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.

Bagels and Mulch for all

We've been off to a bit of a slow start for Gardening at Montclair school this year, but yesterday we set things straight with a wonderfully hardy crew that got things going with a bang- our fall compost cleanup day was once again a pleasurable sight of people putting their muscle, sweat, and kindness directly into our school- not to mention having a little fun along the way.
Our big task of the day was a generous (~9 yard) supply of mulch that was donated to our school from Traveres Tree Service. This mulch is now spread throughout the floor of the friendship garden, between all the plants in the native garden, and on top of most of the soil at the front of the school. It was a lot of hard work and now that it has been dispersed everything looks great!
Meanwhile, we weeded and turned the soil in the beds for the friendship garden, and put a few more plants in the native garden, which is getting ready for it's school-wide unveiling on October 3rd.
If you missed this cleanup day, never fear! There are many ways of getting involved with the gardening program at our school, and there is talk of another cleanup day in just a few months. Kids are invited to come and help or just to ride their bikes and play. Bagels and Coffee and juice are served- these events are a wonderful way to build community and to help our school. The old phrase "many hands make light work" really applies on these days- so please, bring a friend!
And to those of you who did come for the Cleanup day-
THANK YOU!!!