Students from Longfellow Elementary, Salida Middle School and Horizon’s Exploratory Academy have been working throughout the spring to transform their gardens into a thing of beauty once again! Each of the 3 SSD garden sites have seen many enthusiastic students throughout the past few weeks. Here is a recap of some of the highlights:
Longfellow Elementary students assist with weeding the pumpkin patch bed.
· At the Longfellow Elementary garden, 16 classes from K-4th grade, have engaged in spring seed planting activities and bed prep over the last few weeks. Lessons in plant life cycles, climate, and seasonal changes in the garden are woven into each visit. A new rock lined bed was constructed and will house some flowering bushes and a variety of pollinator attracting plants. All the beds and garden grounds were cleaned up and debris removed. Soil amendments and mulch were purchased and added to several beds. Through funding from SOSS, materials, supplies, garden library books, binders holding lesson plans, garden activities and resources have been purchased and will soon be at the students and their teacher’s finger tips and arranged on shelving in the garden shed. Lake Valley Seeds in Boulder donated a huge box of seeds for the garden. Thanks Lake Valley Seeds! Check out the new hummingbird feeder the next time you are near!
· At the Salida Middle School garden, the 5th grade classes have been assisting with annual bed prep in anticipation of spring planting. Spring starts were planted and are growing in the classroom. A few new bird houses and hummingbird feeders were purchased and will soon be hanging in the garden. One class participated in a “Poetry in the Garden” lesson and tried their hand at writing garden Haiku. We received a generous donation of seeds from Botanical Interests to grow in the SMS garden this year. Thank you Botanical Interests!
Horizons Exploratory students plant onions.
· A huge thanks goes out to Horizon’s Exploratory Academy students for all their efforts at the Holman Farm site. Mrs. Ceglowski’s class has been working twice a week for the last month to plant beds, weed, prep, lay irrigation, water, and provide a variety of other essential garden needs. The success of all three of our garden sites relies on the district-wide efforts of our students and their teachers.