February | 2015 | The Orca K-8 School Garden Blog!

Archive for February, 2015

Salmon-mania at Orca!

February 19, 2015 · Filed under Uncategorized

Rejoice!

Rejoice! The salmon have arrived fresh from the Issaquah salmon hatchery. We have 232 of these delightful Coho specimens who hope to be delivered by students to Lake Washington by Spring Break.

Take a looksy

They are super healthy & already in the “fry” stage. We either learned about their lifecycles (kindergarten) or re-freshed our memories of how these amazing creatures grow.

Art & Science

Check ’em out in the hallway outside the main office! Much thanks to the Parks Dept. for all their help and guidance. This is our 7th year in a row raising them and we hope it will be the most successful yet.

: Take a looksy

: Swim swim swim

: Art & Science

: Rejoice!

Seeds & visions of future deliciousness

February 12, 2015 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged garden

Soil mix masters

The greenhouse is abuzz with sounds of worker bee Orca students planting seeds for the future bounty of hundreds of area gardens. We like to get our tomato seeds going early in February for our annual plant sale on MAY 9th, 2015. We also donate hundreds of plants to area schools & non-profits (contact us if you want some!), along with supplying our own garden with these plants.

Green thumbs

We had students creating a unique blend of seed starting mix that consists of organic Cedar Grove potting soil, Orca soil from the garden, and worm castings from our onsite worm bins. 3rd, 4th, & 5th gets to do some real life fraction work with this blend, while the younger kids get the blend the best they can. A good blend is important for seed growth.

The mix

We are probably getting ahead of ourselves, but we were out planting kale & chard seeds in the sunshine. Early birds get the kale, so we hope they grow in this semi-chilly weather.