September 2022
We kicked off our first month in the garden with our Garden Salsa Workshop. We had 18 classes, almost 400 students, visit the garden. Our wonderful parent volunteers read "Harvesting Friends/Cosechando Amigos" in both English and Español, and we made a salsa from a recipe in the book. Most of the students were willing to try the salsa, and many liked it enough to want to make it again at home. The students were able to see how much the vegetables and flowers that they planted in the spring grew over the summer. It was wonderful to see them enjoy the beautiful space they created.
Our two worm factories found their homes for the year in Ms. Champagne's and Ms. Condon's classes. The students will feed and tend to the worms over the winter. They will get to see how the worms break down compost to create wonderful "Black Gold" worm casts that will help enrich our garden's soil. We will be learning more about composting in November.
Keep Growing! Follow us on Instagram @JessieBeckGardenClub
We kicked off our first month in the garden with our Garden Salsa Workshop. We had 18 classes, almost 400 students, visit the garden. Our wonderful parent volunteers read "Harvesting Friends/Cosechando Amigos" in both English and Español, and we made a salsa from a recipe in the book. Most of the students were willing to try the salsa, and many liked it enough to want to make it again at home. The students were able to see how much the vegetables and flowers that they planted in the spring grew over the summer. It was wonderful to see them enjoy the beautiful space they created.
Our two worm factories found their homes for the year in Ms. Champagne's and Ms. Condon's classes. The students will feed and tend to the worms over the winter. They will get to see how the worms break down compost to create wonderful "Black Gold" worm casts that will help enrich our garden's soil. We will be learning more about composting in November.
Keep Growing! Follow us on Instagram @JessieBeckGardenClub
April 2022
Our first day of our 3-Day Planting Workshop was AWESOME! We would like to continue planting greens directly in the garden. We would also like to add color to the garden with some paint projects using cement pavers. If these ideas spark your interest and you feel like you would like to head up next month's workshop - let me know! We will support you! Thanks so much to all our volunteers! It is so great to have such an awesome team! Come grow with us!
Whitney Weed and The Jessie Beck Garden Club Volunteers
Our first day of our 3-Day Planting Workshop was AWESOME! We would like to continue planting greens directly in the garden. We would also like to add color to the garden with some paint projects using cement pavers. If these ideas spark your interest and you feel like you would like to head up next month's workshop - let me know! We will support you! Thanks so much to all our volunteers! It is so great to have such an awesome team! Come grow with us!
Whitney Weed and The Jessie Beck Garden Club Volunteers
February 2022 Update
We had huge success with our Bird Feeder Workshop this month of January! We had over 500 students learn and create their own bird feeders in the garden! As a kid, I remember appreciating a fun activity outside the daily routine of the classroom. I think that same feeling was felt by the kids attending the workshop. So many thanks to Betsy who prepped and made the activity come to life! We are also so grateful for the parents that gave us the extra adult hands that we TOTALLY needed to make the workshop efficient. Many classes have 30 plus students so things get hectic very quickly LOL!!
February will be a prep/brainstorming month. We have so many things to think about and plan as we look forward to our growing season. I'd like to list the things that are on my mind and I'd LOVE any and all feedback on what you think we might be able to add/contribute to make the Jessie Beck Garden absolutely BURST with green, growing, fabulous, vegetables this spring and summer!!! We really want to knock it out of the park!!
Our compost has been a total hit with the kids! They have enjoyed it way more than I thought they would. It has been really helpful to have the plastic guard around the compost so that it can easily be lifted to show the kids what is in there as well as being able to get in there and shovel and turn over the materials. We have 2 Worm Factories at Jessie Beck! One is in Mrs Lowdens classroom and the other is in Dr. Brocks! And they are doing fantastic! It has been so cool to see how amazing the worms work through their food and produce BLACK GOLD! The kids love it!
We had huge success with our Bird Feeder Workshop this month of January! We had over 500 students learn and create their own bird feeders in the garden! As a kid, I remember appreciating a fun activity outside the daily routine of the classroom. I think that same feeling was felt by the kids attending the workshop. So many thanks to Betsy who prepped and made the activity come to life! We are also so grateful for the parents that gave us the extra adult hands that we TOTALLY needed to make the workshop efficient. Many classes have 30 plus students so things get hectic very quickly LOL!!
February will be a prep/brainstorming month. We have so many things to think about and plan as we look forward to our growing season. I'd like to list the things that are on my mind and I'd LOVE any and all feedback on what you think we might be able to add/contribute to make the Jessie Beck Garden absolutely BURST with green, growing, fabulous, vegetables this spring and summer!!! We really want to knock it out of the park!!
Our compost has been a total hit with the kids! They have enjoyed it way more than I thought they would. It has been really helpful to have the plastic guard around the compost so that it can easily be lifted to show the kids what is in there as well as being able to get in there and shovel and turn over the materials. We have 2 Worm Factories at Jessie Beck! One is in Mrs Lowdens classroom and the other is in Dr. Brocks! And they are doing fantastic! It has been so cool to see how amazing the worms work through their food and produce BLACK GOLD! The kids love it!
January 2022 Update
This month we are doing something a little different and exciting! WE are inviting birds to our garden with our BIRD FEEDER WORKSHOP! January 11 th & 13th. Making bird feeders is a great way to attract birds for us to observe. Birds can help the garden by pollinating plants, eating bugs and spreading seeds. These easy-to-make bird feeders are made with safe ingredients that we can hang up around the garden and playground. Teachers will sign their classes up for sessions.
This month we are doing something a little different and exciting! WE are inviting birds to our garden with our BIRD FEEDER WORKSHOP! January 11 th & 13th. Making bird feeders is a great way to attract birds for us to observe. Birds can help the garden by pollinating plants, eating bugs and spreading seeds. These easy-to-make bird feeders are made with safe ingredients that we can hang up around the garden and playground. Teachers will sign their classes up for sessions.
December Update
We had SO MUCH ENTHUSIASM in the garden for the month of November! Who knew that food waste could be so thrilling?!! Surely it helped that worms were involved! We walked through the process of compost with the help of our book "Pumpkin Jack". We showed the kids what a great option it is to save food waste and use it in a positive way instead of tossing it out with the garbage and sending it to landfillsl!! The kids loved helping the process along by breaking up the food with shovels. We were able to show how worms do this work for us, known as "vermicompost" which produces BLACK GOLD. We have 2 classrooms now with a working Worm Factory (Dr Brock and Mrs. Lowden)!!
The teachers that brought their classes to the garden in NOVEMBER were:
Brock
Kalleres
Jefferey
Maples
Lowden
Woodhead
Condon
Lemons
Elliot
Newman
Jones
THANK YOU TEACHERS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! That means we had about 330 students who were able to spend time learning and actively understanding the benefits of the garden and specifically garden compost!! WOW! What a beautiful thing!
Our Garden Club Parents have been working on amazing things! Julie Webb planted Wild flowers along our schools back fence and placed an adorable sign! What a fun addition to our school yard! THANK YOU JULIE!
Looking forward, we would like to start up a "Bird Feeder Workshop" scheduled for January! Keep your eyes open for a sign up sheet for your childs class and a chance to donate bird seed, peanut butter, and peanut butter substitute for allergies.
Keep Growing!
Jessie Beck Garden Club
We had SO MUCH ENTHUSIASM in the garden for the month of November! Who knew that food waste could be so thrilling?!! Surely it helped that worms were involved! We walked through the process of compost with the help of our book "Pumpkin Jack". We showed the kids what a great option it is to save food waste and use it in a positive way instead of tossing it out with the garbage and sending it to landfillsl!! The kids loved helping the process along by breaking up the food with shovels. We were able to show how worms do this work for us, known as "vermicompost" which produces BLACK GOLD. We have 2 classrooms now with a working Worm Factory (Dr Brock and Mrs. Lowden)!!
The teachers that brought their classes to the garden in NOVEMBER were:
Brock
Kalleres
Jefferey
Maples
Lowden
Woodhead
Condon
Lemons
Elliot
Newman
Jones
THANK YOU TEACHERS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! That means we had about 330 students who were able to spend time learning and actively understanding the benefits of the garden and specifically garden compost!! WOW! What a beautiful thing!
Our Garden Club Parents have been working on amazing things! Julie Webb planted Wild flowers along our schools back fence and placed an adorable sign! What a fun addition to our school yard! THANK YOU JULIE!
Looking forward, we would like to start up a "Bird Feeder Workshop" scheduled for January! Keep your eyes open for a sign up sheet for your childs class and a chance to donate bird seed, peanut butter, and peanut butter substitute for allergies.
Keep Growing!
Jessie Beck Garden Club
November Update
OCTOBER PLANTING
The month of October was very successful! Our goal was to get kids into the garden, introduce them to the space and get them planting! We had a total of 8 classes-190 students in the garden!! The students learned about winter planting Including what plants need to be planted in the fall and can handle freezing temperatures. We planted garlic, tulips, and daffodil bulbs. In the cold weather boxes we planted chives, radishes, lettuce, kale, spinach, cilantro and other green leaf plants. Overall, the kids love being in the garden space and have been eager to learn and get their hands dirty! It is so fun to be a part of it!
NOVEMBER COMPOST
Let’s beat our numbers from last month (190 kids) in the garden! WE CAN DO IT! The subject we will introduce in November is- Composting! Heidi Briant found an awesome book titled Pumpkin Jack. It is a sweet story of a boy who composts his jack o lantern at the end of the Halloween season. This months lesson can be taught in the classroom or out depending on if you are a classroom volunteer. Heidi purchased 6 copies of the book so there are plenty to borrow for whoever would like to read the story to their classroom for part of their lesson. I have a binder with an easy lesson plan for composting or you are welcome to do your own presentation. We would like to get a compost bin started in any of the classrooms that are interested with the teachers approval. Please talk to your childs teacher and find out if they are interested in a lesson on compost and if they would like to start a compost bin in their classroom. We will be setting up a large compost area in the garden where the classrooms may regularly dump their classroom compost.
THANK YOU!
The kids love a break to come out in the fresh air, take off their masks and dig in the dirt! It is a beautiful thing! Please join us!
Keep Growing,
The Garden Club
OCTOBER PLANTING
The month of October was very successful! Our goal was to get kids into the garden, introduce them to the space and get them planting! We had a total of 8 classes-190 students in the garden!! The students learned about winter planting Including what plants need to be planted in the fall and can handle freezing temperatures. We planted garlic, tulips, and daffodil bulbs. In the cold weather boxes we planted chives, radishes, lettuce, kale, spinach, cilantro and other green leaf plants. Overall, the kids love being in the garden space and have been eager to learn and get their hands dirty! It is so fun to be a part of it!
NOVEMBER COMPOST
Let’s beat our numbers from last month (190 kids) in the garden! WE CAN DO IT! The subject we will introduce in November is- Composting! Heidi Briant found an awesome book titled Pumpkin Jack. It is a sweet story of a boy who composts his jack o lantern at the end of the Halloween season. This months lesson can be taught in the classroom or out depending on if you are a classroom volunteer. Heidi purchased 6 copies of the book so there are plenty to borrow for whoever would like to read the story to their classroom for part of their lesson. I have a binder with an easy lesson plan for composting or you are welcome to do your own presentation. We would like to get a compost bin started in any of the classrooms that are interested with the teachers approval. Please talk to your childs teacher and find out if they are interested in a lesson on compost and if they would like to start a compost bin in their classroom. We will be setting up a large compost area in the garden where the classrooms may regularly dump their classroom compost.
THANK YOU!
The kids love a break to come out in the fresh air, take off their masks and dig in the dirt! It is a beautiful thing! Please join us!
Keep Growing,
The Garden Club
October Update
We have started our garden program with the students at Jessie Beck Elementary! The Jessie Beck Garden Club is making great progress as our team and grant money have come together for this school year! Our mission and goal is: To involve the students as much as possible in learning how to grow a garden, feed our bodies healthy food, and treat our earth with respect.
EACH MONTH we will have a new focus activity project. For 20-30 minutes one of our Garden Club members will provide a short lesson/activity for your child's classroom to enjoy in our garden area. It will consist of hands-on instruction and interactive lecture. We will love to have you help our garden grow!
OCTOBER 18-28:
Planting a Winter Garden- The kids will be planting tulip bulbs, garlic, kale, and onions in the school garden. We will be learning about how/why certain bulbs and vegetables grow well in the cold months. We will learn how to successfully take care of our young plants.
NOVEMBER 8-12:
Compost: Our school will begin a compost program! How does compost work? Lets find out! During this month we will learn about what makes good compost and how it is used to make our earth a cleaner, better place! Your classroom can have its own "compost bin"!!
DECEMBER 6-10: Sprouting Seeds- We will check up on our young winter crops and see what we need to do to help encourage them to grow. We will identify what plants are growing. Clean up , weeding the garden beds are all necessary to ensure good growth throughout the winter months.
Come grow with us!
Whitney Weed and
The Jessie Beck Garden Club Volunteers
whitneyweed@gmail.com
We have started our garden program with the students at Jessie Beck Elementary! The Jessie Beck Garden Club is making great progress as our team and grant money have come together for this school year! Our mission and goal is: To involve the students as much as possible in learning how to grow a garden, feed our bodies healthy food, and treat our earth with respect.
EACH MONTH we will have a new focus activity project. For 20-30 minutes one of our Garden Club members will provide a short lesson/activity for your child's classroom to enjoy in our garden area. It will consist of hands-on instruction and interactive lecture. We will love to have you help our garden grow!
OCTOBER 18-28:
Planting a Winter Garden- The kids will be planting tulip bulbs, garlic, kale, and onions in the school garden. We will be learning about how/why certain bulbs and vegetables grow well in the cold months. We will learn how to successfully take care of our young plants.
NOVEMBER 8-12:
Compost: Our school will begin a compost program! How does compost work? Lets find out! During this month we will learn about what makes good compost and how it is used to make our earth a cleaner, better place! Your classroom can have its own "compost bin"!!
DECEMBER 6-10: Sprouting Seeds- We will check up on our young winter crops and see what we need to do to help encourage them to grow. We will identify what plants are growing. Clean up , weeding the garden beds are all necessary to ensure good growth throughout the winter months.
Come grow with us!
Whitney Weed and
The Jessie Beck Garden Club Volunteers
whitneyweed@gmail.com
Photos at the beginning of school 2016
GARDEN HISTORY
On a beautiful, sunny day in March 2015, a group of parents and staff built the new beds in our school garden...
Almost half of the classes participated the first season and Hearts and Spades Garden Club was born.
Garden Project Scope: the new Jessie Beck Garden will serve as a space to conduct hands-on outdoor/science learning and provide a community-building activity that is educational and fun. Students will learn teamwork, responsibility, science, patience, critical thinking, and how to get dirty:). Come grow with us!!
On a beautiful, sunny day in March 2015, a group of parents and staff built the new beds in our school garden...
Almost half of the classes participated the first season and Hearts and Spades Garden Club was born.
Garden Project Scope: the new Jessie Beck Garden will serve as a space to conduct hands-on outdoor/science learning and provide a community-building activity that is educational and fun. Students will learn teamwork, responsibility, science, patience, critical thinking, and how to get dirty:). Come grow with us!!
Pictures from 2015, our first harvesting season.
"THANK YOU!" to Parker Hardscape Supply, Green Earth Landscapes, and Reno Rock for their contributions to the garden project!!
