Montclair Community- This Fall we jump started our new garden program by bringing on Ms.
Margaret Niles to teach garden classes to our children. She is engaging our little ones with the magic of the garden. We are working our smaller friendship garden while we wait for our larger main garden to be completed.
From Ms. Niles~ 11/5/13
Students in different grades have been sowing a variety of seeds-sugar snap
peas, bush beans, radishes, fava beans, onions, and calendula flowers. They have
planted cloves of organic garlic and spread bean seeds widely.
It’s time to make way in the garden for this cooler time of year and so
sunflowers, corn, and pumpkins have been harvested and seeds have been saved for
next year’s crops.
Third through fifth graders have been transplanting winter greens such as
kale, lettuce mixes, broccoli, cauliflower, and some less familiar vegetables such as
Bright Lights Chard.
Students have been learning about the different parts that make up a plant,
the role these parts play in the plant, and which parts we eat. It’s been a surprise to
discover that a pumpkin is actually the fruit of the plant, and similarly, a cucumber
or squash is really a fruit from a biological standpoint.
We are also learning that there are many more varieties of common fruits
and vegetables than what is available in the markets and about what’s in season
We will also be planting outside the Friendship Garden and inviting wildlife
to visit through lavender, rosemary and a dwarf pomegranate-all of which are
supposedly deer resistant…we shall see!
Please feel free to sign up to volunteer
with the volunteer coordinator, Kim Cardoso…the more hands on deck, the better!
