Even after recent frigid temperatures, our garden is showing signs of spring! Chives and horseradish are popping up, leeks have survived the cold, and kids are enjoying the taste of fresh sorrel from the garden. Over the last few months, the greenhouse has been a cozy place for students to warm up and make tea from dried garden herbs like spearmint. One group of students even harvested parsley ahead of the prolonged frost to make a yummy parsley pesto!

Our theme this month has been “New Beginnings”. We’ve been exploring this topic through seed exploration. Students have dissected seeds that we’ve saved from the garden and have gathered data from seed packets, tracking timing and conditions for seed germination. They have even been making their own origami seed packets! (Want to do the same? Check out this great resource about Seed Saving from FoodCorps!)

Students are also learning about bulbs by planting paperwhites and watching roots emerge through transparent jars. Sprouts were planted this week and soon kids will enjoy munching on fresh microgreens. We’ll hold taste tests with these microgreen sprouts to see which are more popular – sunflower, bean or broccoli sprouts!

Compost is always popular, and a great way to explore new beginnings and cycles through soil. Students have been examining two compost methods by turning soil in our 5-bin compost system and exploring the worm bin.

Preparations for the growing season have also kicked off! We held a tool cleaning and inventory day with docents, and our graduate students bravely led a project sorting our seeds for the spring planting calendar. We’re looking forward to starting our seeds in the greenhouse for the 2024 growing season in a few weeks!