Garden Care and Management During COVID19

[Judith Fallows]

hello-

as the spring comes on here in New England, we are all out of school due to the global pandemic which is COVID19. Yet sunshine and fresh air are good medicine, and social distancing outdoors must be even more effective than in the grocery store. How might we provide outdoor activities for students that are safe? How do we share tools? Seeds? Can some students help out getting crops in so we can harvest before the end of school? Has anybody made plans that they could share for getting kids outside into the gardens while maintaining our social distance? and keep up the learning?

Suggestions welcome. I'm hoping to get some student help putting in snap peas in the next few weeks so they are ready to harvest before the end of this school year, whether or not kids actually get to go back into the buildings by then. thoughts?

Judy Fallows, Elementary School Garden Coordinator
Watertown School Gardens website
"kids who grow veggies, eat veggies!"

[Davis, Melissa L]

Here in Washington state, our schools closed right as we were beginning to roll-out our spring garden plan.

 

The school we work with has a small garden support team and we are inviting families to come out to the garden on their own, to clear the beds for planting, reminding them of the 6-foot social distancing requirement.  We have placed laminated signs in the beds that need clearing and directing families where to place pulled weeds. Once the beds are cleared, we will invite families to come out and plant seeds and starts. 

 

This same site serves free lunches to-go and Friday food bags to families in need.  Some of the fresh produce that we are harvesting now will be bagged and added to the Friday food bags.

 

 

Melissa Davis  
SNAP-Ed Program Coordinator

Washington State University Extension, Thurston and Lewis County

360-867-2172

Washington State University and Extension programs are open to all without discrimination.

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[Pamela Flory]

I Judith.  Here in Princeton, NJ we were headed out on Spring break so planted our peas early.  So glad we did.   I'm going to be making short videos of the garden so the kids can follow along with the progress and give them projects at home.  Knowing that not all students have home gardens or access to all of our great school garden resources, they can be creative in making pots...paper, reusable containers, milk cartons, egg cartons ect.  Gentle reminders for drainage holes and something waterproof as a tray, like a plate or to-go container.  Most likely they have seeds all over the kitchen or yard.  Beans, garlic, wheat berries, raw pumpkin seeds, popcorn, rice, orange or apple seeds,  acorns, dried flower heads or weeds.   No potting soil?  just use soil from outside or experiment with other things they might have in or around their house.  What a great time to experiment.    

They can keep a journal (does not need to be formal or fancy) and write down materials they used and then record daily or every other day observations.  

There  are seedlings coming up all around on the east coast so trying to figure out what's coming up can also be a fun challenge.  Homework will be scavenger hunts and a mandatory 20 minute walk in nature, whatever that looks like for each student.  Might be a yard or a local park or a walk around the block.  

One way to look at this is to have the kids get creative and think of gardening as not just something that happens in their super cool school garden, but any sunny windowsill or front porch or sunny stoop.  No limitations at this point.  The same way we encourage kids to be brave spellers, let's do the same with gardening.  

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Pam Flory

609 480-8902

Garden Coordinator and Educator

Princeton Day School

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[Judith Fallows]

thank you both! have you had any concerns about tools from the shed for people to use? Ask them to bring their own gloves? Put a spray bottle of disinfectant in the shed to clean the door handle? Do you give seeds to students to take home, if so how do you package them and distribute?

this is great! a good time to experiment indeed.

Judy

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[Pamela Flory]

Our 3rd graders have a seed store every year where they create the artwork and fill the packets.  I'm in the process of figuring out a way to get seeds to the kiddos.  And will also have them find a seed from there house or yard that they think will germinate and plant that as well.

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[Moses Thompson]

In Arizona this is peak production for a lot of our school gardens. On Monday our UA/TUSD school garden team will propose a plan to our district's COVID-19 Response Team for us to harvest and distribute produce in conjunction with our district food service's emergency meal service. We have our food service director's blessing--here's what we're proposing:

• Food will be harvested for distribution starting with Manzo Elementary and Tucson High School school gardens
• School gardens are outdoor spaces at schools and do not require harvesters to enter classrooms, offices, computer labs, bathrooms, etc. 
• Harvesters will consist of groups less than ten (10) people
• Participants will sign in and a participant log will be maintained 
• A distance of 6 feet between harvesters will be maintained
• Participants will be briefed on CDC Food Safety Guidelines: https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/keep-food-safe.html
• Produce harvesting and handling will happen according to Arizona Department of Health Services best practices: https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/food-safety-environmental-services/index.php#school-garden-program-home
• In addition to AZDHS best practices, harvesters will wear gloves
• Produce will be distributed in TUSD Food Service provided produce bags
• Slips of paper reminding recipients to wash produce will be included in each bag for distribution 
• Distribution will occur in conjunction with the TUSD Food Service "Grab and Go" meal program

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[Kyla Van Deusen]

Here in Atlanta, I had a greenhouse full of starts for around 40 schools that were supposed to go out this week.  We found out last Thursday night that schools would be closed as of this Monday so I sent a message to all the schools expecting starts and some 30 teachers showed up to pick up plants.  Garden access is a school-by-school principal decision.  I'll be checking in with the garden teachers periodically.  I'm home alone with a 5 year old and a 1 year old, so I'm also struggling to stay connected.

Moses, I'm really inspired by your plan and I will share some ideas for teachers interested in harvesting throughout the quarantine.

Also, I will share ideas with teachers that they can pass on to their students as I know they had 24 hours to create distance-learning for kids as young as kindergarten, so garden activities will be welcome.

Thanks all,

Kyla

[Judith Fallows]

Thanks all! I"m going to work with a few parents tomorrow and early next week, as this is the first annual crop to go in for the 2020 season here. I'm inspired at the careful planning to make garden produce available to students and keep everybody safe in these crazy times.

judy

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[Moses Thompson]

Yesterday we piloted our first school garden harvest and community distribution. Our district Food Services approved our protocol but asked us not to distribute in conjunction with their emergency food programs out at the schools. So we did a stand alone and served up just over 50 lbs of produce to about 15 families free of charge.  Here's a link to a story on the distro out of UA news and a link to a FB post with pics:

https://www.facebook.com/UASchoolGardens

https://sbs.arizona.edu/news/uarizona-garden-program-provides-tusd-lessons-and-lettuce

Tomorrow we're going to do it again at a large high school but are targeting just their hourly staff (custodians, groundskeepers, monitors, aides, etc).

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[Ullery, Sam (OSSE)]

I love this thread, kudos to Moses and the Team at TUSD and the University of Arizona, job well done, keep it up!

I’m curious what state/ local government level guidance schools (or SGSOs) are receiving from the offices that typically provide guidance or support to school gardens (state dept of ag., cooperative extension offices, state dept. of edu., etc...).

AND/OR what guidance is being considered/ drafted by folks in these state/ local govt. positions?

Oregon? Pima County? Cali? Florida? Colorado? Anyone?

Sam

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Subject: Re: school gardens in the time of COVID19

 

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[Hannah Traggis]

Hi Judith and everyone!

I have been working on a set of COVID-19 Safe Gardening guidelines for a community garden I help run. I put an initial draft out to several listservs for feedback and received incredible input from some really brilliant people. The basic set of guidelines we came up with are on this living google doc and include citations to the research used behind the document. 

After receiving so much feedback from folks, I created a folder and an additional document to collect other very useful and helpful guidelines that can be applied where and as needed. Community and School gardens are as diverse as the communities they serve, so it was nice to be able to put together the supplemental documentation as well. 

Please feel free to share the link to both the basic document, and the supplemental one. And please also feel free to send me additional feedback to incorporate! 

I hope this information is useful and helpful and facilitates an increase in growing food in our communities!

Hannah

On Friday, March 27, 2020 at 7:49:32 AM UTC-4, Sam Ullery (OSSE) wrote:

I love this thread, kudos to Moses and the Team at TUSD and the University of Arizona, job well done, keep it up!

I’m curious what state/ local government level guidance schools (or SGSOs) are receiving from the offices that typically provide guidance or support to school gardens (state dept of ag., cooperative extension offices, state dept. of edu., etc...).

AND/OR what guidance is being considered/ drafted by folks in these state/ local govt. positions?

Oregon? Pima County? Cali? Florida? Colorado? Anyone?

Sam

Get Outlook for iOS

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From: school-gar...@googlegroups.com <school-gar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Moses Thompson <moses....@gmail.com>

Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020 4:55:22 PM
To: school-gar...@googlegroups.com <school-gar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: school gardens in the time of COVID19

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the DC Government. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know that the content is safe. If you believe that this email is suspicious, please forward to phis...@dc.gov for additional analysis by OCTO Security Operations Center (SOC).

Yesterday we piloted our first school garden harvest and community distribution. Our district Food Services approved our protocol but asked us not to distribute in conjunction with their emergency food programs out at the schools. So we did a stand alone and served up just over 50 lbs of produce to about 15 families free of charge.  Here's a link to a story on the distro out of UA news and a link to a FB post with pics:

https://www.facebook.com/UASchoolGardens

https://sbs.arizona.edu/news/uarizona-garden-program-provides-tusd-lessons-and-lettuce

Tomorrow we're going to do it again at a large high school but are targeting just their hourly staff (custodians, groundskeepers, monitors, aides, etc).

On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 7:42 PM Judith Fallows <judith...@watertown.k12.ma.us> wrote:

Thanks all! I"m going to work with a few parents tomorrow and early next week, as this is the first annual crop to go in for the 2020 season here. I'm inspired at the careful planning to make garden produce available to students and keep everybody safe in these crazy times.

judy

On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 9:43 PM Kyla Van Deusen <kyl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here in Atlanta, I had a greenhouse full of starts for around 40 schools that were supposed to go out this week.  We found out last Thursday night that schools would be closed as of this Monday so I sent a message to all the schools expecting starts and some 30 teachers showed up to pick up plants.  Garden access is a school-by-school principal decision.  I'll be checking in with the garden teachers periodically.  I'm home alone with a 5 year old and a 1 year old, so I'm also struggling to stay connected.

Moses, I'm really inspired by your plan and I will share some ideas for teachers interested in harvesting throughout the quarantine.

Also, I will share ideas with teachers that they can pass on to their students as I know they had 24 hours to create distance-learning for kids as young as kindergarten, so garden activities will be welcome.

Thanks all,

Kyla

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 8:26:06 PM UTC-4, Judith Fallows wrote:

hello-

as the spring comes on here in New England, we are all out of school due to the global pandemic which is COVID19. Yet sunshine and fresh air are good medicine, and social distancing outdoors must be even more effective than in the grocery store. How might we provide outdoor activities for students that are safe? How do we share tools? Seeds? Can some students help out getting crops in so we can harvest before the end of school? Has anybody made plans that they could share for getting kids outside into the gardens while maintaining our social distance? and keep up the learning?

Suggestions welcome. I'm hoping to get some student help putting in snap peas in the next few weeks so they are ready to harvest before the end of this school year, whether or not kids actually get to go back into the buildings by then. thoughts?

Judy Fallows, Elementary School Garden Coordinator
Watertown School Gardens website
"kids who grow veggies, eat veggies!"

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[Quina Weber-Shirk]

Hi all,

NC State Extension has put together a COVID-19 FAQ for Community Gardens, which may be helpful in thinking through best practices for school gardens. This has been really helpful in the community garden I help run! 

Food Safety specialists at NC State Extensionhave also created a page of resources and infosheets in English and Spanish about COVID-19 that may be helpful -- it includes information for the home and community, food retail and farms, and gardening and produce. I know organizations all over the country are putting this kind of information together, and wanted to share what's been created for us in North Carolina.

Best,

Quina Weber-Shirk | she/ her

Extension Agent, Community and School Gardens

Guilford County Center

N.C. Cooperative Extension

Work cell: 336.525.6112

guilford.ces.ncsu.edu

Add your community or learning garden to the Guilford County Community Garden directory! Fill out the form at: https://go.ncsu.edu/guilford-cg-directory.

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[SHERMAN Rick - ODE]

Hi Sam/Moses/et al.,

 

Yes.  strange days indeed. (cue the John Lennon song..  “nobody told me there’d be days like these”).

 

So we did some fast thinking at the start of this, it’s more or less business as usual now.  Since folks at the school districts didn’t miss a beat and continued serving meals and are doing mostly home delivery by school bus now, our school districts are still using our grant funds to purchase local foods and including on those meals.  Although honestly, local isn’t their priority now.  Easily packaged grab and go meals and simple meal service wins out right now.  I pointed out that our rules enable our school districts to utilize up to 20% of their funds for transportation of food, so they can use funds for mileage or van rental for any day that they have local food on the menu.. I figured that would be an incentive to keep using our grant funds.

 

For our education grantees, I encouraged folks to switch from doing hands-on education at the school to virtual / YouTube education and it worked.  Folks are resubmitting budgets to accommodate this.

 

 

 

Rick   Rick Sherman Farm to School Program Analyst Office of Child Nutrition, Research, Accountability, Fingerprinting and Transportation Office: 503-947-5863 | Cell: 503-385-6998 Rick.s...@state.or.us  Oregon Farm to School Website: bit.ly/orf2s

 

 

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[Rick Sherman]

This might be a solution to the thread..  I had one school garden coordinator with a huge surplus of plant starts.. they were wondering what to do with them because their plant sale fell through..  she was considering sending them to families on the school bus / food delivery.  She was wondering if anyone else had the same situation and creative  solutions.. 

[Katherine Pryor]

I'm not sure if this helps with the plant start dilemma, but I used to run a program with a Seattle food bank where we gave away plant starts during the growing season. People would go through the line and then had the option of taking 4 starts or so if they wanted them. The plan was to increase access to fresh vegetables for a food-insecure population, but it had an added bonus because so many of the clients were children who got a planting activity & garden ed with their families. Food bank donations are covered by Good Samaritan laws.

I continue to be inspired by all the amazing work from school leaders in these strange times. Thanks for all you do.

Best,

Katherine Pryor

www.katherinepryor.com

Connect with me on Twitter & Instagram: @readyourgreens.

 

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[Hannah Traggis]

Hi Rick,

I think that is a fantastic idea. 

Another options for distributing the seedlings is through local food banks. I've grown food for food pantries now for five years and each year we send tons of seedlings on our spring deliveries too, and they are very well received! In fact, we actually have sent them to more food pantries than we actually grow food for. 

You may also want to check around your communities and see if various community gardens could use them. 

Kind Regards,

Hannah Traggis

my pronouns: she, her, hers

[Deborah LaBelle]

Thank you for this thread, Moses and Sam we are trying to do something similar for our school district with distributions but are hitting a wall. So glad to know we are not alone in this! We are starting to shift gears to see if we can help some local food banks instead with all of the produce in the Food forests. We are also doing small videos and activities that teachers can assign to get students outdoors. Thanks for the tips. Good luck everyone!

Debi La Belle

Food Forests for Schools | The Education Fund

6713 Main Street | Suite 240 | Miami Lakes, FL 33014

P. 305.968.8546 | www. educationfund.org

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 8:26:06 PM UTC-4, Judith Fallows wrote:

[N. Lewis]

Speaking only for our single food pantry in the LAX area of Los Angeles, which used to have about 800 family clients a month, but is now up to nearly that a week (!), we could sorely use any fresh produce anyone was willing to donate! When all the hoarding started, our donations of fresh produce (and meats) went way down, and it hasn't recovered yet. A little bit of improvement this week but, nowhere near where we were. I think any- and everything anyone who has surplus is able to do in partnering with food banks/pantries/schools/senior centers is awesome! Thank you all for everything you are doing to help our most vulnerable neighbors!

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[Ben]

N. Lewis

since I noticed you wrote you are located in LA here is something you and perhaps others might find "interesting" about climate change

as we all should know in the SoCal region there always seemed to be a layer of haze/smog blanketing the area 

BUT because of the covid-19 pandemic and the need to social distance the typical SoCal haze/smog layer pretty much has disappeared for an extended period of time 

https://la.curbed.com/2020/3/26/21195699/pollution-los-angeles-traffic-coronavirus

AND now that there is much less pollution in the region, this fact can be used to test a scientific hypothesis related to climate change

basically a lingering smog layer along w/ jet contrails act as heat trapping insulators at night, so given the unlikely weather which is a result of the covid-19 pandemic we should expect to see a yuge "delta" between daytime and nighttime temperatures (which will confirm that global dimming is masking the global warming effects of CO2)

NARRATOR: September 12th, 2001, the aftermath of tragedy: ironically, as America mourned, the weather all over the country was unusually clear and sunny. Eight hundred miles west of New York, in Madison, Wisconsin, climate scientist David Travis was on his way to work.

DOCTOR DAVID TRAVIS (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater): Around the 12th, later on in the day, when I was driving to work, and I noticed how bright blue and clear the sky was, and...at first I didn't think about it, then I realized the sky was unusually clear.

NARRATOR: For 15 years, Travis had been researching a relatively obscure topic: whether the vapor trails left by aircraft were having a significant effect on the weather. In the aftermath of 9/11, the entire U.S. fleet was grounded, and Travis finally had a chance to find out.

DAVID TRAVIS: It was certainly, you know, one of the tiny positives that may have come out of this—an opportunity to do research—that hopefully will never happen again.

NARRATOR: Travis suspected the grounding might make a small, but detectable, change to the weather, but what he observed was both immediate and dramatic.

DAVID TRAVIS: We found that the change in temperature range during those three days was just over one degree centigrade. And you have to realize that from a layman's perspective that doesn't sound like much, but from a climate perspective that is huge.

NARRATOR: The temperature range is the difference between the highest and the lowest temperatures in a 24-hour period. Usually, it stays much the same from day to day, even if the weather changes, but not this time. Travis had come across a new and powerful phenomenon, one which would call into question all our predictions about the future of our planet.

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3310_sun.html

FWIW PBS does not have the old NOVA documentary "online" for viewing but below is a link to the BBC global dimming documentary (w/ a Kassandra warning) that outlines how climate scientists made an interesting discovery after 9/11 when for a few days afterward civilian aircraft were not allowed to fly

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xudm8n

Given the great chasm that divides believers 

AND non-believers of “man made climate change” 

let’s hope that people figure things out, before it’s too late!!!

www.TinyURL.com/HowBigIsTheEarth

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[Laura Plaut]

In Washington we're still hoping for some state level guidance on access to school gardens.  Right now, there's a great deal of discrepancy district to district.  Here's some information that Chris Iberle, our state Farm to School lead recently shared with the state's school garden community of practice. Hope this helps ;-)

·         OSPI Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance & Resources:

o   “Districts will not be prevented from using their facilities to provide child care, for individual staff to remotely lead or develop content for professional learning or staff meetings, to hold Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, to provide direct services to individual students, or for other activities deemed essential and necessary by the district administration.”

·         Governor’s Order on Statewide K-12 Closures:

o   “Nothing in this order shall be construed as precluding a public school district, charter school, or private school from using their school facilities to provide childcare, nutrition programs, and other social services necessary to preserve and maintain life, health, property or the public peace”

·         Governor’s Stay at Home Order:

o   “Essential activities permitted under this Proclamation are limited to the following:

§  1) Obtaining necessary supplies and services for family or household members and pets, such as groceries, food and supplies for household consumption

§  4) Engaging in outdoor exercise activities…but only if appropriate social distancing practices are used”

·         Washington State COVID-19 Response: Essential Businesses

o   Food and agriculture: Essential Workforce

§  Workers supporting groceries, pharmacies, and other retail that sells food and beverage products, including but not limited to…Farmers’ markets, Food banks, Farm and produce stands”

§  “Farmworkers and support service workers to include those who field crops”

o   Other community-based government operations and essential functions: Essential Workforce

§  “Workers supporting public and private childcare establishments, licensed pre-K establishments, K- 12 schools, colleges, and universities for purposes of distance learning, or the provision of school meals…”

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 5:26:06 PM UTC-7, Judith Fallows wrote:

[Debbie Bauer]

Hi,

Debbie Bauer here, director of the Lettuce Learn (school garden) program. We serve 9 school gardens in Watauga County, NC and are under Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture in Boone, NC. We have partnered with the Watauga Seed Library and the Watauga County Agricultural Extension office to get seeds to our students and community. We are currently building three Little Free Seed Libraries to place throughout our county. All of the seeds have been donated by seeds saved by the students at our school gardens, by the Watauga Seed Library (which is closed), by the Extension Office (that they received from Sow True Seed and Southern Exposure Seed Exhange) and by Seed Programs International. Each seed packet contains instructions on how to plant the seed. The coin packets of seeds are being placed in ziplock bags with dessicant and best handling practices are being used. The Extension office will also be handing out seedlings, hopefully at the schools where meals are being picked up daily. All of our schools are closed to the public, but we are allowed to work in the gardens, so some of our garden coordinators will go ahead and plant so there will be gardens ready for the students when they return.

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 8:26:06 PM UTC-4, Judith Fallows wrote:

[Barb Wehmer]

I am so happy that everyone here is wanting to keep the kids safe and involved in gardening. I live in Quincy Il, and our Schools have gardens in schools, so they can learn how to grow healthy produce and hopefully have some impact on the childhood obesity that is rampant in our Country. I have a business that supports School Gardens. You can see it on my web page at www.sustainablesales.net

I also maintain a database of over 150 grants and foundations that pay for the gardens for Schools. If anyone would like the grants to pay for the gardens, at NO CHARGE, just email me at barb3...@gmail.com

I will need your City, State and County so I can research all the potential grants. Each of the area of the Country has its own unique of funds.

[Barb Wehmer]

There is a grant for 3rd graders for gardens. email me at barb3...@gmail.com

On Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 7:42:08 AM UTC-5, Pamela Flory wrote:

Our 3rd graders have a seed store every year where they create the artwork and fill the packets.  I'm in the process of figuring out a way to get seeds to the kiddos.  And will also have them find a seed from there house or yard that they think will germinate and plant that as well.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 8:31 AM Judith Fallows <judith...@watertown.k12.ma.us> wrote:

thank you both! have you had any concerns about tools from the shed for people to use? Ask them to bring their own gloves? Put a spray bottle of disinfectant in the shed to clean the door handle? Do you give seeds to students to take home, if so how do you package them and distribute?

this is great! a good time to experiment indeed.

Judy

On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 9:14 PM Pamela Flory <pfl...@pds.org> wrote:

I Judith.  Here in Princeton, NJ we were headed out on Spring break so planted our peas early.  So glad we did.   I'm going to be making short videos of the garden so the kids can follow along with the progress and give them projects at home.  Knowing that not all students have home gardens or access to all of our great school garden resources, they can be creative in making pots...paper, reusable containers, milk cartons, egg cartons ect.  Gentle reminders for drainage holes and something waterproof as a tray, like a plate or to-go container.  Most likely they have seeds all over the kitchen or yard.  Beans, garlic, wheat berries, raw pumpkin seeds, popcorn, rice, orange or apple seeds,  acorns, dried flower heads or weeds.   No potting soil?  just use soil from outside or experiment with other things they might have in or around their house.  What a great time to experiment.    

They can keep a journal (does not need to be formal or fancy) and write down materials they used and then record daily or every other day observations.  

There  are seedlings coming up all around on the east coast so trying to figure out what's coming up can also be a fun challenge.  Homework will be scavenger hunts and a mandatory 20 minute walk in nature, whatever that looks like for each student.  Might be a yard or a local park or a walk around the block.  

One way to look at this is to have the kids get creative and think of gardening as not just something that happens in their super cool school garden, but any sunny windowsill or front porch or sunny stoop.  No limitations at this point.  The same way we encourage kids to be brave spellers, let's do the same with gardening.  

On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 8:26 PM Judith Fallows <judith...@watertown.k12.ma.us> wrote:

hello-

as the spring comes on here in New England, we are all out of school due to the global pandemic which is COVID19. Yet sunshine and fresh air are good medicine, and social distancing outdoors must be even more effective than in the grocery store. How might we provide outdoor activities for students that are safe? How do we share tools? Seeds? Can some students help out getting crops in so we can harvest before the end of school? Has anybody made plans that they could share for getting kids outside into the gardens while maintaining our social distance? and keep up the learning?

Suggestions welcome. I'm hoping to get some student help putting in snap peas in the next few weeks so they are ready to harvest before the end of this school year, whether or not kids actually get to go back into the buildings by then. thoughts?

Judy Fallows, Elementary School Garden Coordinator
Watertown School Gardens website
"kids who grow veggies, eat veggies!"

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When writing or responding, please remember that any email sent or received by an employee of the Watertown Public Schools is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66.  This email message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential information covered under the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) and/or other student records laws.  If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are not authorized to read, retain, print, copy, disseminate or otherwise use this email (or any attachments) or any part thereof.  If you have received this email (and any attachments) in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies from your system.   

 

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[Barb Wehmer]

[Barb Wehmer]

[Heidi Auel]

We recently had a webinar here in Minnesota regarding this topic. See below for the recorded link and resources.

Webinar recording: https://youtu.be/-Spm1dqsbDY.

- MDA fact sheet: COVID-19 Community Gardens Guidance https://www.mda.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/inline-files/COVID-19%20Community%20Gardens%20Guidance%20Apr%202020.pdf

- Extension COVID - 19 Template Response plan https://z.umn.edu/COVIDgardenplan & FAQ https://z.umn.edu/COVIDplanFAQ

- Article on cleaning and sanitizing for COVID https://blog-fruit-vegetable-ipm.extension.umn.edu/2020/04/cleaning-and-sanitizing-for-control-of.html

- National Farm to School Network Covid-19 resource page http://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/covid-19-resources-for-farm-to-school-and-ece  

- School Garden Support Organization https://www.sgsonetwork.org  
- Minnesota Schoolyard Garden Coalition http://bit.ly/mnschoolgardennetwork

Heidi Auel

School Garden Coordinator

Discovery Woods School

[John Fisher]

Greetings, Join the SGSO Network for the following Virtual Gathering:

School Garden Care and Management During COVID-19 an School Garden Support Organization Virtual Gathering (Fall 2020 Version)

Wednesday 8/19 11am-12:15pm PST

View Archive Download PDF of Slide Deck

A lot has changed since we last discussed this topic in April! Join us again to discuss garden care and management. During this virtual gathering School Garden Support Organizations will share how they are supporting their staff, teachers and the community to care for school gardens this fall.

The format of these "gatherings" will start by reviewing resources shared by school gardeners across the nation. Then we'll hear quick overviews of what a handful of organizations are doing related to garden care and maintenance this fall. If you'd like to share during this time or have specific questions for us to address, please indicate them in the registration process.

View all our School Garden COVID Related Resources at www.sgsonetwork.org/covid including sample garden care during covid resources.

Check out the following upcoming Webinars & Virtual Gatherings at www.sgsonetwork.org/webinars

August 26, 11am PST: Garden Educator Distance Teaching and Learning Virtual Gathering (Fall 2020 Version)

September 2, 11am PST: COVID-Friendly Outdoor Classroom Infrastructure & Design Webinar  

September 9, 11am PST: Bringing Social Emotional Learning & Mindfulness Education to Your Work Webinar

September 16, 11am PST: TBA

September 23, 11am PST: School Gardens Support of Food Relief and Food Pantries Virtual Gathering

September 30, 11am PST: Addressing Equity in School Garden Programs Webinar

- John Fisher

SGSO Network Advisory Committee