Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Sustainable Season

The Green LIONS Garden Group had a welcome visit from Maureen Anderson and her daughter from Hearthside Farm, http://www.thefullnessthereof.blogspot.com, at our meeting yesterday. Maureen is a regular visitor and mentor to our program and once again delivered a presentation full of rich and exciting history on native crafts and sustainable living. She and her family raise goats and sheep and make luscious soaps and beautiful wool yarn among many, many other sustainable farm goodies.



















Maureen spoke with the students in depth about beekeeping and its importance and the health benefits of honey, bee pollen and beeswax. Even the adults learned something new when she spoke of how simply burning a beeswax candle can affect air quality in our home. When you walk outside after a storm you may notice a difference in the air. That is because lightening creates negative ions in the air and negative ions attach themselves to pollutants and pull them down out of the air to the ground. Burning a beeswax candle has a similar affect on indoor air pollutants. Beeswax candles do not produce soot when they burn, but they do produce negative ions which cleanse the air by removing dust, dirt, odor and other pollutants we breathe. Burning a beeswax candle when you have a cold or the flu helps you recover faster. How exciting to learn!

Maureen also taught the students the steps taken from raising a sheep to producing the yarn that makes up much of our clothing. Learning this interesting cycle from source to finished product is an important teaching for students to understand about our food cycles and where many of our day-to-day items come from. Understanding the source of products we consume and the journey they take helps us in our purchasing choices. And seeing the benefit to us and the environment in choosing products grown or produced closer to home is a vital and priceless lesson.






















The students worked with beeswax to make lip balm for either themselves or to “elve” away at the holidays. We mixed beeswax from Hearthside Farm with organic olive oil and honey to make a simple lip balm. A beeswax-based lip balm is much healthier than a petroleum-based balm for our bodies and the planet.


















We also harvested our kale in the garden. As our garden enters its winter mode we chose to harvest the kale for the students to take home to share with their families, and to share with our school cafeteria rather than leaving the kale to winter. While kale and other cole crops can survive over winter (they stay in somewhat of a suspended animation state, not growing but also not dying) and you can enjoy them through the winter by just removing their outer leaves and leaving the plant center, we chose to harvest all three varieties in the spirit of the giving season to share with everyone. We still have broccoli and cabbage in the garden still growing and thriving. Yum!



Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Notable November

The Green LIONS Garden Group has had an exciting end to November. We welcomed two very special guests to join us and share their knowledge and passion with the students.

Last week we welcomed Bruce Rozeboom of Fruitive and his wife to share their juicing skills with the students. Not only are they committed to using fresh fruits and vegetables to make delicious healthy juices and smoothies but they are also avid environmentalists and supporters of local farmers like our own Farmer John of New Earth Farm.


















Bruce kept the students interested with a vast array of environmental lessons like how to help the planet through their food choices. He taught them how to choose produce in the grocery store by the numbers on their labels. Fruits and vegetables come with tags that have a 4- or 5-digit code and this code helps determine how they were grown. If your produce label has 4 digits, it means that the produce was conventionally grown, not organically grown. If the label has 5 digits, and begins with a 9, it means that the produce was organically grown. Remember “Nine is Fine”. A 5-digit code that begins with an 8 indicates that the produce was genetically modified. See this link for further explanation on how to read produce labels, http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/04/how-to-read-produce-sticker-organic.html.

















The highlight of the meeting, however, was the smiles on the faces of the kids as they sampled the delicious juices and smoothies served up by Fruitive. They shared their Pineapple Express Juice and Peaches & Greens Smoothie menu features and received multiple “more please!” requests. Many of the students who didn’t think they liked greens were happily surprised at how they could enjoy them in a smoothie. The Pineapple Express Juice is made with pineapple, pear, ginger and aloe vera. The Peaches & Greens Smoothie is made with frozen peaches and bananas, orange juice, almond milk, spinach and featured our own garden kale from the LIONS Garden. Yum!






















We also enjoyed kale chips made two ways. One with our LIONS Garden kale baked with olive oil, sea salt and pepper, and one from Fruitive made with New Earth Farm kale dehydrated with a sauce made of soaked cashews, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds, nutritional yeast, sea salt, paprika and zucchini. Both were delicious and soon devoured!

Visit Fruitive at Hilltop to enjoy their amazing juices, smoothies and salads! www.fruitive.com


















Yesterday we welcomed another guest, Master Nurseryman, and Linkhorn grandparent, Marie Dills. Ms. Dills oversaw the commercial division of Winesett Nursery for years before moving on to work at the Virginia Beach Virginia Tech Agricultural Station’s Entomology Department as a “Bug Scientist”. Ms. Dills taught the students about beneficial bugs and insects and their purpose in our gardens and environment. She brought her personal preserved bug collection and the kids were enthralled.





















Bugs are an important part of the life cycle in helping either bolster “producers”, plants that “consumers” can eat, or acting as “detritivores”, a type of decomposer that helps to break down dead plant and animal material. Worms also act as detritivores and the students took home a couple of worms each from our worm bin in a mini composting system in a jar. We layered sand, garden soil and compost to make a temporary habitat for the worms. We covered the jar with burlap for breathability, wrapped it in newspaper to keep our the light and the students can observe the worms at work churning up the layers over the next couple of weeks. Then they’ll release the worms back into a garden or yard into their natural habitat.



Thursday, November 8, 2012

Blueberry Fields Forever

We’re expanding! At our last Green LIONS Garden Group meeting we gave 13 blueberry, butterfly and Vitex bushes a new home at Linkhorn beside our two brand new garden beds. The students were eager and willing to dig in the dirt. I have always heard that kids like using tools but this meeting proved it for this group.

Stay tuned for even more expansion plans for our garden area. It truly is a gift to be able to integrate plants and gardens into our schools. Not only is there much to learn from growing plants in so many different fields of study, but studies show that working outside and with the earth is calming and grounding for kids...for all of us!

Thank you Farmer John for helping us add this new facet to our garden area. Can’t you already smell the blueberry cobbler?! Visit the garden to see our work in progress and our beautiful Fall greens.

























Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Creativity, Collaboration and Crow Scaring

The Green LIONS Garden Group welcomed the changing of the season with a little scarecrow building contest at our last meeting. But first we tended the garden with all students completing their garden tasks. We divide our group of 30 into various garden task groups at each meeting. We have waterers, bug detectives, weeders, a grounds cleaning crew, samplers who measure growth, and four students in charge of our art caddies that contain all our writing and color pencils, as well as rulers and magnifying glasses. We rotate through the tasks each meeting and so far it has worked well, teaching responsibility and stressing that no task is less or more important than another.

And then on to the scarecrows! We divided up into three teams and with the help of parents and teachers the students created a head, drew a face, chose from donated clothing and stuffed the scarecrows full of hay. All of this took quite a bit of cooperation, teamwork and creativity, and the kids had a great time.





When all the scarecrows were completed and standing at their posts the students voted on their favorite other than the one they worked on. The jacket-wearing scarecrow one first prize! Perhaps he looked more dignified in his jacket. Visit the garden to see our festive scarecrows and our rapidly growing tatsoi and kale. And stop to smell the scent of Fall in the air.




Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Vermiculture, Vitamins and Visitors

The Green LIONS Garden Group has had a busy three weeks getting our program up and running. The students were introduced to our worm bin full of red wiggler worms and the beautiful compost they’re producing. Our program uses the worm bin to not only re-purpose table scraps, but to make natural fertilizer for our garden in the form of worm castings and worm “tea”. This provides a sustainable way to nourish and protect our garden plants without the use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides.

The worms also get to know many other students outside our group through the hosting of various teachers and classrooms. Currently our bin is being hosted by Ms. Manley’s third grade class which contains four of our program’s members. This provides a wonderful teaching and leadership opportunity for the students to teach their classmates about vermiculture and its importance in our food system. The students in Ms. Manley’s class are checking the worm bin regularly for moisture levels, decomposition activity, temperature levels and ph balance. We’ll keep everyone posted on where the worms travel to next.





















At our October 1st meeting we studied the classifications of edible plants and what steps and resources are involved in growing food, from selecting seeds to harvesting. We discussed what factors go into seed selection, especially climate and season, and this led us to learning the importance of choosing seasonal foods whenever possible for their nutritional and environmental benefit.

The students divided up into teams and crafted vitamin and mineral labels for each fruit or vegetable we have growing in our garden. They also identified what each vitamin and mineral is good for in the human body. Cabbage was by far the winner in its long list of both vitamins and minerals! Visit the garden and take the vitamin and mineral tour. We hope all classes can enjoy this valuable learning experience.


















At our October 8th meeting we welcomed Donna Stickrod and Julie Tye from the Beekeepers Guild here in Hampton Roads for a very interesting and interactive presentation on beekeeping. The students learned why bees are so important in our food system, the timely issue of Colony Collapse Disorder, and what we can do as individuals to support the health of our bee colonies. The students also rolled beeswax candles to take home as souvenirs and enjoyed honey-sweetened lemonade (see recipe below).

With one out of every three items on a typical dinner plate coming from plants pollinated by bees it is essential for us to do what we can to keep bees doing their important work. While exact causes of Colony Collapse Disorder are not conclusive, the use of systemic pesticides and their cumulative damage is the main culprit. By supporting organic growing methods and providing safe habitats for bees with pollinating plants, we can make a large difference. Bees have to travel over 9600 miles to produce only one ounce of honey so we can express our high esteem and gratitude for these tireless workers and honor their place in our world.
























Honey, and especially local honey, has many health and even medicinal benefits. If you suffer from seasonal allergies, consuming local honey produced in the same season that affects you can provide great relief. The honey contains pollen and other allergens that the body naturally develops an acceptance for alleviating many of your allergy symptoms. Check our list of stores in our links section to find stores carrying local honey in our area.

As a sweetener honey has much more nutritional value than processed sugar. Honey can replace sugar in many recipes but cut the amount in half. For example, if a recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar only use 1/4 cup of honey.

Honey Lemonade

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cups water

Combine the honey and boiling water until the honey dissolves to make a simple syrup. Then add the lemon juice and water and chill before serving. Makes 1 quart. Enjoy!

Green LION Garden Group families were also encouraged this month to take the $10 pledge with Buy Fresh Buy Local to pledge to spend at least $10 a month on local food. This tiny pledge amount, if taken on by multiple families in our community, would have a huge impact on our local economy. Take the pledge at http://virginiafoodsystemcouncil.org/10week-campaign-2/.

Also, the students began their recycling program this month. They are collecting #5 plastics, not accepted in our city recycling, and we will be donating them to the Gimme 5 Preserve campaign at our soon-to-be-open neighborhood Whole Foods to be have a second life as toothbrushes, razors, storage containers and more. We are also collecting bottle caps to recycle with the Aveda store at MacArthur Mall in Norfolk.