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!

We've been busy teaching the gardening classes at WBE for the past month! So far, the lesson plans have included: rules of the garden, edibles vs. non-edibles, differences between root, leaf and flowering vegetables, watering, overwatering, underwatering, erosion and planting seeds in the raised beds. Although the kids don't look super enthused in this photo (it was a pretty cold day and it was Halloween so their minds were most likely thinking about candy), they have been having a blast learning in the garden. Our goal is to get all of the students of WBE outside and learning in the garden! We could always use more volunteers in the garden, so if you are interested, please contact me at: gogreen@wellsbranchpta.org. Happy Gardening!
¡Horticultura en otoño en WBE!
Este mes de Octubre lo hemos ocupado a enseñar el lado teórico de las clases de jardinería en WBE! Hasta el momento, los planes de estudio han sido: reglas del jardín, comestibles frente a no-comestibles, los diferentes tipos de raíz, hojas y hortalizas, riego, riego excesivo, falta de agua, erosión y por último pero no menos importante la plantación de semillas en las camas de cultivo. A pesar de que los niños no se vean muy entusiasmados en esta foto (era un día frío, era Halloween y probablemente solo pensaban en dulces), este mes se han divertido mucho aprendiendo en el jardín. Nuestro objetivo es conseguir que todos los alumnos de WBE puedan salir a tomar las clases de jardinería. Siempre estamos en busca de voluntarios en nuestro equipo Green Team, si usted está interesado en ser un líder y/o voluntario en nuestro equipo, puede ponerse en contacto con nosotros a través de nuestro correo electrónico gogreen@wellsbranchpta.org. ¡Feliz Cosecha!

Some of the Garden Leaders worked on the vegetable beds this morning and did some other maintenance in the courtyard to get ready for classes to begin in a week! All of the beds are now square foot gardens. Hooray! This will really help to keep the beds organized for the classes. We are excited to start another wonderful school year in the garden. The students have been asking me since the 1st day of school when the gardening classes would start again so I guess you could say that they are a little anxious to begin as well! If you are interested in being a Garden Leader and/or Helper, just contact me at gogreen@wellsbranchpta.org. The more assistance we get in the garden, the more classes that can come out to the garden! Happy Gardening!
!Las camas de cultivo están listas para las clases de jardinería!
Algunos de los líderes del Green Team trabajaron en las camas de cultivo esta mañana e hicieron algunas otras tareas de mantenimiento para estar listos para las clases que comienzan la siguiente semana. Decidimos hacer todas las camas de cultivo cuadradas ya que nos ayudara a tener cultivos y clases mas organizadas. Estamos muy contentos de comenzar otro maravilloso año escolar, los estudiantes me han preguntado desde el primer día de escuela cuando comenzaremos con las clases de jardín, así que supongo todos estamos ansiosos por comenzar a cultivar y cosechar.Si usted está interesado en ser un líder y/o voluntario en nuestro equipo Green Team, puede ponerse en contacto con nosotros a través de nuestra dirección de correo electrónico gogreen@wellsbranchpta.org. Cuanto más ayuda recibimos ¡más grupos podrán salir al jardín!

It's hard to believe that there are only 3 weeks left of school! We have had another wonderful year in the garden with our Wells Branch Elementary Garden Explorers and Farmer's Market group! Today, we will have our weekly Farmer's Market at WBE. Look for the bright blue market stand. Each item/bunch costs $1 and all items are extremely fresh and organically grown in the courtyard at WBE. Don't forget your reusable bags!

Today's offerings are: swiss chard, kale, lettuce, spinach, edible flowers (calendula and nasturtium), tons of herbs and limited quantities of: beets, carrots, peas and banana peppers. Hope to see you there!

After today's market, we will only have 2 more markets: May 17th and May 24th. Thank you for supporting our awesome program and the gardening students at WBE!

There are only 7 more weeks of school left! If you haven't had a chance to come by the Farmer's Market at WBE, come see us before summer vacation! The kids are thoroughly enjoying the program and have learned so much about running their own business. They are very proud to offer their school grown organic veggies! The students are saving up the money made by the Farmer's Market to buy a nice, large greenhouse. Hope to see you soon!

We finished our square foot garden on Tuesday! The students planted all of the seedlings and filled in the rest of the squares with seeds. We have the following veggies, flowers and herbs: beets, turnips, carrots, radishes, lettuce, bell peppers (they are still alive from last year!), banana peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, swiss chard, collards, nasturtiums, calendula, lavender, cilantro, fennel, parsley and more! We are looking forward to selling our fresh, organic produce in January or February 2013. In the coming weeks, we will be working on advertising and marketing to raise awareness about this awesome Farmer's Market project done by the 5th graders!

Nuestra segunda semana con el grupo Farmer's Market.
El martes terminámos nuestro huerto escolar. Los alumnos sembraron  retoños y rellenaron el espacio restante con semillas. En el huerto podemos encontrar una gran variedad de vegetales, flores y semillas como: betabel, nabos, zanahorias, rábanos, lechuga, pimientos (que están vivos desde el año pasado!), chile amarillo, brócoli, coliflor, col rizada, acelgas, col, berros, caléndula, lavanda, cilantro, hinojo y perejil entre otros. Estamos muy emocionados con la idea de poder lograr una cosecha fresca y orgánica que podamos poner  a la venta en los meses de enero y febrero del 2013. En las próximas semanas estaremos trabajando en la publicidad y mercadeo de este increible proyecto realizado por alumnos de 5to grado! 

We have been having a wonderful time gardening with our classes this Fall. The photo shows the area where we work with the kids and the large raised beds to do vegetable gardening. So far, the students have learned: how to be safe and respect the rules of the garden, bugs (identifying our friends and our foes), composting with a traditional composter and vermicomposting (with worms) and how to sow vegetable seeds. The kids planted beets, carrots (their favorite!), turnips, lettuce and radishes. We are always looking for more volunteers to help with the gardening classes or with various work days through the year. Please contact us if you are interested!

¡Cuanta diversión sembrando en el patio de la escuela!
Este otoño hemos disfrutando mucho sembrando con los estudiantes. La foto muestra el área en la que trabajamos y las camas de tierra levantada donde hacemos la horticultura. Hasta el momento, los alumnos han aprendido las normas de seguridad necesarias para trabajar en el huerto, las reglas del jardín, la identificación de insectos (diferenciar a nuestros amigos de nuestros enemigos), hacer composta usando un compostador tradicional y uno con lombrices (vermicompostaje) y como sembrar semillas de hortalizas. Hemos plantado remolachas, betabeles, zanahorias (¡sus favoritas!), nabos, lechugas y rábanos. Ha sido una experiencia extraordinaria para todos. Recuerden que siempre estamos en busca de voluntarios que nos ayuden con las clases de jardinería o en otros de nuestros proyectos. Si están interesados, por favor no duden en ponerse en contacto con nosotros.