Hello Everyone!
Redirect yourself to my NEW teacher website.
This one is old and out of date, but still some fun blog posts that I may not be moving over...so feel free to peruse!! Just don't blame me for the user UNfriendly interface.
/Q
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Summer Volunteers Needed!
The Sagan Satellite is a raised-bed vegetable and herb
garden built in the Spring of 2013 with the help of the local community, Avanti
students, and the non-profit GRuB.
The garden was built as a supplementary learning and growing space (a
‘satellite’) to the larger Madison-Avanti Giving Garden located behind Madison
Elementary school. We are hoping
to grow enough produce in the garden for at least a few of the FarmStand events
next year. We are still a new
garden, however, and need your help!
We need volunteers to help take care of the garden over the summer by
watering, weeding, and harvesting (take what you will eat and the rest goes to
the Food Bank!). Interested?
Come to the Volunteer Orientation on Saturday, June 14th 10:00am - 1:00pm w/ coffee and snacks!
^We will learn the basics of how to care for the garden, get familiar with the space and tools, and help a student build Pollinator Habitat Boxes for her Girl Scout Gold Award project.
Come to the Volunteer Orientation on Saturday, June 14th 10:00am - 1:00pm w/ coffee and snacks!
^We will learn the basics of how to care for the garden, get familiar with the space and tools, and help a student build Pollinator Habitat Boxes for her Girl Scout Gold Award project.
Summer Job Duties:
Watering
Hand watering using
rain-collector cistern and watering cans
Weeding
Using hand tools and a
binder to identify common weeds.
No experience necessary!
Harvesting
The fun part! When produce
seems ready, take home what you can eat, donate the rest to Thurston CountyFood Bank
Sign up for a week! qsurprise@osd.wednet.edu
Ready
to get started?!
- Attend the orientation for volunteers from 10:00am – 1:00pm on Saturday, June 14th in the Sagan Satellite
- 3111 Legion Way SE
- Olympia, WA 98502
- Side of Knox Building beside the Madison Elementary School parking lot
- Sign up for one week in the summer
- You (and whoever you bring along!) will be responsible for the garden during that week
- Visit the garden once or twice every day (if you can): early morning or evening is best
Tips
for you week:
- Tools found in the locked shed. Please put all tools away (make sure they are not wet and are fairly clean)
- If needles found: adults may carefully dispose of: place in a hard plastic container with a lid. Email Quasar: qsurprise@osd.wednet.edu
- Harvested something completely? Need to plant more? Check our planting guide in the shed! Seeds are there too!
- Document your visit in the Garden Journal found in the tool shed (time/date, what you did, if you harvested or planted anything)
- Have fun!! Gardening can help you meditate, relax, and give you a positive outlook for the day.
The Climate Around Us
Sophie again!
We are extremely fortunate to be living in such a luscious, moist climate that is minimally drastic in its changes. Because of our seaside location, in the winter and summer months the winds from the ocean bring cool air across the Northwest. A unique trait of the Pacific coast is that it is protected against inland weather patterns because of the Cascade mountains. There are 7 main zones, each one with its own characteristics. Below is a map that I have drawn depicting these zones (as adapted from:
Elliott, C., & Peterson, R. (2000). Maritime Northwest Garden Guide. Seattle, WA: Tilth.)
We are extremely fortunate to be living in such a luscious, moist climate that is minimally drastic in its changes. Because of our seaside location, in the winter and summer months the winds from the ocean bring cool air across the Northwest. A unique trait of the Pacific coast is that it is protected against inland weather patterns because of the Cascade mountains. There are 7 main zones, each one with its own characteristics. Below is a map that I have drawn depicting these zones (as adapted from:
Elliott, C., & Peterson, R. (2000). Maritime Northwest Garden Guide. Seattle, WA: Tilth.)
Friday, May 16, 2014
A Splash of Color
Hello!
Sophie D. here, reporting to you on a collective project in the
Madison-Avanti Giving Garden. I chose to re-paint the picnic benches, as they
were fading and had been through a pretty hard beating from the weather. I
wanted to do this because the garden is so beautiful, and I love that I can
contribute to it’s aesthetics. Also I saw it as an opportunity for my peers and
I to have some artistic release and freedom to create something that others can
enjoy and use.
Despite
the rainy gray weather we had on Saturday, 3 of my friends and the wonderful
Sustainable Agriculture teacher, Quasar, came ready to work. We sanded down the
tables, shared a few laughs as well as cookies, and created some beautiful
artwork. It was definitely a team effort, and many paint stains later I am
proud to say it was a complete success. Thanks to all that contributed.
Monday, May 5, 2014
FarmStand: April 2014
Students from Madison Elementary School participated in a wonderful FarmStand this past month (thank you amazing and dedicated parent volunteers!). Students were shown how to make (and tasted!) .....RADISH smoothies!! Then classes were taken to the produce stand where they chose from a variety of fresh produce:
A great success! Strengthening our community, encouraging healthy eating habits, and promoting sustainable behaviors...one FarmStand at a time!
- Radishes: grown by our very own Olympia High School BearGRuB (thanks guys!)
- Carrots
- Apples
- Dinosaur Kale
- Sugar Snap Peas
A great success! Strengthening our community, encouraging healthy eating habits, and promoting sustainable behaviors...one FarmStand at a time!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Sooo...What's up with all the cardboard in the lawn?
Perhaps you have been by the Knox school district building or the new-and-improved Madison Elementary School. And perhaps you noticed that the side-entrance lawn to Avanti High School/Knox is COVERED in CARDBOARD!
You would be correct, my observant friend.
This is all part of a well thought-out plan to transform the lawn into an outdoor garden classroom and community workshop space. The process involves sheet-mulching using a series of layers of carbon-rich materials (like cardboard, dead leaves, bark chips, burlap, straw) and nitrogen-rich materials (fresh grass clippings, compost, hay) in order to create a 'lasagna' of materials (hopefully with a C:N ratio of 30:1) that will decompose and provide for a usable layer of soil for gardening.
The transformation form lawn to garden will proceed as follows:
Step 1. Poke holes in the ground (to gain access to all those awesome microorganisms in the soil) and lay down the lasagna of carbon and nitrogen-containing materials.
Step 2. Wait.
Step 3. In the spring, create a clearly defined path using burlap and wood chips
Step 4. Avanti students design the garden layout using knowledge of sustainable practices in agriculture: plants adapted for our region and microclimate, companion planting, water-conserving irrigation, nitrogen-fixing plants, pollinator-attractors, etc.
Step 5. Plant using above-ground containers, bean tepees, trellises, and directly into the ground
Step 6. Harvest and use for school purposes and/or donate to the Thurston County Food Bank
Other aspects of the space that are not necessarily included on a step-by-step timeline, but will occur at
various times in the Sagan Satellite:
--Host community workshops for the Olympia School District (seed-saving, preserving, etc.)
--Utilize the abundance of hands-on science opportunities provided by the garden
--Various Avanti school teachers may decide to conduct their classes in the Satellite
--Partnerships and collaborative learning with Madison Elementary School (already underway at the parent garden: the Madison-Avanti Giving Garden)
Questions regarding the future of the Sagan Satellite?
Please email mz.frazzle@gmail.com
Stay rad! Plant food!
/Quasar
You would be correct, my observant friend.
This is all part of a well thought-out plan to transform the lawn into an outdoor garden classroom and community workshop space. The process involves sheet-mulching using a series of layers of carbon-rich materials (like cardboard, dead leaves, bark chips, burlap, straw) and nitrogen-rich materials (fresh grass clippings, compost, hay) in order to create a 'lasagna' of materials (hopefully with a C:N ratio of 30:1) that will decompose and provide for a usable layer of soil for gardening.
The transformation form lawn to garden will proceed as follows:
Step 1. Poke holes in the ground (to gain access to all those awesome microorganisms in the soil) and lay down the lasagna of carbon and nitrogen-containing materials.
Step 2. Wait.
Step 3. In the spring, create a clearly defined path using burlap and wood chips
Step 4. Avanti students design the garden layout using knowledge of sustainable practices in agriculture: plants adapted for our region and microclimate, companion planting, water-conserving irrigation, nitrogen-fixing plants, pollinator-attractors, etc.
Step 5. Plant using above-ground containers, bean tepees, trellises, and directly into the ground
Step 6. Harvest and use for school purposes and/or donate to the Thurston County Food Bank
Other aspects of the space that are not necessarily included on a step-by-step timeline, but will occur at
various times in the Sagan Satellite:
--Host community workshops for the Olympia School District (seed-saving, preserving, etc.)
--Utilize the abundance of hands-on science opportunities provided by the garden
--Various Avanti school teachers may decide to conduct their classes in the Satellite
--Partnerships and collaborative learning with Madison Elementary School (already underway at the parent garden: the Madison-Avanti Giving Garden)
Questions regarding the future of the Sagan Satellite?
Please email mz.frazzle@gmail.com
Stay rad! Plant food!
/Quasar
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