Gardening in the fake-but-true NY Post

Yesterday my friends the Yes Men distributed thousands of copies of a fake-but-true NY Post, a completely realistic "special edition" all about global warming. Included in their articles is a short about Rooftop Farms in Brooklyn (NY's Oaktown). Urban farms such as these seem to be sprouting up all over right now. It's an exciting movement that helps limit our carbon-output while also letting people know where their food comes from. Count us in.

Fall Cleanup a Rousing Success

A great big Thank You to all of the wonderful people who came out and helped us get the garden prepped for a new school year, you guys are what keeps this program going. Our hard working volunteer crew meant business, and thanks to them we completed all of our lofty goals. We pulled all of the weeds (& mint) from the existing veggie beds, then added a good amount of soil to bring them up to within a child's reach. We also sanded, oiled and filled twenty 1/2 wine barrel that extend the garden and beautify our campus! A big thanks to the dad's club as they joined in the wine-barrel prepping - together we got it all done.

A special thanks as well to to Noah's Bagels, Nellie's Coffee, Thornhill Cafe & Lucky's Market for making food donations to our cleanup event.

If you missed out on the fun, don't worry- we're scheming up another one in a few months when we are hoping to revive (once again) our native garden. These are fun community-building events. Just check out the fine photos below!

The highlight of your weekend...

WORK DAY IN THE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN!

THIS SATURDAY THE 12TH; 9 AM - 1 PM

Come to get a little dirty and lend a hand as we beautify, modify and prepare the friendship garden best for the school year.

On our agenda:

* Clear debris & add fresh organic soil to the raised garden beds.

* Prepare, fill & place new soil in 1/2 wine barrels as additions to the garden beds

* Setup compost bins

* General improvements so the garden will be ready for the new year!

- Bagels, Coffee & Light Snacks generously donated by local merchants - available while they last.

- Recommended to bring: Gloves, a refillalbe water bottle, sun-block & tools (wheel barrow & shovel are especially helpful)

- QUESTIONS? Just ask Johnna Arnold or Lara Jealous

or send an email to montclair.compost@gmail.com

SEE YOU THERE!

Introductory Letter about our Program

Hello prospective volunteer! We at Montclair Elementary are lucky enough to have an organic raised bed vegetable garden as well as a beautiful California native garden for our students to use! When paired with some excellent volunteers and our wonderful long growing season, there is much fun and learning to be had. The COMPOST program has been established for many years but we are always looking for some new energy and ideas to make this one of the best garden years ever.

How can you get involved? There are many ways, but the most common is to work in your child’s classroom as their garden teacher. This works especially well in pairs, so you will hopefully find a garden buddy to share the job. The program is incredibly versatile (and fun!). You will need to meet with your partner and your child’s teacher to discuss what lessons in the garden are most appealing to you, as well as what works well with the established curriculum. You can then lead your child’s classroom activities as little as once a month or as often as once a week. The more time and energy you put into it, the more the students will get out of it.

We will have an introductory meeting a week or two after school begins. We also have many different books and web sites that can help you to come up with ideas for your class. We have folders that provide you with information on what some of classes before you have done. Ultimately the curriculum is up to you. The garden can be used to teach lessons in math, science, language arts & art, as well as just how to work as a group and where their food comes from… There are many options available and I firmly believe all are important and educational.

If you are not interested in teaching in a classroom, there are many other ways to help! We have big garden cleanup days twice (or three times) a year, on a Saturday morning. On these days we work to maintain the gardens, as well as beautify the campus with trees, bulbs, mulch, paint, etc. We would also love some secretarial help, as well as help with fundraising and grant writing. Meanwhile, if you see a spot on campus that needs some attention and you’ve got a great idea – run it past us, chances are we’ll think it’s great.

Below is a quote from Alice Waters, who explains the importance and strength of gardening in the schools beautifully. Ms. Waters has pioneered an integration of gardening and cooking into the Berkeley public schools with amazing success. At MLK Jr. High, all school lunches include ingredients grown by the students, on the campus. We would love to have the program gain momentum and influence within our community, but to do this we’ll need all the helping hands we can get.

“The aim of education is to provide children with a sense of purpose and a sense of possibility, and with skills and habits of thinking that will help them live in the world. A key way to learn these skills and habits is to learn how to eat well and how to eat right. A curriculum designed to educate both the senses and the conscience–a curriculum based on sustainable agriculture–will teach children their moral obligation to be caretakers and stewards of the finite resources of our planet. And it will teach them the joy of the table, the pleasures of real work, and the meaning of community.” -Alice Waters

Thanks! We’re looking forward to a great year.

- The Composters 2009: Johnna Arnold, Lara Jealous & Eric Veldhuizen

Novella Rocks

We COMPOST folks are big new fans of fellow-Oaklander Novella Carpenter, who's new book Farm City details her adventures while starting up a farm on squatted land in West Oakland. We are envious of her goats and chickens. We are admiring her get-up-and-get-to-it attitude. We think the idea cities hosting demonstration farms is brilliant. Best of all, we like that she wears an old flannel and does not do her dishes before TIME magazine comes over.

We're planning on checking out her farm in person on the 29th, when she'll be having an open-farm day. All are invited. You can check out the details here.

Upcoming School Garden Workshop

Growing Learning Communities:
Ideas & Connections for the New School Garden Year

Teams of 2-4 are encouraged. Teachers, parent volunteers, garden managers, community partners, or any other leader in your school garden program may come as part of your team.

Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009
Time: 9 A.M. - 2:30 P.M. (lunch provided)
Location: University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley
Directions and parking information may be found at: http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu

Large Group and Break-out Sessions will include:
Garden Curriculum and Support Resources
Considering the Elements and Making a Plan for the School Garden Year
Participant generated break-out session
Getting to Know our Local School Gardens and their programs
School Garden Activity Swap

Please be prepared to share briefly as a school team the characteristics of your school garden and the various ways it is used. If you have already been teaching in gardens, please bring an example of a successful activity you have done with youth in gardens to share. You are welcome to bring pictures or examples of the activity, or lead colloquium attendees to try their hand at an activity element with time permitting. (Time limit: 3 minutes.)


Please RSVP the following information (for each attendee):
School or Organization * Name * Position/Title
Years working in school gardens * Level of garden expertise
What is 1 topic you would like featured in the break-out session? (e.g. pest management; cooking ideas; parent involvement)

Send RSVP by Thursday, August 13 to:
Christine Manoux, UC Botanical Garden Education Coordinator
510-643-4832 or manoux@berkeley.edu

Michelle explains what it's all about

An insperational video of our first lady discussing the

White House vegetable garden with local school children.

Enjoy!

Spring Harvest Day for Mrs. Norris' Kindergarten

We had a great day in the garden today!  

The Garden Grows!

When we began the rejuvenation of the native garden, there were a lot of folks who were skeptical of it's ability to grow and thrive with so many children using it. It became a real irony; wanting to give the children the gift of a garden yet being afraid of what might happen to all of the plants once we did.

Our way of working with this was two fold:

1) Install a path and some stumps, so that children can jump and play in the garden.

2) Make sure that the students understood that this garden is a special place for them, one that needs to be treated with care in order to grow.

The great news is it worked! After four months of being open to the public, the garden is looking better than ever! (It also appears to be a pretty good spot for a game of hide-and-seek.)

Montclair Native Garden Grand Re-Opening

Last spring COMPOST was lucky enough to receive a grant from the California Department of Education to revive our existing California Native Garden! We quickly got to work: researching, re-designing and then re-planting the area across from our friendship garden.

And now- low and behold! We have a beautiful new green space with a plethora of flowers and plants (and hummingbirds!) growing nicely.

Now that the plants have had a chance to grow and settle into their new surroundings, we wanted to let the children in! So on Friday, December 5^th, we had an official opening in which each classroom had a 15minute guided tour. The day was a great success- it was wonderful to be able to walk small groups of children through our new space. The children learned about the different plants that are growing and about how they were used by native Americans. They were also taught that this new garden is a place for quiet play and careful feet- so that it can continue to grow and flourish and be shared by all.

The success of the day was largely due to the wonderful teachers at the UC Botanical garden who volunteered to help us with the classroom tours, as well as the wonderful parents who spent the day helping with introductions and explanations.

Now that this new space is open, please take some time to come check it out! Stroll on our lovely new boardwalk, check out the beautiful plants that are flourishing throughout the space, and ask your kids what they remember from their tour. There are maps available if you are interested in knowing what is planted where- just send me a message.
THANKS to all of our kind helpers for their support! The garden is a visible testament to what a community of people can do when they each take time out to work together. May it continue to grow and be a shared treasure for our school. A special thanks to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, Ploughshares Nursery, & our impromptu COMPOST committee: Eric Veldhuizen, Lara Jealous & Cathy Sharp - without all of their generosity the garden would still be bear.