Shukri, Justin, Anthony, Quincy and Kassy enjoy a garden-fresh snack at the first King-Amigos Summer Drop-In (K.A.S.D.I.) of the season.

T.W.I.G. This Week In the Garden

Welcome Summer!

The first week of Summer brings many flowers, and the very beginnings of fruits and vegetables in the King/Amigos garden. Strawberries are ripening, sunflowers are opening, and bees are buzzing around, busy as can bee.


Speaking of busy, there is much to be done these days, so come out to the garden and lend a hand. Drop-In starts back up Thursday, June 26th, 3pm-5pm.



Activities include:
--transplanting tomatoes, melons and squash
--seeding cucumbers, summer greens, and herbs
--contouring beds
--collecting and drying herbs and flowers
--harvesting collard greens, tatsoi, mizuna, garlic scapes, and more, and creating a delicious, garden-fresh dish

See you in the garden!

T.W.I.G. This Week in the Garden

Volunteer Drop-In, Thursday May 22, 3-5

Activities Include:

• Dividing herbs from perennial garden; planting herbs and flowers by seed in pots around courtyard (including lemon basil, lettuces, cosmos, marigolds, spinach, coreopsis).
• Finishing Sign Project - ID'ing plants
• Making second bean pole for the Three Sisters Garden; planting beans
• Making trellis for peas
• Compost Critters: exploring our bin for worms and bugs
• Planting nigella and leeks in raised beds

See you in the garden!

T.W.I.G. This Week in the Garden

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

The latest soil delivery is in the garden, and the grapes are planted - thank you to all the kids and adults who gave their time and energy to the project!

This week, join us at Volunteer Drop-In, 3:00-5:00, for a more mellow array of activities.

Including:

• Planting sunflowers, yard-long noodle beans, basil, dill, bleeding heart...
• Creating a fenced digging area for our littlest gardeners...
• Making artful bi-lingual signs for plant identification...
• and more!

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS

BIG SOIL DELIVERY COMING! MOVING THE DIRT INTO THE GARDEN TOMORROW, THURSDAY MAY 8TH, DURING DROP-IN 3:00-5:00. THANKS AND SEE YOU THERE.

CitySprouts Summer Internship: Apply Now!

Are you or someone you know in the 5th-8th grade, enjoys being outside, and wants to learn more about the garden? Apply to be a CitySprouts Summer Intern!

People often ask, "Who takes care of the garden over the summer?" The CitySprouts summer interns work together with the garden coordinator to maintain the garden and enjoy its harvest with our regular volunteers. This paid internship (a stipend of $100 for about 24 hrs of work, between June 30-August 8) is an opportunity for kids to learn garden skills while also gaining job experience. Field trips to local farmers markets and farms are included.

For more information, contact Jess jdrench@citysprouts.org

Applications can be found in the K-A Library starting April 30th. The deadline is May 30th.

T.W.I.G. This Week in the Garden

First Volunteer Drop-in of the Spring: This Thursday May 1st, 3:00-5:00!

Spring has sprung, and there's LOTS of fun activity waiting for you and your family at the K-A Garden Drop-in this Thursday, including:

• Planting herbs (in connection with our farmer visit and cafeteria tastings in April)
• Exploring the garden on a "Scratch 'n' Sniff" Scavenger Hunt
• Making pasta salad---Pick-your-own herbs from the perennial garden and then create your own recipes
  
• Clearing soil of weeds and overgrown plants to make room for our new Concord Grape plantings

Just a reminder that children under 10 need to be supervised by an adult...

Thanks --- & looking forward to seeing all our volunteers once again out in the garden!

CitySprouts and the K-A Welcome Ellery Kimball from Blue Heron Farm!

Before vacation on Wednesday, April 16th, students from the King and Amigos Schools were visited by Farmer Ellery Kimball from Blue Heron Farm in Lincoln, MA. Ellery met with classes to share stories and answer many questions, including why she chose to be a farmer, what kinds of crops she grows, and what it means to grow organic. In the cafeteria, kids sampled fresh herbs (basil, chives, scallions), sprinkling them onto their hamburgers while exploring the flats of scallions that Ellery brought from her farm. Thank you to CitySprouts and a grant from the Growing Healthy Collaborative for making this visit possible!

T.W.I.G. This Week in the Garden

Read-a-Book, Plant-a-Flower

Sarah Novogrodsky, our school librarian, has a challenge for all K-A students: let's see how many books we can read this spring.

Look for Sarah's bulletin board in the main lobby to check in with our progress. In less than a few weeks time, we have already finished over 30 books!

As an added bonus, and thanks to the generous donation from Wagon Wheel Farm in Lexington, students are planting pansies around the garden to represent our reading accomplishments.

Can we finish 100 books by summer vacation? Let's keep reading!

Our Compost: Gardener's Gold

There are two compost bins in the rear of the garden (by the birch tree). They each have stickers on them to help us identify which bin to throw scraps into. Right now, the yellow sticker bin contains the remnants of the compost we made over the winter. We have been spreading it on top of our raised beds before planting.

The blue sticker bin is where you can toss all your compost scraps these days. There is plenty of "browns" in there - hay, leaves, woodsy stems - but we're hurting a bit for some more "greens." The following list is what you can put in the compost bin:

• Leftover vegetables and fruits, including peels, of all kinds
  
• Egg shells
• Coffee grinds
  
• Tea bags

The more variety the better. When I took off the lid today, I saw that someone had tossed in some strawberry tops, cucumber peels, and banana peels -- GREAT!! Please do bring in your scraps from home, it's great for the garden.

4th Grade: Planting Peas and Measuring Growth

For gardeners in cooler climates, early spring means Peas! We plant peas in the first weeks of April because peas grow best in early spring temperatures. We also make sure to place a sturdy support within a few inches of the plantings - the delicate vines will need something to cling to as they get longer, ensuring that the pods will not rot on the ground. In our garden, we are using whatever we can find for supports: birch branches and skinny stakes tied together with yarn, more twiggy branches retrieved from a backyard, and a section of fencing.

So when you are out in the garden, watch for progress of our favorite early-spring vegetable plants. The 4th grades in both the King and the Amigos will be utilizing the "Changes Over Time" unit to observe the plant growth and record/interpret data, and will eventually post their findings in the garden as well.

T.W.I.G. This Week in the Garden

What is wildlife, and what does it need to survive? Tori Corpas and her King 1st Grade class have talked about the animals and birds who visit our garden, and what we can do to ensure their well-being. Today, the class will explore the garden for water and food sources, as well as cover and living spaces, as part of the Humane Society of the United States' Urban Wildlife Sanctuary Program. After sending in their findings, and with sponsorship from CitySprouts, the K-A Garden will officially be certified as an urban wildlife sanctuary.

Interested in exploring the garden's sanctuary spaces with your class? The checklist is available (scroll down below the Payment/Contact/Property Information forms) at https://gateway.hsus.org/uwsp/

Volunteer Drop-In

The First Volunteer Drop-in of the spring is Thursday, May 1st, 3:00-5:00.

See you in the garden!

For Teachers

Scheduling Time with the Garden Coordinator

I'm back on the clock this week, and have already met a number of you to schedule times for your classes to come out to the garden. The following is a list of some of the jobs and activities featured in April - please let me know if you want to bring out your class to participate. And as always, feel free to contact me with ideas of your own...or even post them here on the blog.

My schedule this season is:
Mon. 7:30-3:30, Tues. 7:30-2:30, Wed. 7:30-12, Thurs. 7:30-5. Find me in the CitySprouts office (in library), in the garden, or by email: jdrench@citysprouts.org

• Compost demonstrations
• Planting cool-weather crops such as peas, lettuce, beets, and radish
• Maintenance, i.e. sweeping and raking
• Garden tours
• Participation in the multi-lingual ABC Flower Garden
  
• Plant observations/changes over time
• Exploring for color and shapes (Pre-K/K)

Visiting the Garden on Your Own

If your class has already received a tour with Jess this year, feel free to visit the garden without the coordinator. The sign-in sheet is posted by the cafeteria door - just sign in your class as well as your activity (i.e. measuring peas; observing butterflies). Also, please take a minute to review the Garden Rules with your class, which are also posted by the cafeteria exit.