Last week, we had at least 16 classes come through the gardens to help harvest the crops that were grown and learn about them. It is fantastic to see such great engagement and use of our school gardens to enhance and further our children's learning!On Friday, we had 12 classes rotate through each garden and we talked about what makes a crop a root vegetable (something that grows in the ground like our beets, radishes, carrots and potatoes) versus one that is not (something that grows above the ground like our lettuce and kale and pumpkins). Each class got to take a big bag full of various crops and we were happy to see many tweets of classes exploring them further in the classroom later that day. It was so rewarding to see this whole project come full circle and to see the students engaged and interested in the process.
We unfortunately did have some crops go missing (our entire carrot bed was taken home by someone in the public). We will be officially making a sign for our gardens for the next growing season to indicate that the crops are for student learning (or for donation to Parkdale food centre when crops are ready over the summer season). Please pass on the news to our community that our school gardens are not open to the public for picking :)
We are also considering perhaps growing rapini and garlic over the winter months which would be ready come spring. I had no idea that this was how they grew but we have a connection for seeds and may be able to make this happen if some classes/teachers are interested - so stay tuned for that!
This entire gardening project could not be possible without the support of Mrs. Green, St Cecilia's teachers, Mr. Colin and the help of our great volunteer team. I apologize if I miss anyone, but a special thanks for all that you did. We will be looking to recruit more people next year so if you have interest in gardening and ensuring this project continues to be successful, please don't hesitate to email Brandy McDevitt at StCeciliaSchoolGardens@gmail.com
THANK YOU!!!!
May 13th clean up day
Estelle Mendonca and family
Laura Villeneuve and family
Shannon Bradford and family
Sharon Qiao and family
Brahma and family
Heather Coghlin and family
Laura Stone and family
Fedja and Wendy Pejic
Sarah Yorke and family
Tina McLean and family
Terri Poole and family
Liam Bowman and Julie Dunphy
Myles McDevitt and family
Mrs Green
Mme Drouin
Mrs Smith
Garden Planting Days
Megan Kunsken, Heather Coghlin and Sharon Qiao
Summer Maintenance
Shannon Bradford
Elena Righetti
Estelle Mendonca
Laura Villeneuve
Laura Chisholm
Heather Coghlin
Fedja and Wendy Pejic
Megan Kunsken
Tara-Lynn White
Terri Poole
Tina MacLean
Harvesting day
Megan Kunsken
