Garden Updates

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!

GardenPlantingSchedule2015

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:

  • Kindergarten: Lettuce & marigolds
  • 1st Grade: Pumpkins & potatoes
  • Middle School Special Education (Sheldon): Tomatoes & onions
  • 7th Grade (Wilson): Peppers
  • ACE (Galli): Sunflowers, basil & cilantro
  • The plots will be as follows:

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.

GardenPlantingSchedule2014

See the 2014 garden map here

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:

    • The Mullica Township Schoolyard Garden received a $1,000. AtlantiCare School Garden Grant to sustain our garden and add rain barrels.
    • On 3.1.13 Mullica Township teachers and Sustainable Mullica volunteers Kelly Mascio and Marci Galli and Sustainable Mullica volunteers Scott Houston, Patricia McCarthy, Al Polk and Susan Polk attended the AtlantiCare Garden Training. Susan presented “How to Create & Sustain a Schoolyard Garden” that was a PowerPoint presentation created by Sustainable Mullica volunteers.
    • Ms. Galli’s ACE students tested the garden soil and cleaned up the asparagus bed.
    • Kelly Mascio created a Professional Learning Community for the school garden. She has partnered with Sustainable Mullica.
    • Gary Brill, Mike Zachowski and Al Polk amended the garden soil with the Brill’s compost/manure mix. Al tilled the plots.
    • Over the spring break Marci Galli attended a Farm to School Workshop. Ask her to share what she learned about garden journaling.
    • A garden planting schedule was established with grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and middle school special education adopting plots.
    • 3.20.13 was onion planting day with Ms. Wilson’s 7th grade. Scott Huston created a video. Ms. Winterbottom’s and Ms. Mancini’s kindergarten class came to the garden for a tour, reading of Jack’s Garden and a discussion on what plants need.
    • 4.8.13 brought Chef Joe Terrazini and Professor Scott to Ms. Wilson’s room to make fresh salsa and create a video.
    • On 4.10.13 Let It Bee Apiary joined Ms. Ehrke’s class in the garden for “We Are Honey Beekeepers” and a viewing of live honeybees.
    • Sustainable Mullica and the Mullica Township Schools will be submitting an application to win the NJ School Garden of the Year Award.
    • Scott Huston, Stockton Adjunct Professor and Technical Coordinator, is a Sustainable Mullica volunteer that has brought our garden project to a whole new level! Scott has not only toiled tirelessly in the garden but has used his technology expertise to make us look even better! He has created PowerPoint presentations, taken photos, filmed & designed videos and established our new website! Please check out www.schoolyardgarden.com . We are working on it daily!

As you can see…Good Things Are Growing in Mullica Township!