First Farm to School Lunch this Friday!!

Phase Two takes shape

After all the rain this week, I was not very hopeful we would have a dry Saturday to do all the work we had ambitiously planned. The garden needed some cleaning up. The bed along the fence had some more shrubs that needed to go. The big, empty, composted bed outside of room 5 and 6 was a blank canvas. Of course it was leaving little dirt marks on the library wall since every time a butterfinger ball fell in the compost, it got thrown up on the wall. Kind of like polka dots.

We were lucky with the weather, lucky with our dedicated crew of volunteers and a big group of Willamette fraternity boys. There were teams raking leaves, digging out shrubs, digging post holes, cutting boards, and more. We have the start on a grape arbor that will run just under the windows of the classrooms. There will be a short fence around the outside to keep out those errant recess balls. There will be a path through two rows of espaldier trees. We have a huge expanse of sunny dirt to plant in.

Thanks to everyone that came out today to help work. There were kids here today, but you would hardly know since they were being entertained in the gym while the adults did the messy work outside. Thank you Erica for spending the whole day with the kids. Thanks to Sigma Chi for donating their time and energy. Thanks to Erica, another Willamette student who even helped move poo around. Thanks to Cheryl for the coffee that got us going this morning. And thanks to everyone that keeps showing up and giving up their weekend time to make this project happen. We have a truly amazing school community.
Check out a few pictures from today.
More to come later in the week as we finish the support structure.
We will be planting grapes and trees in early December.
Stay tuned for more specifics.

Fence posts and arbor are up

This will be the entrance to the orchard. The winding path will have fruit trees on both sides. Cool, huh?

Have you been wondering what's happening in the garden this winter? We're putting it to sleep! There will be some hoop house for winter greens to grow and the straw is keeping the soil nice and warm for Spring. The black compost bins? Cooking up some compost for Spring!

Look at the size of that drill! Makes digging those holes a whole lot easier. Thanks to Home Depot for donating.

What a Difference!!

We had a great group of volunteers today for our Make a Difference-Garden Work Day. Thanks to everyone that came and dug up Oregon grape (Anne Marie you are a machine!), yanked out and replanted some big Rhodies (Fortey family, way to go), hauled a lot of compost ( thank you Sasha's dad for making it look neat and tidy), people that did a little bit of everything (Erica H. ), delicious snacks to keep us fueled, some donut eaters more fueled than others, and lots of hard labor!

We pulled out some laurel and juniper to make way for our orchard outside rooms 5 & 6, and the garden is getting ready for the winter. There will be cover crops, and sheet mulch in a few beds, and hoop houses. Under those hoop houses, yet to be constructed by McKinley students, we will have some winter greens that will make their way into the cafeteria eventually. One priority of the garden this year is to get some food we grow on site into the lunch line. How exciting!

Justin & diggers

Before

We'll call this during...

Our "silly" workforce

A big big thanks to Christopher, Brenda and Kelly for taking the lead on what will be happening with the garden in the near future.  Justin and Thad, who never seem to tire of the building, digging, and so-called dirty work of garden construction. McRae for managing our projects so well. Kurt for his truck and endless energy, Erica's willlingness and skill at entertaining younger children, and Deanne's input and management at many levels. Kim for getting us some great seed and getting those beds ready for the next phase. Kristen for her much needed chokers that got those big plants out pretty easily. Geoff for the use of the truck we used to yank out those shrubs.

I don't want to leave anyone un-thanked--although I'm sure I did-- so a big big thanks to those families that continue to devote time and energy to making McKinley's Farm to School Program a success. Thank you thank you!!

Stay tuned for what comes next! We will be planting apple/pear trees and grapes soon (hopefully).

Also, mark your calendars: First Farm to School lunch is Friday, Nov. 18th, sponsered by Sodexo and Salem-Keizer Food and Nutrition. Support local producers and local products, McKinley's Farm to School program, and have lunch with your child!

MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY--Garden Work Day

October is a BIG month!!

--National Farm to School Month

--National Make a Difference Day

--National Food Day (Oct. 24th)

Come to McKinley 

Saturday, October 22nd, from 9:00 -- 3:00 

and participate in Make a Difference Day, prepare the garden for winter, and get a start on phase two--an orchard outside of the first grade classrooms.

(Pending District Approval)

Some things you can help with:

*pull out shrubs to make room for an orchard 
   outside room 5 & 6 
*Stake out and dig holes for fruit trees 

*spread compost and mulch 

*clean out garden beds 

*plant cover crops 

*build hoop houses for winter greens 

*plant winter crops

Refreshments provided

Bring some, take some

(bring a dish to share)

Need more information? Contact Kira at dazz22@hotmail.com

FALL HARVEST 50 MILE MEAL--FAMILY FARM TO SCHOOL DINNER

COME CELEBRATE ALL THAT AWESOME RUNNING STUDENTS WILL BE DOING FRIDAY BY JOINING US FOR A FARM TO SCHOOL DINNER.

Bon Apetit, one of our community partners in Farm to School, is providing a Latin style dinner. All products will be sourced within 50 miles of Salem, making it seasonal, sustainable, healthy and delicious. Plates and utensils will be tossed in the compost, making it a "nearly" zero waste meal. We will have some more information about Farm to School, some exciting additions this school year with a garden coordinator and Food Corps volunteer, phase two of the garden/landscaping, Farm to School lunch pilot program and more!

Farm to School 

Fall Harvest 50 Mile Meal

Friday, October 7

5:30 pm--7:00 pm

McKinley Cafeteria

Menu:

Salad and Fresh fruit

Rice and Beans

Tamale Pie (Meat & Vegetarian)

Tickets

Aduilts                $5.00

Kids                   $4.00

Garden supporter  $10.00

Farm to School

So, if you haven't noticed, getting good food into school cafeterias has become a popular idea lately. Especially since Michelle Obama has taken this on as an issue she feels passionately about. The Farm to School movement just keeps growing and growing. People want to eat real food, from sources close to home, that are healthier and tastier, and that support local producers and economies.

Salem Keizer has really taken a lead in this movement with the help of the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation and Oregon Department of Agriculture. We now have a full time garden coordinator--Brenda--and a Food Corps volunteer--Christopher--and one of the only K-12 farm to school programs in the US. Wow! Sounds impressive, huh?

Get educated and get involved!
Brenda and Christopher will be working with McKinley and starting a gardening club at our school.
Come to a Parent Teacher Club meeting and hear how you can get involved.
Check out the links posted on this blog, like Farm to School.

And mark your calendars!!
October 24th is National Food Day whose motto is
It's Time to Eat Real, America.

Check out the link under other garden links.

Happy gardening!

IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!! What's Been Happening in the Garden?

Good question!

Thanks to the diligent attention of a few McKinley families, and helpful bond construction workers, the garden was watered and tended all summer. One of the perks of water duty is that you get to eat what's out there. The lettuce, peas, radishes, green beans and chard were awesome. Thanks to James and Wandering Aengus for lending us the huge water tank we used, and then hauling it away when we finally got the water back on.


Here are some pictures of the garden. I encourage you to go see it! Wander through before or after school and ask your kids what they've been learning about the garden. You might be surprised at what they say.

Remember how lettuce likes nice
cool weather?
This is right after planting.
Little baby plants!

Then it got hot finally this summer. Do you know what
happens to lettuce when it gets hot? It bolts!
It grows like a tree trunk and tastes terrible!
These went straight into the compost for the worms.

Guess what happens when you cut off the
head of a cabbage? It grows little baby
cabbages like these.

Guess what this is? Flower or vegetable? Both!
This is an artichoke that never got picked when you could eat it, so it "flowered."

Yep, that's a pumpkin alright!

The kindergarden's sunflowers grew tall and strong. See those little black things near the bottom? They're sunflower seeds!

Lettuce, peas and more...

Wow, even though the water to the school is practically shut off, our garden is growing! The construction workers have been so helpful with keeping our huge tank of water full, the garden wouldn't look so great without their assistance. And thank you thank you to the families that have been watering and tending the garden. 

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Right now there is a lot of lettuce and peas. If the weather gets hot--and stays hot--those will soon be done. So come and get some while you can!


Look at all this great green stuff growing!!

Room 10s peas & lettuce in March

Room 10's peas & lettuce in July

Want to help tend the garden this summer?

There will be lots of activity at McKinley this summer with the bond construction that's happening. They are going to transform the inside of our old school. Rumor is there might even be drinkable water out of the drinking fountains to rival the cold one in the gym! 


So, we will have some access to the garden this summer, and there are some plants out there that will need our attention as the days get hotter and drier. We are working on a schedule for watering, with people signing up for a week at a time. Ideally, we are going to try and get a timer and drip system so that the "watering" of the garden would entail you coming and making sure it's all working and NOT hauling multiple watering cans from the faucet to the garden.


Are you interested in helping out this summer?
Just email me at dazz22@hotmail.com.

Have you seen the veggies?

This has been a cold, wet spring. But apparently peas, radishes, lettuce and chard all like that kind of weather. Maybe it's the fabulous starts we got from Justin or Minto Island Growers. Maybe it's the attentive care all those students have given to their little plants growing and growing. It's a magic combination! We had fresh lettuce on Monday in the salad bar and Judy roasted up some delicious rainbow chard for kids to try. 1st and 2nd graders have been trying tiny little radishes and lettuce--"did you know lettuce can be red sometimes?" How exciting to see young people watching food grow, eating it, and really giving some thought to how that all happens. Well, maybe not too much thought. But it's exciting to see kids getting excited about the garden! Here's a few photos of what's growing now.

Lettuce, peas and greens, oh my!

I'd buy their lettuce

Room 10's lettuce & peas

Room 6's greens, veggies & soon-to-be flowers.