FROM THE GARDEN…

TOMATOES, corn, carrots, lettuce, ASPARAGUS, zinnias, winter squash, summer squash, RHUBARB, sunflowers, morning glories, thyme, borage, PURPLE POTATOES, radishes, swiss chard, beets, watermelons, cantaloupes, PURPLE BASIL, eggplant, cabbage, sage, dill, oregano, marjoram, CHAMOMILLE, nasturtiums, lemon basil, and spinach ARE GROWING IN OUR GARDEN!!!!

Save the Date Saturday September 25 for a chili cook-off at Barrett Hall to support the Newton Garden Project.

Many Hands Make Light Work… if you are not on vacation, please try to bring your family for a one-hour garden work party to help keep things weeded and harvested on Saturdays throughout the summer.  Tentative time is 9-10 AM, and tentative dates for each current grade are below.  Families will get a reminder call from classmates or parents.   Community members are welcome to join.  Thank you!!!

K  June 26

1   July 3

2   July 10

3   July 17

4   July 24

5   July 31

6   August 7

7   August 14

8   August 21 even though you’re done, don’t you want to see how it looks?!  

Visiting the Garden… All are welcome to visit the garden this summer.  Beware of the electric fence!  Turn off the solar charger before entering, and please be sure to turn it back on as you leave.  In the tool shed you will find a Garden Journal~ feel free to add your comments.  See the white board in shed for list of work to be done if you would like to weed, harvest, water, or pick bugs.

Composting is alive and well at Newton!  Our first month has been a success, due to the hard work of the 7th graders who lug the buckets up everyday after lunch, empty them, scrape them out, and cover the pile with leaves.  It is not the easiest or most pleasant task, but they are going a great job.  On the kitchen end, Rachel and Sue rinse and sanitize the buckets, also not so pleasant, but they too are helping tremendously.  John Freitag is pleased to save money on trash disposal fees, and the landfill is ecstatic to have less garbage.  The skunks have been enjoying the compost pile, and will be shocked to meet the chicken wire and hot pepper/garlic repellant spread by Oliver Munson.  Students from every grade have noticed how quickly our 4×4x4 bin has filled.  First and Second graders have been sifting finished compost, AKA Farmer’s Gold, from bins in front of the school from previous compost attempts.  Soon-to-graduate Jody Kifner remembers being in 3rd grade when that project took place.  Decomposition is an amazing process…

Thank you to Johnny’s Select Seed and High Mowing Seeds for donating many seeds….Earl Ransom, Erik Reimanis , and Al Wright for rototilling the garden in the fall and spring… Jinny Cleland of Four Springs Farm for donating purple pansie… the PTA for plant donations…Al Wright for beef donations…Michael and Margaret Curtis for fencing supplies…Ned Coffin for the use of his land…and the teachers, parents and community members who volunteer their time in the garden.

Newton Garden Committee meets monthly to oversee the garden, integrate gardening into the classroom curriculum,  offer support to Rachel in bringing local food to the cafeteria, network with other school gardens, and raise funds for supplies.  Community members, parents and teachers are all welcome to participate.  ”Regulars” include Jonathan Freeman, Marie Harrington, Ilene Kanoff, Theresa White, Kate Reimanis, Jessica Tidman, and Ana Gerhardt.

Happy Summer, Everyone!

Garden Gazette - May 2010

Newton Compost Project is Underway

by Susannah Penfield and Rebecca Behrens

Spring is fast approaching, and the sweet scent of veggies fills the air. All those fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and broccoli. But what happens to the left-over brussels sprouts that no one would eat at lunch? There are two options. The first is to stick those vegetables in the trashcans to be shipped to the landfill. Here, the sprouts will sit, and sit, and sit, taking up and space- without decomposing. Eventually, these products will end up hurting the environment of our planet. The second option can be summed up in one word: compost. This is the process in which we save the leftovers and let is decompose. That is, until is can be used as fertilizer in our garden.

Composting can benefit both our planet and our school. By not sticking the brussels sprouts in the land fill, we save valuable space in our planet, which will bring us one step closer to cleaning up the earth. On a school level, it benefits both our garden and our budget. On turning the unwanted food into fertilizer the sprouts will help to produce carrots, lettuce, onions…. and we save on buying expensive nutrients that help our garden grow. We also save on the money it would take to transport the food to a landfill.

Now it’s our turn. Beginning next week the students at the Newton School will participate in composting by placing all their remaining food into a compost bin located in the cafeteria. FOOD mind you, not juice boxes and granola bar wrappers that will never turn into black gold.

Garden Classes Begin Despite Blizzard! by Kate Reimanis

Each class is learning how to separate food for composting. The 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are reading articles on composting and are creating a system that will be easy for everyone to use…especially Rachel Claffey, Sue Clark, and John Freitag, the people behind the compost scene. The students are learning about soil needs, and have compared results from the soil tests they took in the fall with the soil test completed by Soil Scientists at UVM Cooperative Extension. 6th graders have used scale-drawing to create an accurate map of beds and pathways in the Paul Lowe Garden.

The K-2 cluster has started seeds indoors for a salad garden, which will be transplanted into the raised beds in front of the school when the snow melts. They have been learning about plant needs, through Storytelling, drawing, and in Science Class as well.

The 3-5 cluster has chosen 2 varieties of sweet corn to grow alongside beans and squash in the 3 Sisters Garden that they will plant after the last frost. Students have also used their math skills to create the layout for this traditional Abenaki method of planting.

Thank You to:

*Ned Coffin for letting us use his field, and for donating leaves for our compost pile.

*Earl Ransom and Erik Reimanis for the machinery, fuel and time spent rototilling the garden.

*Mr. Freeman, teachers, and parents who serve on the Garden Committee.

*Rachel Claffey and John Freitag, for supporting the garden and composting.

*Michael and Margaret Curtis for donating fencing supplies and a solar charger.

*Jennifer Brown, Dustin Ray, Barb Smith, Mary Thompson, Jess Tidman, Karen Minarik, Anne Connelli, Nikki Kendall, and other folks who volunteer during garden class.

Next Garden Meeting:

Thursday May 6, 3:15 Upcoming topics: chili cook-off and summer garden care

Beyond Newton… by Kate Reimanis

“School Gardening” is happening nation-wide. Vermont is a leading state in this movement, with Sharon Elementary School as a leading model. Inner-city, suburban and rural schools are embracing gardening as a means to improve nutrition, teach practical skills, help students connect with nature, and more. Math, language arts, social studies, history, and science are readily integrated into a garden curriculum.

First Lady Michelle Obama has chosen Childhood Nutrition as her “cause”, and promotes school gardens as a tool to combat childhood obesity.

To learn more, check out:

Upper Valley Farm to School: www.uvfts.org

Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day) www.vtfeed.org