all got to try something new for this lesson!

Kendal

Where are all the Garden Bugs?!

In one of the lessons while working in the Edible Peace Patch we decided to focus on bugs that can be found in the garden! We learned that there are helpful insects and also harmful insects that live in our garden. So for this lesson we decided to go searching for them! We found a wide variety of different insects. These ranged from worms, spiders, rolly pollies, and lizards!

Overall we had a great time dedicating a whole lesson to just bugs! Now we know which bugs are pests and which ones are the best! (for the garden in this case)

Blog post by: Bella Wong

Productivity is Blossoming!

Within a few weeks of the gardening period, we have seen some rewarding changes in the garden! Many of the crops have turned out well and are growing abundantly. Such as our lovely bell peppers and okra.

Along with these crops, the kale plant seemed to be the crowd pleaser for many of the kids! Besides the cool, intricate, ruffle designs of the leaves, the thing that seemed to get the kids really excited about eating kale is due to the fact that they are very nutritious! We all took a taste test of this unique looking plant. 

With change and productivity sprouting in the garden, the kids and volunteers have felt even more encouraged to work harder to maintain the garden and reap the benefits of a successful garden through great teamwork! There is still many things to do towards creating our ideal garden and with our teamwork, we are surely going to get there!

Children weeding

Volunteers watering

Blog post by: Bella Wong

Lakewood Elementary Service Day!

http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp1843936.jsp

Join us in spending the morning in our Lakewood Elementary schoolyard garden. The Junior League of St. Pete will be lending a big helping hand for this Service Day!

Saturday November 15th 2014 9AM-1PM

We take this time to catch up on garden maintenance and to finish larger projects so that our gardens are ready for the students who come out weekly to learn and explore.

Morning refreshments are provided.

Bring along your family, friends, and your gardening tools!

p.s. Bring along your compost-ables to donate to our compost bins(veggie and fruit scraps, oak leaves, coffee grounds, tea bags, BUT NO MEAT or DAIRY, please)!

Visit peacepatch.org for more info about our project.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Keep an eye out for the addition of November and December service days!

Growth & Good Times

The garden here at Fairmount Park has really started to blossom. Some okra and some peppers have been coming along quite nicely.

The banana plants are continuing to grow steadily. As well as everything planted so far in the garden.

The garden is not full yet, but with the additional of more seeds, that would have been planted last week if not for the stormy weather, it should looking even more lively soon.

Today, we did the lesson about bugs in the garden. Just about every kid was happy to get there hands dirty to search for insects. With a group effort we had caught multiple centipedes and spiders along with some other insects. We even caught a lizard! Not really a bug, but still brought enjoyment to both us volunteers and students.

The look on their faces

Unfortunately, the kids were not able to make it out to the garden yesterday at Fairmount Park Elementary School due to the rain. Last week was a great time though, for both me and the children.
I have never worked directly with young ages before this, so I didn't know what to expect when I arrived at the school. I was given a small group that I toured the garden with. We (yes, me too) learned about how plants grew, and where things were in the garden.
Then, we came across the kale bed which was undoubtedly everyone's favorite part of the garden. Interested and anxious, the kids asked me if this weird looking cabbage was okay to eat. I nodded and then continued to split a leaf of kale into enough slices for everyone. To my surprise, the entire group agreed that they liked the strong tasting green. It was such surprise because this was also my first time trying kale, and I didn't like it!

This moment will always stick with me. The excitement and happiness that resulted from something as simple as eating kale, are expressions that I have never seen so pure before. I look forward to teaching other kids about all the different eatable vegetables, and the wonders that come along with them.