A HUGE thanks to Dianna Gielstra, Johan Gielstra, Steve Wilson, Daira Wilson and Fernando Muñoz for doing such a lovely job on the new cedar benches by the Walker Dismissal Area and for the additional mulch around the native plants. We spent our Sunday afternoon working on beautifying the area. We are planning on planting a native garden by the new benches once the weather warms up a bit again. For now, parents and guardians waiting for their children after school have a nice area to sit down and converse with fellow parents. Photo to follow soon!

Tenemos 4 bancas nuevas en el área de salida peatonal!!!
Un enorme agradecimiento a Dianna Gielstra, Gielstra Johan, Steve Wilson, Wilson Daira y Fernando Muñoz que gracias a ellos tenemos 4 bancas de cedro nuevas en el área de salida peatonal. El domingo por la tarde estuvimos trabajando en el embellecimiento de esta zona, colocamos las bancas nuevas y pusimos mulch adicional en las plantas regionales ahí ubicadas. Nuestro siguiente paso, cuando el clima nos los permita, es construir un jardín con plantas regionales al lado de las bancas. Estamos muy contentos con el trabajo realizado. Por lo pronto los padres y tutores en espera de sus hijos a la hora de salida de la escuela tienen un lugar para sentarse y conversar cómodamente con otros padres. La foto próximamente.

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.

We had our first meeting this morning to discuss our goals for the year and our various projects. We are a highly motivated group and have many projects that we would like to accomplish this year, from gardening with the kids to recycling more to lessening the amount of papers in Thursday folders. Below is the link with our list of projects. Please take a look and sign up for something. We are really in need of more gardening volunteers to help out with the classes that garden during the school day. Your help can be as little as 45 minutes one day a week to as much as you'd like. We appreciate any help you can give! 

www.tinyurl.com/wbegogreenteam

Last year, our accomplishments included: 

• Starting a vegetable garden for the students (6 large beds and 2 small ones)
• Teaching organic gardening to students
• Planting 6 fruit trees with all of the 5th graders.
• 12 new trees were planted by the playscape on Merrilltown Dr. with irrigation
• 2 grants for our projects
• Organizing a wonderful Earth Day PTA Event
• Completing several beautification projects, including the walker dismissal with benches and native plants
• Working with Eagle Scouts to beautify the courtyard
• Started a monthly afterschool Green Club with students
• Putting up "No Idling" signs for car drivers who drop-off/pick-up their children. Read more about the No Idling campaign here. 
  

We are very proud of our accomplishments and feel that we are making a visible difference for our students and parents at Wells Branch Elementary.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about volunteering or being a part of the Green Team.

Thanks so much,

Tara Fisher-Muñoz
Co-Chair Green Team PTA
Wells Branch Elementary
[email protected]