Happy November 1st! This October there was a lot of activity in the garden. Many classes came out to explore slugs and bugs. Other classes cooked up some delicious dishes with kale, potatoes, tomatoes, and herbs.

The biggest event that happened in the garden was the annual Cider Pressing Event. Classes from all grades pressed cider out of apples using a simple machine and learned facts about how apple trees grow!

Now that it is November, we are planting garlic, tulips, and daffodils. We are also planting rye to keep our garden beds warm in the winter. We hope that when we return, the garden will be full of life in the Spring!

Come out to the garden and help with our Fall planting! I have to run and plant some garlic with a 1st grade class.

Save the date for this Saturday, October 2 from 11 am -4 pm! CitySprouts will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary at the Tobin School. This celebration is a Cambridge Public School wide Garden Fiesta!

MLK School will be set up for students and families to decorate biodegradable pots and plant seeds of vegetables that will grow inside throughout the winter. Summer interns from MLK School will also be giving a demonstration on how to make pesto!

Amigos School will be showcasing and sharing the garden's herbs in sachets made from sage, lemon balm, and lavender. Amigos interns will also be giving a demonstration on how to make tsadiki dip!

Student work from the garden will be on display from both schools. Additionally, fresh produce harvested from the garden the morning of the celebration will be showcased for all to see and inquire about.

This is a great event to learn more about how school gardens are used in the classroom to learn. Not to mention, day full of local-mouth-watering organic food!

I look forward to seeing you there!

Liz

September in the Garden

Wow! I can't believe that October is just around the corner! Where did September go? At least the warm weather is still hanging on! There has been a lot of activity in the garden and school has been in session for only three weeks!

For one thing, there is a new Garden Coordinator and Kaitlin has gone back to school to pursue a degree in education. My name is Liz Anderson and I am really excited to be the new King/Amigos Garden Coordinator! As a teacher and a gardener with some experience working on organic farms, I am pleased to combine both passions working with King/Amigos students in the garden!

Already many classes have been out to the garden to harvest potatoes, kale, herbs, and tomatoes. A lot of this produce has gone home with students, but some have been lucky enough to cook with the vegetables in the garden! This connection between food and the garden has really taken shape during the King/ Amigos Garden Drop-In-Hours on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30. After working in the garden, parents and students enjoy cooking the vegetables that they harvest!

In addition to making observations as naturalists and composters, Ms. Ferhani's Amigos Science classes have also made zesty salads and savory potatoes in the garden. Both King and Amigos Art classes have been out to the garden and drawn sunflowers drooping from the weight of their heavy heads and squash the shape of bottles. Other classes have come out to the garden to begin studying plant life and its natural environment including zebra slugs, pill bugs, and worms!

As a result of these visits, students have made insightful observations like,"if there is a bog in the garden, maybe we can grow some rice!" Students have also had the opportunity to clear up some misconceptions about where vegetables come from, such as the one about potatoes coming from trees!

I am looking forward to welcoming the month of October with the annual Cider Press event! Several students and teachers have asked me already when they can come down to the garden and start making cider! Yummmm, I can taste October already!

Fall Drop In on Thursdays!

It is fall in the garden, which means lots of harvesting and tidying up for the end of the growing season. Join us in the garden on Thursdays, 3pm - 4:30pm this fall to enjoy the fall harvest and help put the garden to bed for the winter. Contact Francey Slater (fslater@citysprouts.org) with questions.

Field trip to Gaining Ground Farm

Today we lent a hand harvesting beans, cucumbers and blackberries at Gaining Ground Farm in Concord, MA. All of the produce is donated to meal programs, pantries and shelters. The land at Gaining Ground has been farmed for over 300 years and is known as the birthplace of Henry David Thoreau.

Our garden mid-summer

Cleaning off freshly harvested garlic!

Up close

Painted flower pots

Kiara working on her garden map

Eggplant flowering

Summer Internship Week One!

The 4-week summer program is off to a great start with 10 fabulous youth and a college intern from Boston College! Below is a group photo in the garden gathered around the pumpkin patch and a few shots from our field trip to First Church Homeless Shelter in Cambridge. More updates coming soon...

Science in the garden

On Tuesday the Amigos school held a Professional Development workshop for teachers focusing on science in the garden. The workshop was developed by the CPSD Science Department to train teachers in using the garden for certain science units. This signifies the first time CitySprouts has influenced Cambridge Public Schools curriculum in a district-wide fashion.


Pictured in front row: Caitlin Rogers, CitySprouts; Jane Hirschi, CitySprouts; Jamillah Bakr, Science Department; Francey Slater, CitySprouts; Lisa Scolaro, Science Department
Back row: Marianne Dunne, Science Department; Dan Monahan, Science Department; Susan Agger, Maynard Ecology Center

4th grade studies weathering & erosion

I took a few photos while the Amigos 4th grade was learning about weathering and erosion in the garden last week. They ran trials on the stream table, set-up an experiment to look at stream speed and examined examples of weathering outside.

Successful garden clean-up

We kicked off the beginning of spring in the garden last week with a clean-up after school. April 8th volunteers came out to help till the soil, turn over rye crop, add compost, prune the herb garden, clear out dead plants and pick up litter. We accomplished a lot and it was great to see everyone's faces again! The next garden event will be Beautification day on Saturday, May 22nd.

Fiddleheads unraveling into ferns pictured: