2014 Lettuce Harvest Bounty

 LETTUCE is coming out of our ears!!  Almost 70 pounds of lettuce was harvested by our students in very cold conditions.  They were very dedicated to getting it to the plate before we lost the crop to freezing temps.  We ate about half at the luncheon and brought the rest to the Rising Hope Shelter on Rt 1.  http://www.risinghopeumc.org/ministry2.php

Click on the link to view totals for our harvest by grade level.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xVI8pmqF-PCzIqIlyyvHwCv2nBkr9pVeNBr9pW_I2yM/edit?usp=sharing
Feel free to pull these numbers out for some real world math problem solving :))

Thanks for all your cooperation and support with scheduling and harvesting on those coldest days of the year -so far!
THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED ON LUNCHEON DAY!  WE COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU :))

Lettuce Harvest Time!

I know- I know!  Polar Air Mass is coming so let's get the kids outside to freeze their fingers off while harvesting lettuce!!  It's character building :)

Refer to the calendar on the right to see when your student's
class is harvesting!  Dress them warm that day!

Also, you are welcome to come and lend an extra set of hands for harvesting and/or washing lettuce!
You may sign in at the front office for garden duty and then meet us in the working garden if you would like to harvest.

We will be in the cafeteria kitchen every day at ~2:30 until dismissal washing lettuce in the big sinks.  Join us when you can!

I got some great Fall plant care advice from my friends at the HollinHills Garden Club.

I definitely have run into problems bringing in plants from my porch that have been out all summer.  I used this concoction last week and brought plants in.  They are looking good and I haven't had an outbreak of any spiders in the house!

HOMEMADE INSECTICIDAL SOAP

Houseplants that spent the summer outside should come inside now (if they have not already been brought in ).  Before you bring them in, it's a good idea to inspect them for diseases and pests.  This inexpensive, homemade recipe will help prevent many plant pests, such as scale, from spreading in the more crowded space inside your home. If you use it inside your house, make sure to protect floors and furniture. The solution will drip off plants.

1 quart water

1 tsp liquid dish detergent (Dawn or generic brand)

3 tbsp isopropyl alcohol 70%

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and use as you would a commercial insecticidal soap. 

For scale on houseplants: spray one section of the plant at a time generously, saturating the entire leaf, including the underside. Then carefully wipe each leaf with a moistened cloth to remove the scale and sticky residue. Go leaf by leaf. This can be time consuming, but is the most effective way to use the soap solution. Make sure you get the stem, too, and all the nooks and crannies.

We are "famous" :)

We had a nice little write up on the FCPS website! 

by Laura Wells

Service Learning Resource Teacher

Fairfax County Public Schools

571-423-4772

lcwells@fcps.edu

We are looking forward to showing her how many pounds of lettuce we can harvest!! ;)

Harvest Time! Centreville ES and Hollin Meadows ES

It’s fall, which means Harvest Time at many school gardens around the county. Fifth and sixth grade students at Centreville ES harvested over 10 pounds of lettuce and two bags of other greens from their school’s garden to donate to the Katherine Hanley Family Shelter for homeless families. Check out the link to see more pictures of the students and their delicious produce!

     

To learn more about life cycles, measurement and comparison, the Hollin Meadows Head Start students recently harvested 50 pounds of sweet potatoes from their school garden.  Students learned about what insects make their garden home, what a plant needs to grow, and how everyone in the Hollin Meadows community benefits from the school garden. There was a lot of excitement and “look what I found!” The sweet potatoes will be roasted and shared with everyone at the school, so that everyone can learn to enjoy eating fresh, healthy vegetables. Coming up in November: lettuce, kale, and spinach!

     

Lessons in the Garden!

One of my favorite things about this job is bringing our youngest students out and setting them free to explore!!  The Kinders curriculum is so full of lessons that are brought to life by coming out to the garden.  Their topics in the fall are Apples, Ants, Pumpkins and Squirrels!  Yikes-they might as well just spend the whole day outdoors!  WHAT- that is truly crazy-garden-teacher-talk ;)  Last week, the classes came out with their scientific tools(clipboards, pencils, and magnifying glasses) to study ants carrying sugar crystals twice as big as their heads back to their colonies.
This week is pumpkin study and lots of talk about life cycles and big orange fruit.  The number of things that can be made with delicious pumpkin flavors is endless(just go to Trader Joe's for proof).  When the students come to the garden, and can actually touch the plant to realize the texture and see all of the parts of a squash plant working together, it all clicks in their adorable brains.
"Kiss your Brains my friends!!"

 


 

Did You KNOW?!

I was just made aware of a situation in our community that troubles me greatly. I feel I might have to turn in my environmental steward card for missing this!

Please take a look and take action if you are so inspired- Thank you!

Since 2000 and for several years since then including 2013 and 2014, Fairfax Co., Virginia, has conducted an aerial (while not following guidelines set by the insecticide company to account for DRIFT) and ground insecticide spraying program that targets a native moth caterpillar called the fall cankerworm(little green inchworm).  Unfortunately, all butterfly and moth caterpillars that are out at the time of spraying, or that emerge while the insecticide persists on leaves or needles, are vulnerable to being killed by the insecticide.  Caterpillars are an important food source for birds that migrate through Fairfax Co. and for birds that breed and raise their young here, and also provide food for beetles, bats and other wildlife.   It should be noted that the spraying is conducted during peak migration season for songbirds--they arrive hungry and tired, and are following historically-reliable insect supplies up the East Coast.  We have put together a list of 65 breeding birds and 39 migrating birds that we believe could be harmed by the insecticide spraying, based on the presence of the birds in our area at the time of spraying as well as their diet and foraging habits: http://www.audubonva.org/images/pdfs/FCWAppCBirds.pdf  

(This year, the spraying took place on April 28 and May 1, 2014.)

The native caterpillar targeted by the spraying program poses no risk to human health or safety but unfortunately is perceived as a "nuisance" pest.  

Also, while the insecticide used is made from a naturally occurring soil bacterium, the commercial product of this insecticide is comprised primarily of undisclosed, secret ingredients (87%).   (More info on the Audubon web page.) 

This is a budget issue- the county has a line item amount that is designated to the Forestry dept. every year to pay for the spraying. The money is coming from property tax!! I don't want to pay for the killing of the caterpillars in the Mount Vernon area!! 

Please write a letter or call your county supervisor

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/board/board-of-supervisors-flyer.pdf 

to ask them to stop spraying insecticides for a "nuisance" caterpillar in Fairfax County. They are lacking research and any knowledge on how this is impacting the biodiversity and food chains of our ecosystem. The research they present in answer to questions actually proves the detrimental effect it has on bird populations. This program was implemented to placate a few members of the community who were complaining about the caterpillar in their back yards.

Various conservation organizations oppose this County insecticide spraying program:

•Audubon Society of Northern Virginia

•North American Butterfly Association

•Friends of Dyke Marsh

•Friends of Huntley Meadows Park

•Friends of Mason Neck State Park

•Friends of Meadowood

•Northern Virginia Bird Club

Thank you so much for your time and consideration! Let's make our voices count! I will follow up with more information as it becomes available to me.  

a photo of a magnolia warbler eating a fall cankerworm.  The photo was taken on May 12, 2013 by Dr. Ed Eder

Pre-K Sweet Potato Harvest

#50 Harvest!  Counting, measuring, weighing
 and estimating
 lessons for the rest of the school!

There are not enough ways to say the word "sweet"!

Everyone is elbow deep searching for potatoes!

Ms Tangen and Ms Keita have their hands full with an enthusiastic group :)

Lettuce seeds are Planted!

We are turning a 100% profit on our lettuce plantings this fall!  One of our parents intercepted a worker at a gardening center taking all their seeds to the dumpster :P  She acted quickly and decisively and saved us $100 on seeds for fall planting.  I should be able to use the spring planting seeds as well.  I will just have to check for germination early in the year to make sure it is all still viable but not a bad trade-off for an underfunded program!

I am also excited to say that all of those lettuce, spinach and kale seeds are safely in the ground and sprouting their delicious leaves for our Fall Luncheon.  All of our students (~645) have been through the gardens for a lesson and planting.  They will monitor and measure growth over the next couple of months and then harvest to share with our community in November.

Native Plant Sale!

Here is a link to a great Native Plant Sale that happens twice a year!  This fall is Saturday, Sept. 27th- Don't miss out for great selection and varities!

http://www.northernalexandrianativeplantsale.org/

Happy Shopping!!

First Volunteer Work Day of the School Year!

While we were all enjoying what seemed like a very short summer –the gardens were doing what they do best –growing like crazy!  COME SEE during the first Second Sunday Work Day in the Garden on Sunday, September 14^th from 1 to 3 p.m. 

Come out when you can and help us clear beds for lettuce planting, move a trellis, paint a chalkboard, and enjoy end of summer bounty in the garden!!!  Plus –we missed you, so come meet up with friends & make some new ones.  And please pass this along to new families so they can learn about one of the truly special treasures at Hollin Meadows. 

Cool water & a snack will be provided.  Hope to see you there!  JoAnne Martinez-Shriver(volunteer coordinator for garden activities)

Welcome Back!

My school brain is slowly grinding into motion-kind of like getting my teenager out of bed!

It has been a fabulous summer season in the garden!  Summer school harvested pounds of produce and put on a fun market day.

A HUGE Thanks to family helpers that weeded, watered and harvested.  They made this summer garden season very productive.
Moery Family
Mulvaney Family
Shriver Family
Brian Newburn
Burnett Family
Mrs Ransom
Ms Biczo

Take a walk through the garden and take a look at what a little sun, rain, and Nature's systems can produce.
Be sure to taste some Ground Cherries and look for the pumpkin :)

Summer students refreshing their flower part knowledge.

A day in July.

Summer time chores :)

Summer work in the gardens has begun! Please sign up to help me water and harvest some of the yummy- local, organic-produce! All it will cost is a little relaxing time spent in the garden pulling some weeds and watering You set your own hours!

Please sign up for Summer Gardens - here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

   1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/dbyfkU
   2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot) 
   3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Fairfax Times Article by Kate Yanchulis

Published: Thursday, May 29, 2014Hollin Meadows plants the seeds for education by Kate Yanchulis
Staff Writer
Jen Finnegan walks through one of many garden areas at Hollin Meadows Elementary.

The school’s outdoor education coordinator, who students and teachers alike call “Farmer Finnegan,” checks on peas, tomatoes and strawberry plants as she walks. She stops and crouches to check the first green leaves of a new potato plant poking through the soil.

“This is my favorite time of the year, when stuff just starts to poke out,” Finnegan said. “There’s always a moment of doubt when you have 25 first-graders throwing seeds in the ground.”

Finnegan manages the more than 14,000 square feet of gardens that cover the campus of the Alexandria school. As a Science and Math Focus school in the Fairfax County school system, Hollin Meadows makes outdoor learning a key part of education for the more than 600 students it serves.

But four years ago, the school almost lost its leafy green centerpiece.

The school district made plans to cut its funding of focus programs starting with the 2011-12 school year. For Hollin Meadows, that included everything under the umbrella of its Science and Math Focus program, including its science and math resource teachers, its outdoor education coordinator and the money to maintain its gardens.

“Parents really didn’t want to see this go away,” Finnegan said. “If this goes away, we become just like any other school.”

When Finnegan first came to Hollin Meadows as a parent when her family moved to Fairfax County in 2009, she said she did not realize what she was getting in Hollin Meadows.

“Coming in as a new parent, you don’t even realize what’s going on,” Finnegan said. “Then slowly you see what this community has built.”

The school’s principal, Jon Gates, worked closely with parents in establishing the garden in 2004. The school was searching for a touchstone to set its science programs apart, and parents took ownership of the initiative. One parent even stepped up to serve as the outdoor education coordinator, which started as a volunteer post before becoming a part-time staff position in 2007.

A naturalist and nature educator, Finnegan quickly got caught up in the gardens herself. She started by volunteering for the former outdoor education coordinator, then applied for the job herself when her predecessor made plans to leave. But as she was applying for the job in 2011, the program’s fate remained up in the air.

The school community came together to start the Hollin Meadows Partnership for Science and Math Education in the fall of 2010, when their program went on the chopping block. Parents furiously raised money throughout the year, trying to raise the $170,000 needed to keep the science programs and the gardens intact.

The effort succeeded, and it has continued each year since then, as the Partnership continues to support the Science and Math Focus program. The money is donated to the school as a lump sum and cannot be earmarked for a particular purpose, but it is this money that allows the programs to continue, Gates said.

This year, the Partnership is hosting its fourth annual “Seeds of Today” fundraiser gala Saturday at 7 p.m., featuring a live and silent auction. Tickets for the gala cost $75 and can be purchased through the partnership’s website.

That the fundraising effort has not fizzled out is a tribute to the close relationship of the school and the community, Gates said.

“With schools, you always have a turnover and a transition of families,” Gates said. “To see that this keeps going, it shows that this effort wasn’t dependent on one group of families. This will continue. It’s now our identity.”

The school’s goal is not only to teach students through the garden, but also to inspire other schools to follow their lead.

“We try to establish ourselves as a replicable model,” Finnegan said. “Gardens can provide a real-world connection for so many subjects - science, social studies, math. Just start small, and you can really see it grow.”

kyanchulis@fairfaxtimes.com

Earth Day 2014

Play Hard and Work Harder!
Thank YOU for supporting our HM Garden.

Bug Habitat build by Gary Porter and Cord Luby.

-Sushi demo by Whole Foods-

-HM Grown Seedling Sale-

-Chesapeake Natives Plant Sale Vendor-

Working hard! Eric, Mary and Sue

Craft area- Plant a Seed and Send an Earth Day Message!  Look for our bags hanging in the Whole Foods on Duke Street.

   

Maple Avenue Market brought our Chicks to visit!

Guitar Music provided by Austin Loan and Dustin Chapman from WPHS.

Our new Little Free Library-check it out and donate a book!

So much mulch- so little time :)

HM Earth Day 2014

April 26th 2014

10am-2pm

Earth Day 2014 promises to be a fun-filled day!  We have some partners coming to visit to make our day special.  Chris Guerre:  http://www.mapleavenuemarket.com/  will be bringing a few of our chickens back to visit!  Whole Foods will be doing a healthy food demo.  Arcadia's Mobile Market:  http://arcadiafood.org/programs/mobile-market will be parked out front showing off their amazing program and how they bring fresh food to our area food deserts.  Chesapeake Natives:  http://www.chesapeakenatives.org/Chesapeake_Natives/Plants_we_sell.html  will be on site and selling pots of native plants and answering your plant questions.

We have been coaxing along some very tiny seedlings in our little greenhouse and hope that they will be strong enough to be sold to a new home by April 26th!  Crafts, food and music will round out our entertainment while those that choose can do some good old calorie burning labor!

The intent behind this day at our school is to bring together our community to beautify our grounds and make any updates or improvements that require some people power! We also want to have a chance to show off our great garden program and give you all time to experience first-hand the joy of working in the garden.

Please sign up for Earth Day 2014 - here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

   1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/6WCivz
   2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot) 
   3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Volunteer-because it IS a BIG DEAL!

I am home and showered and sliver extracted from belly (how did that happen?).  I am fresh off of another Sunday afternoon of hosting a volunteer work day in our school gardens. Today was an "extra" to make up for all the cancellations after this very snowy winter in NOVA.  Too start: I am not an exuberant hostess who can gush and stroke egos and make people feel warm and fuzzy.  Sometimes, I might go as far as to offend my volunteers with an "off comment".  Those that know me, know that I am joking and throw it back at me.  It is usually too late when I realize they don't know me as well as I have imagined. (I digress)

What I do say, when I am thinking and remembering that I am the hostess; "You all are AWESOME!"  "Thank you sooo much!"  The reply of these volunteers is most likely; "No problem."  "It was my pleasure."  "It's no big deal."  That's my favorite one.  It IS A BIG DEAL.  You all came out here on a not so warm day, on a Sunday afternoon, to do manual labor that no one else wants to do.  In particular, a job that I have procrastinated because I hate it so much!

Now the job is DONE!  In only one hour; JoAnne, Rob, Liz, Noah, Jen, Marie, Vicki, and Jaden have finished a task that I couldn't even think about because I dread it so.  I am always amazed at the amount of work a handful of motivated and hard working people can get done in a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon.  By the end of the time, I am usually making stuff up to keep them all busy!

So, my point,  VOLUNTEER!  For those things that -maybe- someone else will do and -probably- will get done without you.  But when you do show up it makes ALL the difference to that program and makes the job that much easier for everyone.

Also, we used a power tool that has made this job my new favorite task in the gardens :))

Rooster or a Hen?

We went for a visit to Chris and Sara Guerre's farm this weekend and visited the, now almost 4 week old, chicks.  They are looking spectacular and gangly with all their new feathers and gigantic feet :)  I have to say, the beaks are the most impressive to me.

They are staying warm in a special out building that has been insulated and heated with a space heater.  In just a few more weeks they will be ready to move to the "big hen" coop.  It is fun trying to guess which ones are going to be roosters and which hens. We thought we might have heard a tiny crow while we were sitting with them in their brooder.  But it was hard to think that is even possible!  With some breeds, you can tell right away by the color of the chick what gender they are.  With these Ameracaunas it is a little trickier and mainly a waiting game.  Some of chicks are already growing combs, are they the roosters?!

Our Librarian, Mrs. McKee, had entirely too much fun with our little fuzzy friends!  We will be sad to see them head back to the farm on Friday!

CHICKS!

26 Chicks from our 41 eggs!  These are some of the first pictures we took.  The chicks have taken to food and water like pros.  One more week of students asking fascinating questions about chickens and life in general :)

It is Chicken Mania around the halls of Hollin Meadows!  We have eggs incubating in the library and the questions and thinking it is generating in all the students and staff is exciting.  We are curious about what is happening inside the eggs every day and very impatient for those little peepers to start peeping!  Fairfax County School District used to have a program in place and a farmer that supplied 4,000 eggs to all the 1st grade classrooms.  It is not part of the standard curriculum at this time; but we have found soooo many applications and tie-ins at all levels of learning that we want it to be a regular part of our year!  The second graders are practicing real life application of all the measurement tools they have learned to use in science.  The first grade is bringing all their bird knowledge into the mix as well as getting a head start on learning about life cycles.  The third grade is bringing in their ancient civilization studies (because the chicken harkens back to Ancient Egypt!)  The fourth grade is bringing in their Virginia studies about agriculture.  Many of the classes are also using this project for writing activities and journal keeping.  Because we have a very generous and chicken friendly librarian, we have been able to make this project a central part of everyone's day at HM.  That is just how the egg rolls around here :))

So you want to be a Farmer? You better have some stamina ;)

NPR just did a story on how young farmers are getting creative in finding land to grow produce.  Our HM Garden supporters and all around awesome couple Chris and Sara Guerre, are featured in this spot.
Chris has been extremely generous with time, knowledge, and supplies, for our school garden program.  He is very passionate about children having access to healthy food and knowing where it comes from.  He will actually be supplying our school with an incubator and chicken eggs to hatch for an amazing life cycle lesson this year. Thanks for all your help "Young Farmer"!!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/12/26/257391197/heres-how-young-farmers-looking-for-land-are-getting-creative