Bird Watching

The garden is closed for the winter. Our fifth grade science club worked hard before winter break to cut back the perennials, clear the vegetable beds and store the benches and summer feeders. Thanks, fifth graders! Even though our garden looks very bare right now, we are still enjoying the bird feeding station. We've recently spotted three new birds:

 black-capped chickadee
(poecile atricapilla)

dark-eyed junco
(junco hyemalis)

northern cardinal
(cardinalis)














I wonder what other birds will frequent our feeders this winter? What birds are you attracting in your garden?

A Fall Garden Update

 
Our fourth grade students have learned so much by raising and harvesting their own fall vegetables. We not only observed the life cycle of plants but also the life cycle of a cabbage worm. We ensured our plants had their proper basic needs. We also demonstrated excellent cooperative skills while planting tending and harvesting our garden.










The taste testing has probably been their favorite part. The red leaf cabbage was a little too bitter. The cabbage was delicious though! 











Our swiss chard and head lettuce are coming in slowly but should be ready for harvesting next week. We can't wait!



KY's First Lady, Mrs. Beshear, visits our garden

The garden was in tip-top shape on the day of the visit. Many thanks to the teams of students and teachers that helped to complete projects and tidy up our space!

The students worked on various projects while Mrs. Beshear toured the garden.

Mrs. Beshear answered student questions and discussed the importance of green and healthy initiatives within the school system.

local news coverage:

http://wkyt.videogenesis.net/preview?beginminute=19.6&endminute=20.5&startfield=19%3A36&endfield=20%3A30&synapses=yes&showstring=20111004_0500-065-27_Newsfirst_at_5AM&vote=none&interval=unknown&station=WKYT&btrim=0&etrim=0

our story on the district's website: 

http://www.fcps.net/news/features/2011-12/first-lady-garden

Thank you, Lowe's!

 I want to take a moment to thank our friends at Lowe's. They have been invaluable in the development of our garden. Our $5,000 Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant allowed us to purchase tools, plants and materials to begin the first three zones of our garden space--the storage area, our butterfly and bird garden and the raised beds. Thank you, Lowe's!!

I also want to thank store number 2345 (Lowe's of Northeast Lexington on Grey Lag Way in Hamburg). They were always willing to help me find the correct products within the store and when that wasn't possible, from the website. They never showed any signs of frustration when I would approach the counter, even though I'd always have pages of purchase orders to go through. On top of all that, they gave us free delivery on all large items and free installation of our shed. Thank you to Jeremy, one of the assistant managers, for organizing all of our freebies.

     We love Lowe's!

To Catch a Hummingbird

We put up a hummingbird feeder during our Saturday work day in July. I spotted our first hummingbird by that very next Monday. We've been seeing them regularly ever since.











Of course, the hard part is trying to photograph one with a basic digital camera.

The students feel so lucky when their class happens to be in the lab and a hummingbird visits outside our window. These students have learned about different animal structures and how they contribute to survival. They are discussing the shape of the hummingbird's beak.

fall garden

 

We finished our fall beds today! We planted lettuces, cabbages, chinese broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi and mini pumpkins within two raised beds. The fourth grade classes are following a variation on the "square foot gardening" method. They had to map out their planting plan on a coordinate grid using the spacing information on the plant tag. We're a bit worried we may have a bit too much compost in our soil mixture so I hope the nitrogen levels aren't too high. We'll learn important lessons either way, but it sure is more fun to learn a lesson with a bowl of fresh veggies you've grown yourself. Fingers crossed!



Appreciation

Thank you to Mr. Edwards, Luci's dad, for donating and delivering compost for our raised beds!