Our Kindergarteners started sunflower seeds indoors, watched them sprout, then transplanted them to the garden. First graders are making nectar for the butterfly feeder - their bed has pollinator-friendly perennial flowers, like purple coneflowers and shasta daisies. Second graders are planting the ingredients for a healthy salad: lettuce, carrots and cucumbers. The third grade theme is a pizza garden - they planted tomatoes, peppers, basil and oregano. Fourth graders planted corn, beans and squash for a Three Sisters garden. Fifth graders sampled the lovage, sage and mint in their Colonial Herb garden. Sixth graders planted a special gift for next year’s Kindergarteners: a mix of wildflowers native to this area, that I will make into bouquets in September, to welcome our newest students. Pre-K also has a bed, and their teachers helped them plant marigolds and tomatoes. Our younger students are enjoying our new “digging bed,” a space set aside to dig for whatever might be living in the soil. They’ve found many roly-polies there.
You’re welcome to visit the garden throughout the summer, to see what’s in bloom, and email me if you have any questions, or would like to help out.