K-3 Garden Spring 2012

K-3 Garden Spring 2012
A cleaned out garden bed.

3B Gets Busy in the Garden!









3B had a great time working in the garden today! We were great partner helpers to class 1SW and we all worked as a team! We learned about compacted soil, kitchen compost fertilizer and hard work! Our teacher  brought in her special pitchfork to help us loosen up the soil! We are really looking forward to getting back out there soon!

1 SW Get Down and Dirty!





On Tuesday November 30th, 3B and 1SW went out in the garden to begin filling the 4x4 raised garden beds! First we learned how to put our foot on the shovel and dig down deep. Then we learned how to safely toss the soil into the  garden beds. Some groups broke up the soil and mixed the fertilizer and others dug up the soil and put it in the beds. It was hard work, but we had a great time! There was lots of  cooperative work going on as each garden team had a special job. The third graders helped up spread the fertilizer and we mixed it into the soil. We learned some new garden vocabulary, like the following words: compacted, fertilizer and soil. A great time was had by all! Next, we'll plant special grass to help put nutrients back into the soil so we'll be ready to plant something yummy in the spring!

Sock Monsters in 2D!

2D Rakes the Garden









2D was busy working in the garden this morning! We raked ALL of the leaves in the garden and around the garden. Mr. Corvino brought us a BIG wheel barrel to use and Mr. Conard stopped by to see what we were doing. We worked well together and helped each other with the gardening tools.

3E gets in on the gardening action!






Class 3E spent the end of the day on Monday & Tuesday getting the other composter ready for garden use! Lots of  leaves and compostable foods were put inside. They added pencil shavings from the classroom, as well as coffee grounds from the Short Hills kitchen. The next step is to let it sit for a few days, and then they will come out and turn it.  Next we'll take a picture of what's inside the composter to see what's happening! Stay tuned!

The Kindergarten loads the composter!





Lots of busy people have been taking care of the garden plots! Today one of the Kindergarten classes did some raking to fill up the one of the composting bins. Next they will add apple cores, banana peels and other raw veggies to get the composting started. They loved wearing garden gloves donated by a "garden fairy" and using the child sized wheel barrels and rakes! The fun has begun!

Ms.Collins checks out the racket! What's going on out there?

Ms.Collins checks out the racket! What's going on out there?

Reading the chore list...

Reading the chore list...
Checking out the chores before heading out to the garden to get a few things done.

Hard at work!

Hard at work!

Filling the wheel barrow

Filling the wheel barrow

Wonderful, nutritious soil!

Wonderful, nutritious soil!

Aerating soil

Aerating soil

Deep, dark, rich soil!

Deep, dark, rich soil!

Checking out the veggie flats

Checking out the veggie flats

What are we growing here?

What are we growing here?

Watering the veggie flats

Watering the veggie flats

The woodchips finally arrived!

The woodchips finally arrived!

Spreading out the wood chips!

Spreading out the wood chips!

1SW has one last FROZEN work day in the garden!

1SW has one last FROZEN work day in the garden!
Brrrrr! It was cold, but we managed to get a little more raking, digging and fertilizing done.

Our teacher finally put down the camera for one minute... Smile!

Lots of teamwork by garden groups!

Rocks to cover an unsightly drain... soon to be the home of our beautiful bird feeder from a special elf!

There's lots of raking to do and we had fun doing it!


We all worked together and a lot got done!

2 and 3rd graders working together!


This is how you do it!

Mrs. Euwer demonstrates her garden technique in her snazzy garden boots!

More composting!

Shoveling is harder than you think!