Winkle's Garden News

Unsung Heroes

2010-06-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has cared for a garden knows that monitoring it to make sure it gets enough water is an almost daily commitment. So, who has been giving the Outdoor Classroom vegetable garden this important TLC? Not Mr. Moyer. Not the Green Thumb Club. It has been the students of Mrs. Dieser's Special Education Autistic Support class.

The class was out in the garden recently watering and harvesting snap peas, broccoli and cauliflower.

The vegetables are headed for the cafeteria and will be appearing soon on Wescosville students' lunch trays!

Many thanks to Mrs. Dieser's class!

Butterfly Garden Progress

2010-06-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo update on the progress of the Butterfly Garden. More details to come!
April 6

April 27

May 5

May 21

June 10

The Green Thumb Club

2010-06-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

A new Green Thumb Club of 4th and 5th graders was formed this spring. Despite an uncanny string of rain storms that hit precisely between 3:30-4:30 on Tuesdays and kept members inside a few weeks, Green Thumbers made sunny days count with their hard work in the garden and school grounds. They were an enthusiastic group - whether it came to tackling weeds or making friends with garden critters.

During a few of the rainy afternoons, the club enjoyed talks with some of the amazing volunteer gardening experts of the Penn State Master Gardener program. Topics covered included tree identification, soil preparation and fertilization, and bug identification.

One recent visitor was Deb Martin, coauthor of The Complete Compost Gardening Guide. Deb brought her special pets - several hundred wriggly red worms who live and make compost in a plastic bin. Club members got a real hands-on experience with the worms and had a chance to see what worm eggs and babies look like. There were oohs and aahhhs and, yes, even cooing over the little baby worms before Green Thumbers reluctantly said goodbye to Deb's pets.

The Green Thumb club is on hiatus for the summer but will be back in session in the fall when the garden harvest comes in. Membership will be open to up to fifteen fourth and fifth grade students. Look for a flyer with information on joining the club after school starts in the fall.

Plans For a New Growing Season

2010-03-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Master Gardeners from Penn State Extension visited recently to help plan the coming growing season. Popular vegetables from last year like broccoli and cauliflower will make a comeback along with some new combinations. Several classes have already planted seeds and are carefully tending them so we will have seedlings to plant soon. Stay tuned for more news!

Butterfly Garden Plans Take Flight!

2010-03-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Mr. Rick Micula, a nationally recognized, award-winning author, lecturer, and butterfly farmer came recently to talk to the second grade classes.

As you can see, Mr. Micula gave students a vivid firsthand account of the world of a butterfly. The second grade students are busy learning all they can about butterflies in order to design a butterfly habitat area in the Outdoor Classroom. This endeavor is an exciting example of a project-based learning curriculum, in which students will work cooperatively to conduct research, problem-solve, debate, and make decisions - all to reach their goal of creating a school butterfly garden. We'll keep you updated on their progress!

Wescosville Library a Treasury of Garden Resources

2010-03-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Last fall, a new assortment of books about gardening, composting and about how to incorporate these and other outdoor topics into elementary curricula were added to the Wescosville Library collection.

The books are full of interesting and easy-to-do projects in language arts, science and math. They will be a valuable resource for students, teachers and parents.

Thank you Mrs. Newton!

Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser a Success

2010-03-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

On March 5th, a Spaghetti Dinner was held in the Wescosville School cafeteria to benefit the Outdoor Classroom Project. Over $700 dollars was raised!

More than 200 people attended, sitting down to enjoy a family-style meal of spaghetti, meatballs, and salad served by volunteers, followed by delicious homemade desserts thanks to volunteer bakers. Music by Mr. Williams, Mrs. Cooke, and Ms. Davenport, the elementary string ensemble and elementary band ensemble provided the perfect dining entertainment.

After dinner, Mr. Mauer hosted some lively rounds of bingo, complete with mystery prizes.

Throughout the evening, guests could buy tickets to enter a basket raffle with an exciting selection of 15 prizes, all generously donated by the following local businesses:

Cottage of Emmaus

Creative Photography by Jill Cramer

The Da Vinci Science Center

The Finish Line in Emmaus

House Splendid

Kim's Kountry Kreations of Emmaus

Men's Health of Rodale

Organic Gardening of Rodale

Pure Sprouts Organic Delivery Service

The Swim-In Zone

The Wescosville Elementary Library

The Wildlands Conservancy

Please help us thank these businesses by remembering them with your patronage.

First Season Wrap-up

2010-02-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a brief recap of the 2009 inaugural season of the Wescosville Outdoor Classroom vegetable garden.

The last vegetables - lettuce, peppers, broccoli, carrots, and some other cold-hardy plants were harvested as late as November, just before the first hard frost. Mr. Moyer and some students harvested the last vegetables together. After a rinse they were enjoyed in the school cafeteria.

Following the growth of the garden has been a fun way to track the passage of time. Here is a photo from the first day of planting on Earth Day, April 22, 2009.

Here we are a month later. The sunflower plants are lining the left side of the bed, broccoli and cauliflower plants are in the middle with zinnia companion plants sprinkled in-between.

Just two months later in July.

Some fruits of our labor . . .

Now is a good time to give some thanks:

Thank you to Mr. Barry George, who kindly donated his time and expertise to build our beautiful raised beds.

Thank you to the 16 families who each gave a week during the summer to water and tend the garden.

Thank you to the wonderful team of Penn State Master Gardeners led by Linda Sheftel, who helped plan the garden and donated plants, materials and hours of their their time helping with the garden, even making themselves available during the summer months for advice and assistance. We are fortunate to benefit from this great volunteer program.

Last but not least, a sincere thank you to those of you who have helped support the garden by purchasing Jose Madrid salsa, Christmas wreaths and participating in other fundraising activities.

Speaking of which, our next fundraiser is a Spaghetti Dinner on Friday, March 5th. We'll have Bingo for the kids and a basket raffle. Tickets are just $6/adult and $3/child with pre-school and under free.

Time flies - Gardens grow ( a lot!)

2009-09-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Aaagh - summer is almost over already!? Our garden has come through looking like a trooper thanks to the 16 familes (with 14 more as alternates!) who came forward enthusiastically and helped weed, water, plant and harvest the garden this summer. These pictures are from the Werner family and beautifully show the wonders of Wescosville's Outdoor Classroom garden.

There's the big wonders . . .

and small . . .

The fun of harvesting

And the not so small endeavor of watering

Thanks again for your help. Harvesting is continuing so please come by whenever you can to pick some tomatoes or beans, etc. Watch for the Outdoor Garden display during the fall Open House at school and for an update on what is next!

July 17th in the Garden

2009-07-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

The last time we came the sunflowers were not in bloom yet. But yesterday - wow! They were the first thing we noticed walking up to the garden. Big and beautiful!

Saw lots of bees buzzing around.

The squash are coming in big time. Please make sure to pick anything that looks ripe and take it home for your dinner table or for your neighbors. The expert gardeners tell me that picking the squash as it comes ripe will keep up the production.

Another update on the water situation: During school hours (approximately 9 to 5) the water from the hose near the garden is available - however you will need a key to turn it on, which means that you will need to buzz into the school office and ask for it. It is something that is easily lost so please be sure to remember to return it.

If you plan on using the water barrel - you will need a container. The flow is just too slow from the hose connection.

Safety Town is being held right now at the school and the whole safety town course is set up on the playground near the garden. Please do not allow your children to play on the course or on the pedal cars unless you are sure that you will be able to leave everything as you found it.

July 4th Garden Update

2009-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

This posting is a little delayed, but here are some pictures of the garden over the past July 4th weekend.

The sunflowers are getting really tall and big flower buds are forming quickly. Looking forward to seeing them in bloom!

The bean plants are starting to really climb up the trellises we erected a couple of months ago. Hopefully they will climb all the way across and make the green arches we envisioned.

The zucchini and squash plants are sprawling and already are producing not only a lot of blossoms but squash too. If you are tending the garden look for some to pick for dinner. There's some basil plants tucked in under the squash plants that are doing surprisingly well. Look for them and pick some leaves to take home. It will help keep them producing.

The cherry tomato plants are going to town! Lots of green ones for now . . .

These droopy plants are a couple of eggplants that I tried to move a little from under the cherry tomatoes. Hope they make it!

Our composter and water barrel. There is a hose attached to the water barrel now. Just be warned that the water flow is very slow and a bit of a trickle. If you are in a hurry to water - bring a watering can or container.

Don't forget to compost garden scraps, trimmings and weeds that haven't yet gone to seed!

Thanks for checking out the blog and please contact me to add your own pictures and garden news/stories. - Noreen

Wescosville Garden June 22 and 24th

2009-06-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

2009-06-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

What a difference 2 months makes! Here are some pictures of the garden taken earlier this week. The broccoli and cauliflower plants that the students planted in April are now ready to pick.

The bamboo trellises you see were erected in late April to support climbing bean vines. If you look closely at the pictures below you can see the tendrils of the bean plants just starting to grab hold. Hopefully, by the end of summer we'll have bean vine arches at both ends of the garden rows.

Welcome to Winkle's Garden

2009-06-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog for the Wescosville Outdoor Classroom Garden. The first planting in the garden took place on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. Several classes helped plant a variety of vegetable seedlings, including broccoli, cauliflower, beets and lettuce. A few zinnias were also planted among the rows as beneficial companion plants that will help keep undesireable insects away.