Environmental Education Topic for November:
It might be fall, but the garden fun hasn't stopped. That's right! Put on your rain boots and go outside! There is still plenty to do in our Club gardens from removing annual vegetable plants (yeah, kids get to pull stuff!) to planting cover crops and bulbs, to mulching and composting. And don't forget a Harvest Fair. Check out North Seattle's Harvest Fair on November 19th for some good food and good ideas to bring back to your Club.
Activities
Remove Non-Producing Crops
Get the kids out in the dirt to pull out annual plants, weeds, and debris. Perhaps some of your veggies went to seed? Kids can collect seeds from pods and examine plant parts including roots, fruits, and leaves. What do these parts do? How do they function? Add pulled plants to the compost pile as long as they are disease free.
Plant Onion Sets and Garlic Cloves
Onions and garlic show up early in the spring and can inspire excitement for the garden as soon as the weather warms. Onion sets look like small onion bulbs and you can plant them in well tilled soil about 4-6 inches apart. To plant garlic cloves, buy a head of organic garlic, allow the kids to break it into cloves and plant each clove 3-4 inches deep and 4-6 inches apart in loose soil. Which side of the clove or onion set points down? How do you know? Mulch with compost on top.
Plant Cover Crops
Annual cover crops contribute to the health of your soil and the productivity of your spring and summer garden. These plants fix nitrogen, displace unwanted weeds, retain soil, provide flowers with nectar for beneficial insects, and provide organic matter that can be tilled under in the spring. Cereal rye, winter wheat, clover, and fava beans are excellent choices and can be purchased in bulk at City People's Garden Store. Fava beans not only fix nitrogen and break up compacted soil with a long tap root, they also have edible flowers! And the beans can be eaten as small peas, or harvested and dried for eating later. Plant them 4-5 inches apart, thinning to 8-10 inches, in rows 18-30 inches apart. They don't like to be planted with the onions or garlic though, so choose different beds for each.
Mulch Garden Beds With Leaves
Kids can collect leaves and spread them on garden beds not growing a cover crop. Burlap bags can be used to hold down the leaves. As the leaves decompose they release nutrients into the soil. You can also make a wire frame leaf bin. Like a compost bin this will allow the leaves to break down throughout the winter and in the spring you will have a nice pile of leaf mold that acts as a fertilizer. Mmmm moldy.
Hold a Harvest Fair
Combine your thanksgiving meal give-aways with a Harvest Fair. North Seattle will be inviting families to an evening of learning, eating, and celebrating their Club garden. Families will receive recipes for produce that can be grown at the Club or at home and a local chef will demonstrate some easy vegetable meals. The kids in the fall LEAP! garden program will teach other kids how to plant seeds for indoor herb gardens and they will distribute their illustrated How-to-Garden guide.
Though most of the produce is now gone from many of the Club gardens, herbs can still be harvested and dried. Kids can collect and dry herbs that might be used in holiday meals. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Hehe! Include recipes for stews, soups, and stuffing that use the herbs. Kids can decorate the recipes with drawings and help distribute their harvest. The kids are the educators and providers. It is so powerful for them to take this role and contribute to the health of their community.
Though most of the produce is now gone from many of the Club gardens, herbs can still be harvested and dried. Kids can collect and dry herbs that might be used in holiday meals. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Hehe! Include recipes for stews, soups, and stuffing that use the herbs. Kids can decorate the recipes with drawings and help distribute their harvest. The kids are the educators and providers. It is so powerful for them to take this role and contribute to the health of their community.
