gardening

Farm Trip 2015 – Part I

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Every year, WSB’s 3rd grade heads to Hawthorne Valley Farm for a week-long farm trip. This is has a been a tradition for over 30 years! In fact, Ms. Smith, the 3rd grade’s homeroom teacher, was last here when she was a 3rd grade student at WSB!
On the farm, students work hard and play hard. They’re involved in just about every facet of farm life — from cleaning out the mudroom and washing dishes to mucking out the dairy barn and chopping firewood. Please enjoy the photos below. We’re two days in with two more to go and plenty more to do!

When You Wish Upon a . . .

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. . . Tulip! Last Friday the 1st grade students & I planted tulip bulbs around one of our garden’s trees. We sat in a circle and took turns making silent wishes and planting our very own bulb. Throughout the cold winter months ahead, we can wonder what color ours will be when it rises through the warm earth in Spring.

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Garden Wall Update: Part 2

/ Lehcim Nosredna / 1 Comment

After 5 days of intense sun and sweat the new garden wall is practically finished. Hank & I are very pleased with the results. I must say, I’m humbled by Hank’s enthusiasm and strength and will consider myself lucky if I have half his energy when I’m his age. It has been a real treat working with him on this project. Stop by sometime to check it out…but until then:

Garden Wall Update

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The trench is almost done. Yesterday I dug out 50′ of the 60′. Today I will have to move a 10′ strip of marigolds back about 20″. If you’re available between 3:30pm and 5:30pm come on by — it shouldn’t take too long. And remember, there’s always weeding and fun things to explore in the garden if you bring your WSB student.
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Garden Wall Work Day

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IMG_0288Hello! We’ll be prepping the school garden for a new stone wall this Wednesday & Thursday (7/10-7/11) from 4pm-8pm. To prepare for laying the stones we need a 60′ long trench that is 14″wide and 12″ deep. We only need about 6 adults to help with this project. If you’re interested please email Michel at manderson at twsb dot org. If you bring your child, there’s work in the garden for them to do — I’d like to prepare a site for a strawberry patch and blueberry bush! The school will be providing pizza. Be in touch!

Garden Party Tomorrow!

/ Lehcim Nosredna / 2 Comments

This just in! The 2nd Grade will be hosting a Garden Party at 5:30pm tomorrow. It’s a potluck! So come do some weeding and get some vegetables for July 4th weekend! The garden is popping. Just yesterday I went home with a big bag full of greens. There are a ton of broccoli leaves; and if you haven’t tried them, you should — they’re packed with more vitamin A than the florets.

In other news, over the last couple of weeks, I’ve set up an automatic watering system for the garden and willow tunnel, and built a wine cap mushroom grove out of the wood chips generated from building the new playhouse! The students will have a bounty of gourmet mushrooms to harvest come fall! I’ll post pictures soon. Also, in the next few weeks we will be building another stone wall for the garden pathway…more info to come.

I’ll be around tomorrow at 3pm (7/3). There are wondrous things going on in the garden – so bring your child out and get dirty!

Here are some photos of what’s happening! Enjoy…

Seeding a New School Garden

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MGTonight I will be starting the Baltimore County Master Gardener Program. Classes will run from January 22nd to April 9th on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. This is part of WSB’s effort to expand our school’s garden this coming spring. We’re hoping to make the garden a central place for our students to grow and learn. We are also looking into the possibility of opening the garden to the wider community. Please contact me at manderson@twsb.org and let me know your interest and commitment level to gardening this summer — this information will allow me to plan just how vast our garden can grow and be sustainable. This is a fantastic opportunity for you and your children to learn and grow together throughout the summer months . . . not to mention revel in the satisfaction of harvesting the bounty of your efforts (literally!). Please be in touch.
Best,
Michel

Baltimore Free Farm Fancy Dinner

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fancydinner2012Join Baltimore Free Farm Sunday, December 16th for their second annual Fancy Dinner Fundraiser at St John’s Church (2640 St Paul St, Baltimore, MD)
This year’s menu will include appetizer, venison stew, as well as vegan stew, dessert, home brewed beer and wine and more! Vegan options will be available.
Treat your ears to local classical musical guests; and take your chances on a raffle with awesome prizes.
The event begins at 5 pm, dinner is at 6 pm. To order tickets, please their website by clicking on the image to the left.

Little Green Thumbs

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I’ve taken on the practice of going outside at lunchtime and fiddling around in the school garden. My goal isn’t so much to accomplish much gardening this late in the season as much as it is to interact with the children and allow them to get their hands dirty. Without fail, everyday a few of them run up to me to see how they can help. Some days we weed or drag a few things to the compost, other days we just look for worms and other insects in the soil. Everyday is productive whether or not we actually get anything done.
Below are my vigilant 1st Grade composters, ever excited to lend me their helping hands.

 

Permaculture Landscaping Event

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workshopThis Tuesday, December 4th at 7pm, our neighbors at Cylburn Arboretum will host a permaculture workshop by Michael Judd. The lecture will focus on garden designs that harvest rain water, grow gormet mushrooms in the shade, espalier fruits, create herb spirals, develop food forest, and more, all with a permaculture twist.

Mr. Judd has worked with agro-ecological and whole system designs through out the Americas for the last 18 years. He is the founder of both Ecologia: Edible & Ecological Landscape Design and Project Bona Fide, an international non-profit supporting agro-ecology research.

Remember: Events such as this will be posted in our event tab in the upper right corner of the page. Tuesday’s workshop is free and open to the public.