The Farmer's Market is today from 2:40-3:10 p.m. We have lettuce, kale, swiss chard, brussels sprouts, lots of herbs, carrots, huge snow peas and beets for sale. Everything is organic and $1/bundle! Hope to see you there!

On another note, our school was awarded $250 for coming in 2nd place in the Earth Day Challenge on the website: www.mightynest.com. We love this website! It has some great challenges to inform you how to live a more eco-friendly, safer lifestyle AND 15% of your purchase goes to Wells Branch Elementary. How cool is that?! Please consider shopping at Mighty Nest so our school earns a little money to spend on the garden and other "green" ventures at WBE!

You know that your Farmer's Market is successful when you have 3rd graders clamoring for your produce and spending their allotted $5 well! Last week, we had a quote worthy 3rd grader buying fresh, organic produce from our 5th graders' Farmer's Market. When asked if she would like a bag with her purchase, she said, "actually, yes I would because I'm scootering home." We love our children and love that they have embraced the school garden and eating fresh produce from it!

Our annual Spring Fest is coming soon! Hope you can make it! It's Saturday, 4/12/14 from 2-6 p.m. This year, I am busy incorporating a Green Fest into our Spring Fest. We are thrilled to announce that the Whole Kids Foundation will be hosting a Garden Party in our school garden. This will be a great chance to see our school garden since it's kind of hidden in the courtyard! Whole Foods will also be doing a cooking demo along with samples. The Go Green Team will be making healthy, delicious fruit smoothies! Sustainable Food Center will also be there doing a gardening activity with kids. My business, Vida Green Kids will be doing an upcycling activity with the kids and CINCA (Children in Nature Collaborative) will be talking about their website: www.naturerocksaustin.com and how fun exploring in nature is! REI is donating 250 goodie bags full of great information and RRISD Food Services Dept. is donating reusable water bottles and bracelets for the kids to encourage healthy and active lifestyles! This is sure to be an amazing day full of fun, community and great information! 

The weather was finally decent this week so we were able to get our garden explorers out to the gardens to plant spring vegetables. The students were very excited to plant more seedlings and seeds and of course, water them (probably one of their favorite activities!). Hopefully we will be able to harvest some produce before summer vacation!

We are so excited to announce that Whole Foods will be hosting a garden party in our garden during the Spring Fest on April 12th from 2-6 p.m. We are thrilled for this partnership! They will also be having a healthy cooking demo with samples. How cool is that?! You won't want to miss it!

Here's a photo of Dianne and her class trying organic asparagus grown at school! I want to thank Dianne for dedicating so much time to our school garden and teaching weekly classes. We appreciate you!

This winter, we have continued to have our weekly garden classes with the students, albeit with some strange weather! The students have also gotten to try many new veggies and fruits. We have conducted taste tests in the garden and also in PE classes. The students have gotten to try: asparagus, lettuce, radishes, carrots, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, arugula (too spicy for most of the kids), edamame, strawberries and blueberries. This has been very exciting for them and I'm so proud of them for trying it and usually liking it! Our focus this school year is nutrition and helping the students make healthier food choices. So far so good.

We are excited for Spring and the thought of some warmer weather! We will be planting spring veggies after Spring Break. Don't forget about the weekly 5th grade Farmer's Market every Wednesday from 2:40-3:10 by the bike racks! Almost everything costs $1 and is organically grown by our students in the courtyard. Hope to see you there!

This week in the garden, the students are getting a taste of what they have been growing! They are trying radish "chips" (radishes sliced thinly) and carrots this week. So far, the students have been enjoying the veggies and excited to know that they are growing these vegetables in their gardens. They are also learning about root vegetables vs. leafy vegetables. 

Our last garden lesson had the students making herb bundles for their parents. Sadly, we didn't get any photos of the classes. However, they were very excited to be making handmade gifts for their families! What a beautiful time to be gardening at Wells Branch Elementary!