Veggie Bytes. Neighbors Growing Schools

Transcription

1 Veggie Bytes August October Volume 7 Issue 3 Neighbors Growing Schools What s Inside What s Growing 2 Recipe 2 Book Review and Activity 3 Magnolia Woods 4 Continued Magnolia Woods Elementary School students are welcomed back to school with a brand new learning garden. Funds for the garden were provided by a Lowes Founda on Toolbox for Educa on grant. Mrs. Arme a Wright, STEM resource coordinator and Principal, Ms. Kim Dipalma wrote and received the grant. Magnolia Woods faculty partnered with the local neighborhood associa on, The Magnolia Woods Civic Associa on to begin implemen ng the project. Civic Associa on member Dr. Steve Harrison, also a Professor at the LSU AgCenter and Kiki Fontenot, Assistant Professor at the LSU AgCenter partnered with teachers and Civic Associa on members to design and build an impressive raised bed garden. Con nued on page 5. Garden Games 4 Recent Flooding 5 Veggie Bytes 7.3 Page 1

2 What s Growing! AUGUST Direct seed: snap, lima, and bu er beans, beets, collard greens, cucumbers, le uce, mustard greens, okra, shallots, and turnips. Start seeds of: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and Chinese cabbage Transplant: cauliflower and tomatoes SEPTEMBER Direct seed: beets, broccoli and cauliflower (early in the month), carrots, collards, English and snow peas, kale, kohlrabi, leek, le uce, mustard, onion, radish, snap beans, Swiss chard, and turnips. Start seeds of: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and Chinese cabbage. Transplant: broccoli, cauliflower, shallots (bulbs) OCTOBER Direct Seed: beets, carrots, celery, collards, kale, kohlrabi, le uce, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, radishes, Swiss Chard Start seeds of: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage Transplant: broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, garlic (toes), shallots (bulbs) Le uce Forget the Bread Look no further for a delicious, no cook, healthy snack to share with your students. 1. Purchase a premade chicken salad from a grocery store 2. Pick full leaves of fresh grown le uce from the school garden. One leaf per student. 3. Place two spoonful's of the chicken salad into each le uce leaf. Allow students to roll the mixture up like a burrito and ENJOY! Discuss the food pyramid. How are we replacing a carbohydrate group with a fruit and vegetable group using this recipe? What other fruit and vegetables can be added (without cooking) to enhance this delicious snack? Hint: diced apple, sliced grapes, chopped onion, chopped sweet pepper, tomatoes, chopped celery and various herbs Veggie Bytes 7.3 Page 2

3 Book Review & Ac vity Five Li le Pumpkins by Iris Van Rynbach ISBN This is a deligh ul book for beginner level readers. The rhythmic tone of the book tells a story of five li le pumpkins and their evening adventure with trick ortreaters. This book is very helpful when introducing beginning readers to basic vocabulary and as a jumping off point to discuss ordinal numbers. Ac vity Pumpkins should be planted in late June to early July for harvest around Halloween. If you do not have pumpkins in the garden, this book is s ll useful. Discuss the five li le pumpkins and their placement on the gate: first, second, third, fourth and fi h. Bring the class to the garden. What else is planted? Allow students to work in groups. Provide each group with 20 popsicle s cks and markers. Have students label the popsicle s cks first through twen eth. Mix the s cks up and give them back to students. Have students place the popsicle s cks in the garden to show order or placement of plants. Veggie Bytes 7.3 Page 3

4 Garden Games Growing Gardens! Kathryn Kiki Fontenot, PhD 155 JC Miller Hall Baton Rouge, LA William B. Richardson, LSU Vice President for Agriculture Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service LSU College of Agriculture The LSU AgCenter is a statewide campus of the Magnolia Woods Con nued... LSU System and provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. The garden consists of 4 raised beds that are 4 feet wide, 16 feet long and 18 inches in depth. Addi onal phases planned for this garden include addi onal beds, a greenhouse, bu erfly garden and a small fruit orchard that will be installed later in the school year and as addi onal funds become available. Garden beds and shed were built and filled with soil by teachers, neighbors, and staff from the Lowes (Siegen Lane store Baton Rouge, La). The goal of the garden is to allow mul ple teachers at the school to teach mul sensory math and science ac vi es that acquaint students with fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs stated Magnolia Woods faculty. This garden project is an excellent example of neighbors, local businesses, schools and a University partnering to create an educa onal, hands on learning space for children. Veggie Bytes 7.3 Page 4

5 Flooded Garden? Unfortunately when a garden floods for more than several days plants o en die. If flood water quickly recedes, plants can survive. However, flood waters carry debris, sediment and pollutants. Unless you submit soil samples for everything under the sun, it is very difficult to know what made its way into the garden. In a school garden se ng, we should assume flood waters contained fecal ma er (fresh manures). That actually sounds good right? Don t people use manure to fer lize plants? Yes they do. But gardeners use aged manures (manure that is at least 6 months or older and has been properly composted). Fresh manures are rich in nutrients but may also contain bacteria that causes food borne illness. We will assume the flood water brought in fresh manure. What steps should I take to start gardening again? 1. Remove all debris from the garden area 2. Reinforce raised beds with new screws if flood waters shi ed the sidewalls 3. Power wash outsides of beds to remove scum 4. Take a soil sample for basic nutrients. Samples can be mailed to private labs or to the Soil Tes ng & Analysis Lab at the LSU AgCenter h p:// ng_lab 5. Amend soils with fer lizer if necessary (county agents can help read soil test results). 6. Till soils 7. Replant the garden. Assuming the flood water covered the en re garden, you ll want to wait 120 days a er the flood water recedes to harvest crops that come in direct contact with the soil (examples: carrots and potatoes). Wait 90 days to harvest crops not in contact with soil (examples: broccoli, and cauliflower). *** Assuming the flood water at your school receded in mid to late August, plant crops not in contact with the soil in early October. Wait to plant root crops and those that touch the soil in mid January or the early spring season. *** The LSU AgCenter extends its deepest sympathy to all schools, families and children affected by the recent floods. We know many of your are just star ng to rebuild and others are wai ng for waters to recede to assess damage. As you have me, please no fy Dr. Kiki Fontenot (kkfontenot@agcenter.lsu.edu) if your school s garden was damaged. We are working on gathering supplies to help schools that lost their gardens. Veggie Bytes 7.3 Page 5