Fall Garden Week

Fall Garden Week!

This week we started grooming our fall garden!  The older classes (4's and 5's) started "seed starters" by planting squash, spinach, radish, and beets, all vegetables that can survive cooler weather and last into the early winter.  Once these vegetables sprout, we will transplant into our garden.  The 3's classes got to plant transplants already-sprouted vegetables and fruits (two types of cabbage, broccoli, curly kale, and even strawberries) directly into our garden.  The children learned what our plants need to grow well:  fertile soil, space, water, and sunlight.  They all helped clean and prepare the garden and add the organic soil.  They will be watching the progress and garden grow until it's time to harvest and enjoy the vegetables!

Our word of the week was SEED.  We learned that a seed has a hard coating that contains a baby plant that with warmth and moisture will grow and push through the soil to the sunshine.

The children had a wonderful time planting their seeds or transplants and getting their hands dirty!

Seed starter choices - kids could pick between squash, radish, spinach, and beets...

 

On our way to Discovery class from Music...

 

The seed starter area for the 4's and 5's...

Some of the first starters...

Each one labeled with their name and type of seed planted...

Planting their seeds...

Preparing the soil and planting cabbage...

tools for young gardeners...

Ready for water...

Ready to head to Discovery from Music...

Working the soil before we dig holes...

 

 Planting two kinds of cabbage - one that grows in just 45 days!

 

Our youngest gardeners got to pretend to plant but went through all the necessary steps - preparing the soil, planting seeds, watering, and watching for sprouts!

 

Practicing in the classroom before going out to actually plant...

Looking good so far... 

 We're ready to plant our vegetables!

Digging holes for our plants...

This is a team effort! 

Cabbages, chives, broccoli, kale, strawberries - oh my!! 

Learning how to care for a garden (pretend water) before going out to truly work in our garden.

Keeping all the seeds moist and warm so they'll sprout...

 By mid-week, some of the 4's and 5's radishes were popping up out of the soil!!

What an exciting week.  We'll continue to water our plants and watch them for growth.

Suggested reading:

We looked at many of the pictures in these books to understand what a vegetable garden is and what it takes to make one grow successfully.  "Grow, Seed, Grow" is an appropriate book for our youngest gardeners.  But no matter their age, they love getting in the dirt and watching the garden grow!