With warmer days and less cool nights finally here to stay, the Fairview Greenhouse is stocked and ready for planting time! Thanks to a grant from Giant Foods, we were able to secure seed trays, dirt, plant labels, four new raised bed kits, an electronic thermometer and some more spray bottles for little hands to use when gently watering.
The items were unloaded the same day the fifth and sixth graders on the Green Team hosted their Trashion Show event, raising awareness about resource management and re-usability while also having a lot of fun. More than thirty students, families or staff participated and it gave Fairview supporters another chance to see the greenhouse all set up. Hopefully, those who took home the pass along Lamb's Ear plants have found them a happy home in a pot or spot of ground. They are easy care plants that will spread and fill in quickly if established before the heat of summer.
Our Girl Scout visionary and sponsor Abby Tisler and her family built and installed six planting tables which are now in use for growing spinach (pictured above) and swiss chard, while classes finalize their choices for "parts of a plant" seed to harvest projects.
Currently the following teachers have reported the following decisions:
LEAVES
Mrs. Geary's class: kale
Mrs. Pearson's class: spinach
Mrs. Hayes' class: lettuce
Ms. Feingold's class: herbs
Kaplan/Wojcik/Smith/Pearson/McCarron classes: mega cabbage
FRUIT
Ms. Gilchrist's class: tomatos
Mrs. Barrett's class: cucumbers
SEEDS
Ms. Roos's class: baby corn
We still need some classes to sign up for flowers (brocolli, nasturtiums, squash blossoms) or the roots (beets, turnips) and the stems (leeks, scallions) so encourage your students and teachers to jump on board as we prepare and work now towards an awesome, educational and delicious harvest party in June!
Thanks to Bonnie Plants donating nearly 150 cabbage seedlings, the entire third grade had the option to bring a cabbage plant home a few weeks ago. In addition to their efforts at home to nurture and grow a mega cabbage, the garden at school will include a dozen or so cabbage plants for the third graders to tend there.
Special thanks to fall and winter garden and greenhouse volunteers for laying the gravel base in the greenhouse, painting and placing pavers in the garden, clearing beds in preparation for vegetable seedlings, edging the Johnny Appleseed tree with the historic Williamsburg bricks and much more.
A special thank you to the Fairview family who wishes to remain anonymous but generously gifted the school with a shiny new, heavy duty wheelbarrow and a $200 home depot gift card! This support is invaluable to the outdoor learning mission and abilities.
Also, we so appreciate the third grade girls of Girl Scout Troop 1791 who built and painted eight birdhouses for the garden space at their March meeting. Future projects needing volunteers and support include a building a squash trellis, repainting picnic tables and building the raised beds from kits.
The next volunteer work session for outdoor learning is (third Friday monthly) April 21 from 9:40-10:20 a.m. or so. Check in at the office and meet in the Learning Garden, directly behind the kindergarten classrooms. Updates in case of inclement weather are posted on the PTA Facebook site.
Any questions? Concerns? Ideas?
Contact PTA Learning Garden Committee Co-Chairs, Maggie Hall and Tricia Guiterman at learninggardens@fairviewpta.org.
