This year four D75 classes are partnering with the Genovesi Environmental Study Center in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, making multiple visits over the year to study plant and animal adaptations. An added bonus: lunch with the chickens! (They are very friendly!)
A class trip to a garden offers so many opportunities for students to taste, see, observe, touch and experience nature.
Greetings, dedicated PLGers! As the outdoor growing season is soon coming to an end, the new school school year is just beginning and we are very excited to share new resources and opportunities with you. Our Plant Learn Grow 101 PD will be on October 18 at 373K, in addition to our full menu of Hydroponics/ Aquaponics, Composting, Sustainability, and of course the Teaching in the Garden Series with BBG and NYBG. Check out the current course offerings here. In the meantime, here are some late but awesome photos from our Garden Day event last June. Enjoy!
In keeping with the theme of “plants we eat,” a group of teachers came together last Friday for the final edition of our Teaching in the Garden PD series this year. The focus: Kitchen Botany. We welcomed Lauren, our favorite garden educator, back from maternity leave, and had a chance to explore Brooklyn in bloom as leaf and flower buds were bursting out all over the garden. We also learned how to make germination necklaces and garbage gardens, and can’t wait to bring these ideas into the classroom! What a great way to wrap-up the series and officially welcome spring. Check out some photos from our nature walk below.
Spring has sprung at the Bed-Stuy Fresh Garden, which will soon be undergoing a major transformation. On Thursday, students attended an evening visioning session with the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner, parents, staff and community members to go on record with their vision and plans for the future NYC park that will be adjacent to the school. Naturally, the main concern of everyone present was the preservation and rebuilding of the bountiful Bed-Stuy Fresh School Garden. Students and teachers voiced concerns about park rules, noise, bathrooms, and food security as the project enters into the design phase. We are so proud of the 373K students for showing up and speaking out about what the garden means to them and how important it is to the whole school. This will be the last growing season for Bed-Stuy Fresh as we know it, but something tell us that these students will be unstoppable once the new site is ready. Our biggest thanks and praises to all of the teachers and students who turned a vacant lot into a ever-expanding small farm. The work continues! We stand with you!
The students at 176X have been pickling! They recently wrote us… “thought you might appreciate a pic of our first attempt at pickling. It is so simple and they came out great!” Thanks for sharing!
How do you like your eggs? I like mine fresh from the chicken coop at 754X, prepared in a deviled egg salad and wrapped in a fresh lettuce leaf that I cut myself from the NFT hydroponic system in Mr. Masefield’s classroom.
Seem like a school-yard to plate dream? This is what a group of D75 teachers got to do at this week’s Hydroponics PD at the J.M. Rapport School for Career Development in the Bronx. They also learned about different kinds of hydroponic systems like Nutrient Film Technique (NFT); Ebb and Flow; Wick; Water Culture; Drip; and Aeroponic, and learned how to take care of them. Thank you Mr. Masefield and Principal Daniel Hoehn for hosting us!
This is how we feel when we think about spring….
We just received this note from 368K about gardening-as-therapy and felt we had to share:
We’re writing today to highlight the success our school community has had using the garden at our site as a tool to build upon student skills, while incorporating its therapeutic benefits into conversations with our children and teenagers. We support, teach, and encourage students in one of the most restrictive school settings in New York City; our garden is a way to show our students that we care about their emotional and physical health and well-being.
Last year 368K focused on “student involvement in the preparation of the garden beds, student creation of signs, students maintaining the garden, staff helping to create an on-site market to share produce from the garden, and finally students were able to bring produce home from the garden.” This year their goals are “a Halloween pumpkin fest; a green market where we hope to have students using scales to weigh and share produce; students … actively involved in making compost for the garden; and, finally, students … using the garden along with their therapists to develop healthy coping habits.”
Thank you to The Garden Committee at P368K at New York City Children’s Center for sharing your thoughts and plans for the year.
Here are some photos from the 721X Green Bronx Machine Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday. As you can see, it was kind of a big deal! Representatives from the Mayors Office, Empire Blue Cross and Anthem Health, local new organizations, our Superintendent, coaches, teachers, parents, students, and many more were in attendance. Thank you to Stephen Ritz of GBM, teacher (and farmer) extraordinaire Jeremy Kottcamp, and Principal Frank Degennaro for a very special day.
D75 Plant Learn Grow 