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

Yes! The date is upon us. 5/11 from 10am-3pm. The annual Orca Plant Sale is the place for all your organic starter plant needs. Students grow most of these plants! Tomatoes are our specialty (we have over 20 varieties!) We will also have tons of other fruit trees & bushes, native plants, & fragrant herbs from our friends Cascadian Edible Landscapes & Go Natives also. Most of what doesn’t sell is donated to local school gardens, community groups, and food bank p-patch gardens. So come support this great community event! All the proceeds benefit Orca having the only fully integrated garden education program in Washington. Stick around and hang out with our good buddies The Makery- a mobile craft experience like no other. There will be live music, baked goodies, and more. See ya soon!

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It’s always a special day when we release the salmon we have grown from eggs. Most of the school marches down to Seward Park (1.1 miles away), where our release location is. They get to hang out with the lil’ guys for a minute and say “see ya later” (not goodbye because they will return in 2-3 years!). This day is always close to Earth Day & Spring Break too- so it’s a tad celebratory. The rain & cold couldn’t dampen our spirits.

It’s great to see students engaged in REAL change & ecology work- not just purely conceptual. Pour the salmon in- watch them swim away and BAM- connection made.

Hey- i had to talk the talk and scooter back down to Seward Park because two were accidentally left in the tank!!!

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Yes kale chips are the “in” “foodie” thing to do for sure- they are a delicious & quick snack popular with kids and adults alike. Just bake for a little over 5 minutes with a little olive oil and salt. We harvested this kale from our p-patch down the street and just cooked it right up. 99% of kids like this snack. Voila! Green goodness.

So much has been happening out here this week. We have been transplanting, moving the greenhouse plants around and around, uncovering garden beds, weeding, and planting hundreds of kale, collards, and chard.

We have been digging around a lot in our worm bins too. They are thriving right now and of course they a centerpiece of our sustainability focus here at Orca. Hundreds of pounds of food from the lunchroom goes in here every year.

We also hosted a Seattle Slow Food meeting this week where we have been networking with other involved with gardening and youth. Our friends Readers To Eaters helped coordinate this- they also gave us a great book that I have been reading with students- Sylvia’s spinach!

And lastly- the greenhouse is alive! We have started thousands of plants that will provide us and many schools & organizations with organic food.

What a day of rainstorms, sunshine, hale, blustery winds, and everything in between- ahhhh Seattle. It was nice to come in the greenhouse, listen to some bossa nova, eat some fresh & hot Orca soup, transplant tomatoes, & draw pictures celebrating spring. These multi-activity days can be really dynamic for kids- it keeps them actively engaged, moving, and of course having fun.

Check this incredible video detailing one man’s quest in South Central Los Angeles to bring food gardens to food deserts. Wowser!

We have been learning about GMO’s. There is really such a scary aura around GMO’s, but why?. I felt it was important to learn some facts about them and their political implications too. So what better way to get more mature and educated about GMO’s, than to watch this incredible cartoon!

Then we read this incredible article about Vernon Brown, who is fighting a losing battle against Monsanto about their franken-soy bean seeds. He had some accidentally pop up on his farm and is being charged with patent violations. Students had to write some reflections on this article and turn them in (Yay! Garden homework!).

I was really impressed with their reflections on this case- some thoughtful thinking in the 6th grade!