Above you can see a healthy future for our raspberries, thanks to the diligent work of volunteer Master Gardener, Kathleen Hacker. She did her research and discovered that our raspberries were being threatened by the cane borer. See a close-up below of what to look for:

The insect makes a distinctive ring around the cane, cutting off nutrients to the newly forming berries. We cut out a lot of old canes to preserve the unaffected ones. Many thanks, Kathleen!

Students feasted on the still yummy berries from old canes. The earliest berries were used to make kale raspberry smoothies. (Just add juice, vanilla yogurt, ice and any other fruit to make a refreshing nutritious summer drink.) Looking forward to a great crop when school begins!

We had an awesome crew of boys from Youth Services to help us keep the garden weed- free this summer. Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and kale were harvested for the school summer lunch program. The boys brought their own special brand of energy and humor with them and they got a lot done under the direction of their crew leader, Weston. At the end of their summer work, they learned how to make pickles using our garden produce and they cooled off (it was a very HOT summer) with raspberry kale smoothies. We hope they’ll come back to visit the garden.

Students are observing the raspberry plants for evidence of the cane borer that threatened our raspberries this summer. Classes spent time in the garden reading maps and having scavenger hunts to find their positions, North, South, East and West. They sketched and labeled close-up observations of garden plants using magnifying glasses. In addition they learned a bit about nutrition and  where their food comes from. See previous posts for Kale salad recipes.

Scavenger hunt in the garden.Garden Meeting Area.Close observation of dill.Proud observer.Recording science observations.Making kale salad.

six inches apart

The Westminster summer campers learned more about area and perimeter in an outdoor setting. They measured the perimeters of  garden plots with string. Then they brought their measurements back inside where  their math work was shared with the class. In groups they decided how many lettuce plants would fit into certain spaces. Tiles were used to represent square feet and clay to represent lettuce plants. These were mixed groups of children from 6 to 10 years old. They listened respectfully to each others’ ideas. They learned a lot about real math work while having fun in the garden. Scroll down to see more:

Measuring perimeter.Perimeter:  total distance around the plot. Just how many feet is that? Area: square feet within the perimeter. How many square feet? How many lettuce plants will fit?Student thinking shared with the class 1st grade through 5th grade.