In March students in 39 STEAM classrooms learned that dormant seeds contain stored energy (cotyledon) to produce a plant. In April they discovered that after a plant begins to grow, the seed energy becomes depleted and plants must get their energy from the sun. Students were able to compare plants that were grown in sunlight...
We love teaching students where their food comes from. Did you know that a dormant seed contains everything that it needs to grow into a plant and grow food to eat? This month students learns the parts of a seed and then each was given a seed that had been soaked in water to awaken...
On Saturday, March 11, we hosted a Rengenerative Garden Workshop at Flowerland in Wyoming, MI. Hope Gardens’ staff taught community members how to install their own no-till, regenerative (nature-based) garden. Regenerative gardening is an approach to sustainable food and farming systems that regenerates topsoil and enhances biodiversity now and long into the future. This practice...
. Kids in 39 Wyoming Public Schools STEAM classrooms, 7 Team 21 after-school programs, 2 classrooms at South Elementary in Grandville, and 4 at Countryside Elementary in Byron center, all planned their summer gardens in February. They started by learning why planting a variety of fruits and vegetables helps protect the garden from being completely destroyed by...
Our Team 21 kids at 10 schools in Wyoming used pinecones, shortening, and bird seed in January to make pinecone bird feeders to hang in their school gardens. Pine cones are the perfect vessel for a handmade bird feeder. Our feathered friends are getting a winter treat made by the hands of children. If you...
New to you! Each month our garden staff will be providing valuable tips to help you in your gardening journey. February’s tips come from our garden tech, Jake Torok. Get your supplies ready! Seed starting is just around the corner. Start looking at your seed packets and taking note of which ones need to be...
In January we brought ‘Variety…The Spice of Life’ to 39 Wyoming Public School STEM classrooms. Students learned how eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables gives us a variety of the vitamins and minerals that make our bodies strong and healthy. We use MyPlate, which was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,...
This month we installed a regenerative, no-till school garden at Godfrey Early Childhood Center in Wyoming. We were greeted with sunshine as we engaged in the process of covering the ground with cardboard, paper, leaves, and mulch. Soon a blanket of snow will cover the layers causing them to break down and create a...
This month 850 students at 3 Wyoming schools learned that “soil” is the scientific name for the ground in their school garden. They discovered that soil has both living (organisms, decaying matter. air and water) and non-living (clay, sand, silt) parts and that it is the living parts that add important nutrients to our food....
Super Garden XV! Our recipe for a new garden at Godwin Middle School Ingredients: A big dump truck full of wood mulch (10 yards) A truck load of composted mulch (7 yards) At least 20 yard-waste bags of fall leaves Many sheets of cardboard from collapsed boxes 20 – 7th and 8th grade students 7...