Group 26 – Think&EatGreen@School – Sexsmith Elementary School Garden Connections
Group 27 – Think&EatGreen@School – Tyee Elementary School Garden Management Plan
We were sitting down over come granola bars in Agora when Raisa Ramdeen began to tell me about her group project for LFS 350. She’s in group 27 working on one of the many Think&EatGreen@School projects, this one specifically located at Tyee Elementary School. The objective of their project is garden management planning, which will include creating cold frames and a mini crop rotation plan. A cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure that protects garden beds in the winter from the harsh weather but still allows sunlight to be admitted through the transparent roof. Cold frames help extend the growing season; this will help extend the outdoor learning experience for students at Tyee Elementary. There are currently 8 beds at the school, one for each division. As we continued to sip on warm cups of green tea Raisa shared with me her enthusiasm for the work that herself and her group will be doing next Wednesday, the 7th of November. They will complete their work by assembling the cold frames with the students. “We are enjoying our project as we get to gain experience in school garden planning and apply concepts which we have learned in the LFS course series” she said. Are you excited to find out what will be growing at Tyee Elementary? Hopefully lots of fresh greens that will inspire the students to think and eat GREEN at school!
I got a chance to sit down with Bridget Kirkland and speak to her about the experiences and the execution of their project. Group 27 had to build cold frames and create a crop rotation plan. They needed to create a survey in order to proceed with their projects so, 2 members were delegated to crop rotation plans, 2 were delegated to the cold fames and 3 members conducted the survey.
In order to put together the cold frames, 3 individuals went shopping for supplies at Home Depo. Unfortunately they faced a few set backs such as sold out inventory, limited services at Home Depo and the fact that the cold frames were too large to fit into the car. They were able to resolve these problems very quickly by cutting up the frames into smaller, reassembled sections. Two pre-assembly sessions were held within the team to ensure that all members know how to put together the cold frames.
November 7th rolled around and group 27 headed to Tyee Elementary School to demonstrate the construction of the cold frames with students in grade 6. Two different models were presented and Tyee can choose which frame they prefer after the winter months have passed. Each of the frames had different advantages. The hood house (arched frame) allows more sunlight and gives the plants more space to grow, whereas the shorter one protects more from strong winds. We will just have to wait and see which frame Tyee Elementary School picks
Group 28 – Think&EatGreen@School –Tyee Elementary School Garden
Group 29 – The Orchard Garden – The Orchard Garden Workshop Series
Situated behind the Macmillan building is the Orchard Garden. As nearly every LFS student has come to know, the Orchard Garden grows a bounty of fresh veggies for the campus and is a perfect place for outdoor-based educational workshops. This year the organizers asked what could possibly make their workshops even more interactive and fun? An outdoor kitchen! Which brings me to introducing group 29.
Group 29 was given the task of planning an outdoor kitchen next to the Orchard Garden, which was quite the undertaking and presented many ups and downs for the group members. Grant proposals were made for supplies and they even came up with their own design possibility. Things were looking good with all this hard work and it really seemed that their plan would stick around in the long run. Unfortunately it was too good to be true. After a meeting with the Macmillan building ops manager they found out that there were developmental plans for the Orchard Garden space and all their hard efforts would not last. But, ever the resilient bunch of students, they bounced back from that disappointment and found comfort in the fact that their work would still make a difference to those using the kitchen in the mean time.
Along with kitchen planning, the members of group 29 enjoyed harvesting and maintaining the fall Orchard crop to complete their CBEL experience. All in all, this project is thought of fondly by its members.
Group 30 – Squamish First Nations Harmony Garden – Planning and Enhancement of Medicinal and Food Garden