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May 5-6th - Next garden work party days
JMS Garden Project update: Recent essay sent to Whole Foods requesting grant money.
April 25, 2011
The John Muir School (JMS) is a K-8 public magnet school established in 2006. Our student population of 110 enjoys a curriculum interwoven with arts, music and the great outdoors. The school uses an on-campus garden, local parks and partially developed wilderness areas extensively to teach students about seeds, plants, nutrition, science, math and land stewardship. Four primary teachers combine inside and outside experiential learning in a variety of settings. Teachers are responsible for all subject areas, and class sizes range from 24 to 28 students. The school is heavily supported by parent volunteers. We currently fund raise for almost all of our art, music and basic outdoor programs. We hire one part-time person to support the organizational and logistical needs of these programs. She does not, however, have time to coordinate the garden effort.
A few dedicated parents like myself took on the garden project in 2007. Progress over the first years was slow, but in 2010 we received a grant from the City of Ashland to erect a deer fence and install an irrigation system. After that we really gained steam. We set out to make the garden sustainable and have accomplished that goal by involving the entire school community in two basic steps.
First, we elicited the support of the school maintenance grounds department. They are now our primary supplier for mulch and compostable materials like grass, sawdust and leaves. With the addition of coffee grounds from local coffee shops and manure from local horse ranches, we created a compost pile managed by the students. Our first student-created compost batch is just about ready. Weed suppression between rows and in undeveloped areas is also better managed.
Second, we petitioned the new food service director at the school district to include us in a program where food from the school garden goes directly to the school cafeteria salad bar. We are, I am happy to write, part of a pilot project that is slowly gaining ground. We had fresh vegetables like bok choy, broccoli and onions in the salad bar in the Fall of 2010. Signs announcing the addition of school garden produce were posted when a crop was brought in. This has been a point of pride for the students and parents. Making good nutritional choices is a main focus for 2011-2012 throughout our school district.
Recognizing the success of our efforts, our two upper grade teachers (5-8th) incorporated the JMS garden into the planned outdoor curriculum. Working in cooperation with the Rogue Valley Farm to School (RVF2S) organization, students received instruction at both our garden location and a local organic farm at least monthly. As a result, the 5-8th graders mapped the JMS garden, performed soil testing, help create beds (43 beds, 3 ft widex20 feet long), completed a planting/succession plan and started planting raspberries, strawberries and sugar peas in March of this year. Colorful garden stakes creatively painted by the students adorn the garden beds and promote ownership.
Though not a scheduled part of the curriculum, our K-4th graders also enjoyed visits to the garden for planting, weeding and harvesting throughout the year. We were able to promote the garden learning cycle by baking goodies in the school’s cob oven with ingredients freshly harvested by students from the garden. One plan is to create a 10 ft. x 10 ft. “pizza patch” like the one described in the book Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots.
Future goals include creating a student-run produce stand, increasing focus time on nutritional choices through experiences in the garden, regularly having students take crops to the cafeteria, setting up an elective gardening course, and teaching the pantry arts of dehydration, canning and freezing using the school cafeteria facility. Community outreach for food/crop donations is also part of our larger plan.
Our immediate needs are for a dedicated, paid (at least minimally) garden coordinator and only slightly less so a multipurpose lathe house. We are looking at a basic design structure that would serve to protect the students from the elements, double as a place to plant and tend seedlings, as well as serve as a transplanting station. Additionally, the lathe house would serve as a produce processing station for foods going to the cafeteria and student-run produce stand.
Our pilot project for nutrition this year involved dehydrating kale with a natural “nacho” flavor to see if the students liked it and selling JMS garden blackberry jam at our annual fundraiser. Both projects were very successful and can easily be expanded to include full student involvement.
What would it mean to our garden to have funding from you? A LOT! As you can tell, we are at a critical time in our program development. Involving the school and farm communities, expanding our commitment to the school cafeteria and becoming a planned part of the teaching curriculum means we have a huge increase in our management time needs. To be successful, we must have someone to oversee the garden operation.
Up to now, ALL the funding we have received has been for materials. We believe we cannot grow or even maintain a program of this size with just materials funding. We need a dedicated garden manager to ensure a sustainable, quality program and avoid burnout of our few main, dedicated volunteers.
As I write this, I am amazed at the progress two short years have brought. I encourage you to call or email me if you have ANY questions about our garden project.
Looking forward to your support!
Patti Ruiz
541 482-2826
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