Unsung Heroes

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.