January 2016 - Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden Update
"The weather may be chilly but it is time to start planning for the spring. We have lots of fun projects for our students this year. Here’s what cooking:
Ms. Roselli & Ms. Lugg - Flowers for Pressing
Ms. Dillion & Ms. Galli - Seed Saving
Ms. Gallagher - Peanuts & Garden Math
Ms. Tomasello - Asparagus & My Plate Activities
Ms. Rheault - STEM Activities & Potatoes
Ms. Mascio - Three Sisters Garden
Ms. Ehrke & Ms. Hutton - Spinach
Ms. Ingenito - Edamame
Mr. Apalucci - Garden Math
Our project list includes:
Pressing flowers & creating placemats to be donated to a non-profit organization
Purchasing a kit & building a greenhouse
All aspects of growing plants from seeds & gardening
Cooking, food preparation & making green smoothies
My Plate (USDA Government Program) projects
Three Sisters Garden creation & related activities
Produce donation to the ACE cooking class
Caring Coyotes service club maintenance
Saving seeds
Composting
Various math activities
Seeds have been ordered & quotes for the greenhouse are under review. Good things continue to grow in Mullica Township!
January 2015 - Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden Update
"January is the quietest month in the garden. ... But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening. The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants. The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."
- Rosalie Muller Wright, Editor of Sunset Magazine
We are planning the fourth year of our schoolyard garden. We are continually building on our successes and failures to make the garden better and to reach more of our students. We are happy to announce that the Mullica Township Primary School and the Mullica Township Middle School each received $800.00 AtlantiCare grants this year to promote health/wellness and start a greenhouse. Some of that funding will be used to continue our garden project. The Mullica Township PTA donated $200.00 to our schoolyard garden and the Heggan family also donated $200.00 to the garden in Kelly Mascio’s honor. This year we hope to implement the following actions:
• Kelly Mascio, Jacki Lugg, Barbara Rheault, Christine Wilson, Christina Dillion, Marci Galli, Jean Gallagher, Kim Cavallaro, and Marguerite Tomasello will help plant and maintain the garden along with their students.
• The garden will be started by our students from seeds. Some seeds will go directly into the ground. Most seeds will be started in our growing station that is now located in the middle school science lab. (See picture above)
• Our produce will be used in the ACE cooking classes, to create salads for our school wide contest, to juice during lunchtime periods, as tasty treats right from the garden as well as in our classrooms and to help with lessons in all curricular areas.
• Edamame, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, zucchini, pepper, tomato, arugula, lettuce, bean, Swiss chard, kale, eggplant, cucumber, basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, onion, spinach, and radish seeds will be purchased.
• We will also use seeds collected by Emily Schlee, a Cedar Creek senior and SM volunteer, to start marigolds and sunflowers. Emily has started a “Plant It Forward” seed saving program by collecting seeds from last year’s schoolyard garden.
• Sustainable Mullica volunteers will also help the Cedar Creek High School in their new garden adventure.
We look forward to another year of growing goodness and bringing authentic lessons to our children.
A Big Thank You to Sow True Seeds - sowtrueseeds.com - for their generous donation of seeds for the garden this year!
Please visit their site... they are a fantastic company to work with and we greatly appreciate their donation!
March 2014 - Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden Update
The Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden continues to grow good things. Our latest project is a seed starting/grow station. After attending AtlantiCare’s Sustaining Garden Workshop and hearing Garden Goddess by the Sea, Liz Donaghy, we went into action. Liz explained that when starting seeds for your garden you need warmth and lots of light. We purchased a heavy duty five shelf unit, four fluorescent light units (we added wire and plugs), four seed starting heat mats, twenty feet of chain, sixteen “S” hooks, a timer and a power strip. We then got to work and spent the day building. We set our seed flats about two inches below the lights and got growing!
January 2014 - Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden Update
2014 opens our 3rd season of the Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden. Once again we have received a garden grant from AtlantiCare. We are looking forward to another successful year and continue to evolve and teach new skills.
This year we are hoping that all the plants will be started from seeds by our students. We have purchased seeds and seed starting kits from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (Johnnyseeds.com). Most will be started in the classroom with the exception of potato seeds and one bunch of onion plants. They will be planted directly in the garden plots. Sustainable Mullica volunteers will help with all the planting. Here is our starting lineup:
1. Potatoes
2. Herbs
3. Lettuce & greens
4. Peppers & tomatoes
5. Asparagus
6. Onions & greens
The pumpkins will take over the sunflower plot. Sunflowers & marigolds will be planted throughout the garden.
We are looking forward to a wonderful third season.
4.10.13 Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden Update
Our 2013 garden season is off to a great start. Here are some highlights:
As you can see…Good Things Are Growing in Mullica Township!