L'Ecole Bilingue Summer Harvest!

By -



Students at L’École Bilingue harvested much of the spring crops they had planted on June 18th!  Grade 1s collected their giant sunflower plants to take home and care for in their own gardens.  Kindergarten students harvested their early potato crop and were surprised to find over 200 potatoes despite last yield of only 14. Grade 2 students pruned the garlic scapes off the tops of their plants in order to allow the bulbs to fully mature, while Grade 3 students harvested peas, corn mache (a type of lettuce) and basil.  A second Kindergarten class also harvested the following day, with nasturtiums, curly lettuces and kale collected in preparation for the next day’s harvest party. 



The students were brought out to the beds in small groups by UBC Student Teachers doing a Community Field Based Experience practicum, but the planting and care of the garden over the past few months had been done by students, parent volunteers and Marnie Newell of SPEC.  The harvest was the culmination of months of planting, watering, weeding, and much watching and waiting.  Students were thrilled to get their hands dirty, learn about the plants they were harvesting, and prepare the vegetables for shared consumption. 


The process was finished with all the classes in sharing and eating the crops! The 3rd grade class ate a salad from their combined mache, basil and peas and a scape vinaigrette, prepared by their classroom teacher Alison.  The Grade 2 students brought their scapes home for sharing with their families.  Students feasted on roasted potatoes and salad with scape vinaigrette. The students tasted the school garden’s bounty, with many enjoying second helpings of the salad and vinaigrette which they had initially been reluctant to try. 


New plants were planted by another Grade 3 class on Thursday where the potatoes had been, and plans are now underway for properly staking the summer crops that remain, covering the tomatoes to protect from blight, and creating a watering and weeding schedule among volunteer parents and students.

Popular posts from this blog

The Story of John Norquay: The School Garden Buzzzzing with Excitement

By SPEC School Gardens -
Image
At the Farm to School BC Spring Celebration, one of the schools SPEC works with, John Norquay Elementary, was awarded the highest award for a school garden. The Farm to School BC Pollinator Award recognizes Farm to School programs and school teams that act as pollinators within their community: buzzing around their gardens, kitchens and classrooms to build healthy food systems, transferring and sharing knowledge, fostering thriving learning environments, and supporting the development of young healthy “seeds”, who will grow up to one day offer the fruits of their labour back to the environment and community. 1 This esteemed award went specifically to John Norquay’s school garden committee, which includes Valeria Kao (parent volunteer), Linda De Jardin (grade 6/7 teacher), and Ivy Chang (K/1 teacher) as well as the involvement of many others at the school, such as Gary Loong (grade 5/6 teacher), the school librarian/resident garden carpenter, Mark  Warkentin , a very supportive cu
Read more

John Norquay Elementary Transplanting Session

By SPEC School Gardens -
Image
May 3rd What a beautiful, sunny day to be outside! Today, students transplanted their leafy greens into the garden boxes. We were very impressed with how well the boc choy grew. Unfortunately, the lettuce seeds struggled to grow, but that happens sometimes. The grade four class spent the hour adding compost to their garden box and planting new lettuce seeds. Check out the photos! 
Read more

Preparing for the Winter at Thunderbird Elementary

By SPEC School Gardens -
Image
For more details, click to go the SPEC website. Fall 2016: As the winter nears, and the rains pick up, students at our 10 schools have been busy getting the gardens ready for winter. The students cover each garden box with leaves to protect the soil from the cold and rain, to feed the worms, and to add fertility back into the garden so that we can have rich soil waiting for us in the Spring. TIP: Instead of putting your leaves in your green bin, you can use the leaves to mulch your garden over the winter, which protects the soil and adds nutrients back into the ground.
Read more