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

Let’s get right down to it- LET’S EAT! We have worked a lot this year to increase our harvest and get kids more veggies to taste and snack on. Today we had students tasting tomatoes, cabbage, anise seeds, green beans, carrots, and beets. Not bad for our first garden class of the year! all of this produce was picked right before it was eaten- the concept and connection between harvesting and eating has never been so delicious and clear. Most students loved it, and getting them to be brave and explore new tastes is always fun.

Ahhhh, to eat and harvest and enjoy life. It’s such a blessing to have all this great food here to snack on. These experiences are really meaningful to students as they eat their experiences and taste new adventures.

It’s our 3rd year in a row taking field trips to our local environmental treasure- Seward Park. It’s amazing to do this on the 2nd and 3rd days of school w/ the entire 4th/5th grade. We get the chance to get to know each other and to learn about native plants, trees, and invasive species. The native plant scavenger hunt is always a hit as we learn about nature’s toilet paper (thimbleberry), salal leaf drinking cups, the AMAZING western red cedar tree, and plant leaves that smell like cucumber (Indian Plum).

Come to a great event by Seattle Tilth in Wallingford on Saturday. I will be part of a panel discussing urban agriculture at 2:30. The speakers include:

• Foxy Davidson, Clean Greens Farm & Market (http://www.cleangreensfarm.com/)

• Anthony Warner, Garden Coordinator, Orca K-8 School, Seattle (http://orcagarden.wordpress.com)

• Gail Savina, Founder & Executive Director, City Fruit (http://www.cityfruit.org)

• Jake Harris, Cascadia Edible Landscape (http://www.eatyouryard.com/)

• Laura Matter, Manager, Seattle Tilth Natural Soil Building Program and Issaquah Garden (http://seattletilth.org)

More information is available at http://seattletilth.org/special_events/harvestfair2010

Maidi’s class came down for a sneak peak and garden snacking preview. It was a blast, and the rain couldn’t dampen the excitement and fun. Back to school! We ate some sunflower seeds, munched some cherry tomatoes, and snacked on some anise seeds.

How can we improve on the one of the best and brightest aspects of Orca’s quest for sustainability? We composted 5,000 pounds of lunchroom scraps to Cedar Grove & to our own worm bins last year. Well personally I wanted to take a little weight off the back of our trusted and truest Orca Matriarch- Ms. Marletta. For many many years before I was here, she was washing all the yogurt cups, juice cups, ANYTHING dirty that could be recycled. She is THE inspiration for what we do here. So we will be helping her shoulder that process through my help and students who sign up to be lunchroom compost helpers. The first day of school lunch period went well. With over 500 students, we are still able to compost and recycle very well, while producing more compost and recycling than garbage. Everything has been better labeled and we worked on helping the kindergarteners get the hang of it. We are still also weighing the compost everyday to have data that can be used in science and math classes. Onward!

Welcome back to new and old school Orca families. There are so many developments on the horizon for the Orca garden. We are starting an amazing FOOD unit throughout the school. It centers around eating organic foods (cooking & preparing here at Orca), food and crop origins, nutrition, and community service (connecting w/ the local food bank). Stay tuned for more info. New parents- check back on this blog regularly, because it features all of the amazing activities that we explore here with students.