The Middle School
Green Ambassadors along with the help of Cory Eklund and Maura Sourman, Middle School science teachers have begun a garden to table initiative in the Academic Courtyard. "They do it for the joy of organic gardening and
providing healthy food for others", reports Sourman. The seedlings
were provided by Len Dwinell, husband of Middle School language teacher, Barbara Dwinell. "We received a lot of help to make this work," she continues siting that the grounds and maintenance crews made sure we had
compost in the raised beds. The greens (boc choy, lettuce, kale,
mustard)were donated to the dining hall. They are now planting tomatoes,
peppers, onions and herbs for salsa.
In science class, Pre-K students planted radish seeds during early spring in the Lower School Organic
Garden. About a month later, they were ready for harvest and taste testing! Next, in art class, Pre-K students took their tiny radishes and
painted them BIG on their paper paying close attention to color and shape.
On their last day
of class, AP Biology students
planted cover crop and giant sunflowers in the the raised beds in the Academic Courtyard . Having started the sunflower
seeds in the classroom about 14 days before transferring the seedlings
outside. The sunflowers are the Lemon Queen variety, Helianthus annus ,
an annual that will grow to be 5 to 7 feet tall and attracts bees
butterflies and other pollinators who will
gather both nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) from the yellow
flowers. The hope is to then have GA students become citizen scientists
by participating in The Great Sunflower Project, which involves making
pollinator counts and reporting them to become
part of a large data base, which includes both US and Canadian
pollinator counts. The students also planted a ‘cover crop’ of peas, Pisum sativum and Oats, Avena sativ,a which will help condition the soil and attract bees and other beneficial
insects.
