The fascinating world of the Orca K-8 school garden!

Many classes have been involved with breaking ground on a sad, unused area of space next to our play field. Jeff’s science/math class has been studying food with Anthony, so what better way to get to the heart of it, then to get growing! Orca has an incredible garden program, but we have lacked the capacity to grow and eat more food. Now we will have an amazing garden space after all the hard work of various classes. If we are going to study and teach sustainability, isn’t organic gardening a very real experiential opportunity? With this space, students can have more opportunities to plant, grow, nurture and harvest yummy organic food. It was great to get these classes outside too, after a long period of grey and cold Seattle weather.

The weather has been amazingly sunny and it seems that spring is upon us (though the nights are super-chilly). We can already see the signs of young growth on our plants. Mints, roots, berries, and native plants are all poking up. Soon we can begin planting and getting plants growing. Students are planting many herbs and veggies in the greenhouse, so we can get a jump start on the spring planting season. Onward!

Well they haven’t quite grown up all the way, but they have made their way from being eggs, then alevin (still with the egg sack attached to their belly), and now to parr(absorbing the egg sack). They are now swimming around the tank and even got fed for the first time yesterday. They are being “tease fed” as they learn to eat, much like human infants. Orca students are super excited about the coho salmon and are constantly crowded around the tank to check them out. They have a few more months to go before they are released into the wilds of Lake Washington. For now students are learning about the salmon’s life cycles and doing scientific observations of them.