Erosion

We recently had a rain storm that had a great deal of flooding. "After we saw a video of the very hard rain close to the garden, we needed to put these rocks there to keep the soil from eroding. It worked!!", stated Cole. The fifth graders went to work to stop the erosion that was occurring in the garden. We placed pine needles around the garden and along the rows to help keep the topsoil in place. We also added rocks on the side of the garden to guide the water away from the row that we being eroded. Elise explained, "I thought that this was really neat and a good thing to do for the garden."  

Herbs, Tomatoes, Peppers & Potatoes

We finally planted the rest of our Spring garden: herbs (dill, cilantro and thyme) tomatoes (many varieties including cherry and regular), peppers (jalapeno) and potatoes (golden). The students did a great job of prepping the area and planting because ALL the plants survived. He had to water them daily because it was so sunny and many of the young plants didn't like the sun at first. Austin explained, "I thought planting the tomatoes and potatoes were really fun too because now we have a full garden." "Potato, tomato these potatoes and tomatoes are growing great!!" Lexi called out. Cole exclaimed, "These plants have grown well."

Onions

We started ur Spring garden by planting the onions. Each student was able to plant one onion which meant we planted over 100 onions or 4 bunches. Most of the onions were planted well and caught on quickly. It has been dry so we watered them everyday for about 2 weeks. Surya said, "The onions in the garden are sprouting faster than I expected." Nate thought, "The onions are growing fast. I hope they're done growing soon." We used two variety of onions, white and yellow. The yellow onions seem to be doing better than the white ones. We can't wait to taste the difference.

Turnip and Radish Harvest

We got to harvest our turnips and radishes. Aedan remarked, "The turnips tasted very plain but actually were really good. The radishes had an actual flavor that you could taste even though it was very slightly bitter." Aedan also mentioned, "It was fun to use the garden to grow stuff and actually be able to eat it." Jill states, "I thought the turnip and radish was a good test not only to watch the plants grow but to eat them. In the end, they tasted really good like a mild sweet taste." Most students tasted both plants and enjoyed eating them. Like the lettuce and spinach, we had ranch for dipping. More was used this time.

Lettuce and Spinach Harvest

We harvested some lettuce and spinach. It tasted wonderful. There was some ranch for dipping but most students didn't want it. Nick stated, "I think that the lettuce and the spinach were very good, and they were fresh and moistened perfectly. I never thought that I would enjoy that piece of lettuce that much!" Gabe was asked if he liked lettuce and spinach, and he responded, "I liked the lettuce a lot but not the spinach, you know." Overall, everyone enjoyed the harvest and wanted more.

Caterpillar In Cocoon

Mrs. Reichle and I were looking for caterpillars, and I found a cocoon hanging down on a kale leaf. A cocoon is a soft covering that a young insect builds around itself. The process is called metamorphosis. Most cocoons are made mainly out of silk, but the insect includes other things such as sand, soil, plant parts, hair and even waste from its own body. Some cocoons supply silk to make cloth.