The Project Blog

The Art of Grafting Apple Trees

Posted February 25, 2010

One part cloning, one part surgery, and one part fruit production: grafting apple trees is an irresistible combination for our sixth grade students in the garden.  This is the second year we have had grafting classes with students, and our success last year at making viable apple trees inspired to us to order more root stock and continue on with the process this year.

Grafting is a fine art that is perfected over years of practice.

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Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Posted February 18, 2010

On rare occasions, our class schedule allows us to see the same group of students on two consecutive days. This was the case this week with Ms. Rathwell's ELL core - a mixed class of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who are learning English as a second, third, or sixth language!

On Wednesday, each table made a frittata with Red Russian kale, romanesco, and herbs from the garden. To take advantage of our time together, we also made pickles to be enjoyed with the lesson on Thursday only 24 hours later. The students were amazed that pickles could be made so easily and in such a short amount of time.

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Maki Sushi

Posted February 10, 2010

This week, the seventh graders continued to hone their kitchen skills by paring, peeling, slicing, and chopping various garden vegetables to create our version of maki sushi.  We prepared garden radishes, daikon sprouts, carrots, sushi rice, avocado, and tamago (a traditional Japanese egg dish cooked on the griddle). These ingredients were put in bowls in the middle of a table, and students were able to pick their own ingredients and wrap them in seaweed to make a unique sushi roll.

Each student was able to create several rolls, and with practice the rolls got easier to eat.

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EcoFarm Conference

Posted February 3, 2010

As the thickest part of winter rolls around, the garden staff gets excited about the Ecological Farming Conference in Monterey.  Amidst pouring rain, raging winds, and the occasional lull in the weather accented by rainbows, the garden teachers attended this year’s conference, entitled “EcoFarm: Where the Future is Planted.”  The conference is an excellent opportunity for us to learn new farming techniques, connect with other people engaged in similar work, and get re-inspired for the coming year.

Some highlights of the conference were: hearing the wise words of seasoned farmers, activists,

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