From the Ground Up
A quarterly publication of the School Garden Project of Lane County
PO Box 30072, Eugene, OR 97403 – 541.284.1001 – Spring 2009 – v.7, no.3
www.schoolgardenproject.org – sgp@efn.org
Helping schools create and sustain gardens where
hands-on learning connects students with their
environment and local food system.
Summer Gardening
Opportunities for Students
When people learn about the work of the
School Garden Project, one of the most
common questions they ask is “What
happens over the summer?” (see Page 2)
One of the ironies of the school gardening
movement is that students often miss the
most vigorous growing season of late
summer. After leaving behind a tidy
garden plot in June, students come back in
September to find a green jungle
populated with sprawling squash plants,
towering sunflowers, and heavily laden
tomato plants. While this magical
transformation makes for an exciting first
garden session in the fall, it also represents
a lost opportunity for us to further our
mission of connecting students to their
local food system throughout the year.
At our Partner Schools, we try to keep the
gardening spirit alive through the summer
by ending the year with a container
gardening project that allows students to
grow their own plants at home over the
summer: tomatoes last year, edible
sunflowers this year. This summer, we are
also exploring several new opportunities
to sustain student involvement through
the growing season.
Two new programs this summer are the
Northwest Youth Corps’ (NYC)
YouthGrow program and Nearby
Nature’s garden-based summer camps.
Last summer, participants in NYC’s
summer programs visited numerous SGP
school gardens to build new beds, plant
winter crops, and tame the weeds.
Somewhat surprisingly to us,
participating students consistently rated
the school garden portion as the
highlight of their three-week session,
which included service learning projects,
camping trips, and river rafting.
In this issue
The YouthGrow program was born out
of this vocalized desire from young teens
for more gardening activities, and is
focused specifically on food production
and cooking with fresh vegetables.
During the three week sessions based out
of the Laurel Valley Educational Farm,
participants will receive lessons in
organic gardening techniques, botany,
soils, and plant and insect ID while
working and having fun in the garden.
The program includes numerous field
trips to local school and community
gardens and conservation sites. Summer
sessions are June 29-July 17, July 20August 7, and August 10-28, from 9 AM
to 3 PM on weekdays. For ages 9-13. For
more information, visit the Northwest
Youth Corps website,
www.nwyouthcorps.org or call Angela
Andre at 349-5055.
Member School Spotlight: Network
Charter School
3
New at the Nearby Nature Park Host
residence in Alton Baker Park this year is
the Learnscape, a demonstration garden
that highlights creative gardening
strategies, water-wise gardening
practices, and various compost systems
(see “Member School Spotlight” on page
3). SGP is collaborating with Nearby
Nature to host three summer day camps
at the Learnscape in which students will
study native plants and pollinators, (“Summer Gardening Opportunities” continued on
Page 2)
Summer Gardening Opportunities for
Students
1
Report from Partner Schools
2
From the Director
3
SGP Wishlist
4
Upcoming Events
4
Board of Directors
Karen Wildish, President
Kate Swords, Treasurer
Amie Collins, Secretary
Debra Eichner
Sarah Mazze
Grace Schubert
Jim Crane
Martha Koreisha
Cindy Wise
Rebecca Briggs
Executive Director
Jared Pruch
Site Coordinator
Tracy Gagnon
(“Summer Gardening Opportunities” continued)
plant and harvest garden produce, and
explore the gardens through creative
games and activities. Camp dates and ages
are: Go Green (ages 6-8), June 22-26, EcoExplorers (ages 8-11), June 29-July 3, and
Positively Pollinators (ages 4 ½-5), July 610. For more information, visit the
Nearby Nature website,
www.nearbynature.org or call Elyse
Peterson at 687-9699.
Existing gardening programs that
continue this summer include the Food
for Lane County’s Youth Farm Crew and
Grassroots Garden. For older students,
the Youth Farm Crew represents an
opportunity for teens 14-17 to earn money
and gain valuable farming and business
skills by running the farm’s CSA
(community supported agriculture) and
farm stand. Grassroots Garden and the
Churchill Community Garden host dropin gardening sessions directed by
volunteers. For more information on
FFLC programs and drop-in hours,
contact Jen Anonia at
gardens@foodforlanecounty.org.
summer. Students, teachers, and
community members will also
harvest greens from the garden,
cook, and share a meal together.
Report from Partner
Schools
Tracy Gagnon
Our spring educational programs began
in mid-February with lessons on soil
structure, compost, photosynthesis,
flower structure, pollination, and native
plants. Students have been building soil
tilth and fertility in their gardens by
turning in winter cover crops and
applying compost. Many of our schools
already have two-foot pea vines as well
as beautiful Asian
greens, brassica crops,
and salad greens, which
students have devoured
in stir fries and garden
salads.
Garden sessions will
culminate in early June
with our second annual
Spring Garden
Celebrations. Students
will have the opportunity
to participate in an art
activity as well as a
planting project where
they will pot up dwarf
sunflower starts to care
for at home over the
Attention Volunteers: Come Help
with our Spring Celebrations!
We’re looking for folks to cook veggies, take
pictures, deliver supplies, and work with students
at these fun events, taking place during the first
week of June (the 1st-10th).
Interested? Send us an email at sgp@efn.org or
give a call at 284-1001.
Family School students prepare bok choi, artichokes and salad
greens at last year’s Garden Celebration.
What Does Happen at School Gardens Over the Summer?
Because our programs are tied so closely to the September- through-June school year, we approach the challenge of utilizing school
gardens through the summer vacation in several ways:
1. Crop Choice
We have two primary harvest target windows in the year: early June and September-October. By loading school gardens up with fastmaturing crops like lettuce, braising greens, green onions and dwarf snap peas in the early spring, we’re ready to serve a big garden
meal at our Spring Garden Celebrations in June.
Over the summer, we avoid crops that need to be harvested frequently (e.g. zucchini), instead selecting plants like winter squash, corn,
wheat and sunflowers that will mature over the summer and be ready to harvest when the kids come back. We advocate planting everbearing varieties of berry crops and fall-producing fruit trees.
We also strive for a year-round growing season by a variety planting winter garden crops (brassicas, leeks, chard) in the late summer
and sowing cover crops in the fall.
2. Community Involvement
In 2008, we had volunteer community members maintaining and harvesting produce from all of our Partner School gardens. We
encourage volunteers to harvest any ripe produce from the garden (or even select a bed in which to grow their own) in return for the
maintenance work they do. Extra produce this summer will be donated to the Food for Lane County food bank.
At some schools, families take turns weeding and watering the garden for a week at a time over the summer; other schools cultivate
relationships with local Neighborhood Associations or service groups to arrange summer maintenance.
Interested in helping out? Send us an email or go to our website to learn more about summer volunteer opportunities.
3. Summer Programs
This summer, we are piloting summer gardening programs with the Northwest Youth Corps and Nearby Nature. In the future, we hope to
involve existing summer school programs in gardening work and host weekly drop-in sessions so students can stay connected to their
school garden.
Member School Spotlight:
Network Charter School
Erin Lamb, Nearby Nature Park Host
“I like the Learnscape because there is nature
for animals and nature for people at the same
time. They can have life and we can have
life.”
~6-year old Spring Break camper
With help from the Network Charter
School, Nearby Nature's site in Alton
Baker Park is truly coming to life this
spring. In the winter of 2008, Nearby
Nature began work on its new Learnscape,
a living landscape that inspires the
imagination, promotes sustainable living,
and celebrates nature.
Students from the Network Charter
School (NCS) have been instrumental in
the transformation of Nearby Nature’s
approximately one acre site into a
Learnscape and school garden.
Transforming grass to gardens, NCS
students have helped at every stage to
sheet mulch or scalp lawn, dig out
invasive shrubs, and plant a Pollinators
Garden with thousands of native seeds
and plants. After enjoying roasted
potatoes and beets from last year’s beds,
students from the NCS Permaculture class
installed a hugelkultur pit this spring and
planted potatoes, sunflowers, garlic,
gooseberries and raspberries in the Edible
Schoolyard. To control garden pests,
students planted native shrubs and forbs to
attract beneficial predators.
Last week, students started eating the
bounty of greens from starts provided by
School Garden Project right before spring
break. Students harvested giant bowls of
arugula, mizuna mustard greens, and
spinach, threw in some young dandelions,
bok choi flowers, and devoured spring in
action. Next week, they’ll be transplanting
broccoli, cauliflower, leek and onion starts
into the beds next to crops of peas, garlic,
kale, mustard greens, lettuce, beets,
carrots and beans.
The Learnscape includes six themed
outdoor classrooms: Edible Schoolyard,
Native Pollinators Garden, The Nest,
River Run/Salamander Room, Loose
Parts Playspace, and, in partnership with
the City of Eugene and EWEB, a
WaterWise Garden. In addition, Nearby
Nature has a Compost Zoo, the park host
family garden, and a shady natives
bioswale in front of the house.
As the site develops fully, we anticipate
that other community groups will use
the Learnscape for education and
celebration. Students will learn more
than natural history. They will learn
how to identify, cultivate, harvest, eat
fresh food and save seed. They will
also learn to observe and be in nature,
plan for the future, explore with their
taste buds, expand their observations
through reflection and journaling,
move thoughtfully, and cooperate with
others as they develop relationships
with people, plants, and the natural
resources that support us all.
From the Director
It feels very much like spring in SGP
gardens this week: plant starts are flying
out of our greenhouses by the thousands,
peas are climbing higher up their trellises
each day, and we are ramping up
towards our year-end Garden
Celebrations. We’ve also been growing
through transitions among our board and
staff while preparing for the coming
summer programs.
Special Projects Coordinator Rosie
Sweetman finished her Americorps term
of service with SGP at the end of April
after leading a stellar workshop on
cafeteria composting. We are sorry to
lose Rosie’s tremendous energy,
enthusiasm and gardening expertise.
Rosie is currently serving as an intern
with the Willamette Farm and Food
Coalition’s Farm to School program, and
will return to Horton Road Organics for
a second season of carrot-herding this
summer.
We are pleased to announce that we will
be partnering with the Northwest
Service Academy again to host another
Americorps member as our Site
Coordinator for the 2009-2010 school
year. We will begin the hiring process for
this position in late May: details can be
found at our website.
The SGP Board of Directors welcomes
four new members this spring: Jim
Crane, a Slow Food Eugene member
and ad hoc chef at last year’s Spring
Celebrations; Martha Koreisha, an
Network Charter School students planting a fruit
tree in the Learnscape
active SGP volunteer who
maintained the Cesar Chavez
school garden last summer;
Cindy Wise, coordinator of the
Lane County Extension Service
Compost Specialist program; and
Rebecca Briggs, communications
director for the Biodynamic
Farming and Gardening
Association. Board Members
Kate Davidson and Erin Lamb
finished their terms in March, but
both will continue to work with
SGP; Kate by serving on our
Advisory Council and Erin
through her work with the
Network Charter School. Thank
you Kate and Erin, and welcome
new Board Members!
Welcome to new Member
Schools Creslane, Arts and
Technology Academy, Adams,
Parker, and South Eugene, and
to schools renewing this spring:
Roosevelt, Head Start of Lane
County, Eastside, Lincoln,
Awbrey Park, and Fairfield.
Please consider registering with
SGP’s eScrip program this spring:
it doesn’t cost you a dime, and if
you sign up between now and
June 15th, you’ll have a shot at
winning a Unique Eugene gift
certificate. See page 4 for details.
Happy gardening!
Jared Pruch
Executive Director
PO Box 30072
Eugene, OR 97403
www.schoolgardenproject.org
Upcoming Events
SGP Wishlist 2009
Last spring we got a great response to our
wishlist, so we’re giving it another go this
year! All donations to the School Garden
Project are fully tax-deductible.
• One gallon pots for our Spring
Celebrations.
• Soaker hoses, drip tape, timers, and
other irrigation supplies.
• Lumber for garden beds, in good
Field trip to the Laurel Valley Educational Farm
condition and not pressure-treated.
During the week of May 15-19th, students from
• Livestock panels for us to use as
Family School visited the Northwest Youth Corps’
arbors.
Laurel Valley Educational Farm. OutDoor High
• Worm bins in good condition.
School biology students led farm tours and
• Tarps, landscape cloth or rolls of
educational activities, including a “pick your lunch”
carpet to use as weed barrier.
walk through the farm. LVEF is the site of this
• Well-aged manure, wood chips.
summer’s YouthGrow program (see page 1).
• Remay or shade cloth of any size.
• T-posts, stakes, rebar, and field
fencing.
• A Truck! We are looking for a set of
wheels to make it easier for us to haul
loads of compost, plant starts and
lumber to school gardens.
We are also seeking in-kind donations of
professional services including
photography, carpentry, irrigation
installation, and graphic design.
June 1st-10th
Spring Garden Celebrations at SGP
Partner Schools. Volunteers welcome!
Sunday, June 14th
Second annual Run for Sustainable
Schools. 5K and 10K runs to benefit
sustainability initiatives in local schools.
9 AM at Alton Baker Park.
Sunday, June 21st
SGP Benefit at Down to Earth. From 105 at both Down to Earth locations.
June 27th-28th
Sustainable Lifestyles Festival at Wise
Acres Farm in Pleasant Hill. Two days of
lectures and workshops on skills
necessary to live sustainably.
August 18th-23rd
Green Village Sustainability Exhibition
at the Lane County Fair (Wheeler
Pavilion). Workshops and onsite
demonstrations of gardening.
composting, food preservation, urban
chicken keeping and more. 11AM-10PM.
Saturday, August 22nd
Grand opening of Nearby Nature’s
Learnscape. 10 AM-3 PM, Alton Baker
Park Host Residence.
Sign up for eScrip and win a Gift Certificate!
If you sign up for our eScrip program OR donate directly to SGP between May 1st and June 15th, we will enter your name in a drawing
to win one of ten $10 Unique Eugene gift certificates. Unique Eugene is a collective of local businesses including Down to Earth, Paul’s
Bicycles, Rainbow Optics and Sundance, and the gift certificates are redeemable at any of the more than 15 participating stores.
Here’s how: Go to www.escrip.com, click on "sign up", and follow the directions to register your credit or debit cards to benefit the
School Garden Project (the easiest way to find us is to type in “School Garden Project” as the Group Name). Each time you use your
registered card at Market of Choice, 3% of your purchase will go to support us. Winners will be notified on June 16th.