Congratulations to the 811X Horticulture team for their workshop on “Seed Harvesting in the Classroom” presented at the City Grower’s Education Conference on Saturday, February 27. They led an incredible workshop and represented D75 and Plant Learn Grow to the fullest!

Check out the amazing Stephen Ritz in this NPR segment called How a Great Teacher Cultivates Veggies (And Kids) in the Bronx.  Go Steve!!

Last week, PLG visited NYC’s first Net Zero School, PS 62, The Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground. It was awesome! We saw bikes that generate power for the building, nearly 2,000 solar panels, and green technology used in lighting and classrooms that we have never seen before . The building even uses geothermal wells for heat and AC. In case you are wondering, “net zero” means that the school will produce as much energy as it uses. Big thanks to Principal Lisa Sarnicola for showing us around.

Plant Learn Grow would like to congratulate Mr. Ketler Louissaint on his new position as Superintendant IA for District 75. Mr. Louissaint has been a strong supporter of our schools’ gardening efforts for a long time. We hope he’s not too busy to plant with us again this spring!

Big things are happening at 133K, where our 369K students are involved in the construction of brand new beds for the spring. The former container garden is getting a hefty makeover. We can’t wait to see it in bloom.

Check out these photos from a late season harvest at 373K in Bushwick, Brooklyn last week! They are still growing eggplant, kale, callaloo, chard, peppers, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, and more. Amazing!

Hi Everyone.  Here’s a cool resource and book list about food and nutrition for elementary aged children.  You can also find it in the Resources tab above along with lots of other great tools! Next week, not one, not two, not three, but FIVE schools are going on tours to their local greenmarkets. We can’t wait to see their pics and hear all about it.  Have a great weekend!

How are your class gardens coming along? What are your plans for planting in the winter months? Maybe the farmers can help us out! Six of our PLG schools will be going on trips to their local greenmarkets over the next few weeks. We can’t wait to hear what they learn from talking to the farmers and sellers at the market.  Which fruits and vegetables are available at this time of year? Take photos and share what you learn with the community!

We hope everyone has been enjoying their spring and summer harvests and is ready to get into another exciting year of planting, learning and growing together!  We have a lot of exciting things planned this year and can’t wait to get started.  Here are some upcoming events that you don’t want to miss:

The Plant Learn Grow workshop for teachers is on September 26.  Make sure that your teacher is signed up!

October 16 is World Food Day. Check out the website to see what you can do to get involved.

And, don’t forget to register your school garden with Grow to Learn NYC .

Check back soon for updates!

The students from 993 Q at Frank Sinatra HS made pesto pasta and salad from ingredients they grew in their classroom!  Here they are selecting, clipping and blending the basil leaves for the pesto sauce.  They also had a salad made from hydroponically grown lettuce from their classroom window farm. Yum!