Memory Garden

One of the  universal experiences in this life is the unfortunate pain of grief and loss.  Even children are not spared the sorrow of losing loved ones.  This year has been a difficult one for some of our students.  With this in mind Mrs. Curet’s third grade class thought a memory garden would be a good thing to have on our campus.  A school cannot begin to replace what some children lose through tragedy but we can create a place where fond memories are fostered and cherished.  Our third graders embraced the idea that a special garden space could help those having difficult days.  Just a place to sit and remember could bring comfort.  Of course a garden like this shouldn’t just look peaceful and beautiful, we thought it should smell that way too.  What does a happy memory smell like?  Of course there isn’t just one answer, but when looking for a natural fragrance that can inspire peace and beauty it’s hard to match the flowers of the Plumeria tree. 

Proud Tree Planters

We thought Plumerias would be the perfect trees to shade students just needing some time to remember.   Most of the third graders had never smelled Plumeria flowers before but after some heavenly sniffs all of them thought this was the perfect smell for a memory garden.  If tranquility has a smell, surely it’s Plumeria.

A Handful of Sunshine

“This is what it smells like”

While planting these trees we talked about the value of memories and the importance of making new ones.  Some students were inspired to share a special memories that helped to bring them comfort.  Some were sad. Some were sweet, and one was even funny-

I’ve got Earrings!

I remember when my dad taught me how to catch lizards.  I was 3 years old and I had just had my birthday and my dad said he would teach me how.  So when we got home we went to the backyard dad caught a lizard and showed me how to catch them.  It took a while for me to learn how but eventually I was as good as my dad.  When I was really good, he taught me how to put them on my ears like earrings, but only small ones!  I did not understand why only small ones, it was because the big ones never let go and it hurts, but I learned the hard way!  So I caught a big lizard at school and put it on my ear.  When it finally let go I was bleeding, so I never did that again!

Shelby

 

We hope that this garden will remind our students that memories are valuable gifts that we give to each other and that when treasured, they are gifts that we can keep for a lifetime.

April 1st Update

In the spirit of “If you can’t beat’em.. join’em”, OJA has hopped on the GMO bandwagon!  In case you aren’t familiar with the acronym, GMO stands for genetically modified organisms. These are living things that have been improved by having their DNA spliced with the DNA of some other living thing.  It’s like getting the best of two creatures in one!  (without the hassle of species differentiation) Our students are definitely reaping the benefits of this ground breaking technology.

As many of you may already know, for several years we have grown cotton on our campus.  We also have an expanding stand of sugar cane.  Wouldn’t it be great if these two species could be introduced to each other in a lab and come together to make something truly useful?

Surprise!  Organic Cotton Candy

Go ahead… eat your sweater.

Students are loving our recent addition, and there’s no need for a cotton gin.  The seeds taste like Red Hots!

It’s even harder now to bring students in from the garden.

 Added bonus:  The students return to class with an extra “boost” of energy that the teachers love.

We’ve also acquired seeds to a newly patented vegetable that blends the starchy goodness of a potato with the convenience of asparagus (which frankly… if asparagus weren’t so easy to pick, no one would eat it.)  Behold: Potatogus Crispicus, commonly known as the french fry plant.

Fertilizing the Seedlings

Water sparingly.

Here’s a helpful hint:  For smaller patio gardens consider the variety “shoestring”.  They do great in pots.  Also, if you choose “curly fries” we recommend you provide a trellis for them, as they tend to flop when grown unsupported.

Of course these delicious cuttings will need condiments and fortunately Heinz has pushed the scientific envelope. (or should we say “squeezed the packet”)  We now have as part of our  sponsored test garden a plant that makes it possible to grow our own ketchup!  For too long the tomato has been an unecessary and inconvenient step in the “seed to red goop” process.  With no refrigeration necessary and no expiration date, this is something really worth growing.

We’re not sure what other DNA was added to a tomato plant to make this marvel.  We’re not even sure it was DNA, but hey, we know better than to ask questions about our food.

So, what’s your favorite GMO?  Add yours in the comment section.

On Fire for Education

Recruits Preparing to Enter Structure, Photo Credit: Jack Facundus

What may appear, at first glance, as an emergency crisis is actually a well planned training exercise.  Like Orlando Junior Academy, the Orlando Fire Department recognizes the value of hands-on experiential learning and was able to benefit last week by setting this old house ablaze.  OFD has eighteen new recruits that were able to train in a “live fire” scenario in an actual residential structure, which is a rare and valuable opportunity.  The house itself is located across the street from our school’s gymnasium and sits on a double lot.  OJA owns this property and is looking to expand the current Edible Schoolyard program to address the needs of the greater community.  Rather than simply bulldoze this building down, OJA realized it could be used for educational purposes by the fire department.  Since it is OJA’s desire to be engaged in its community and partner with those who make that community a better (and safer) place to live, OJA agreed to let the fire department have free access.  None of this would be possible of course, without the generosity of  Florida Hospital and Brasfield & Gorrrie, who have agreed to support our Edible Schoolyard by removing what is left of the house and preparing the lot for future development.   These are the kinds of partnerships that we see as being vital not only to the success of our school as an institution but to our graduating students as well.  It is our hope that children leave OJA with the desire to be an integral part of their community, receiving graciously and giving generously, equipped and inspired to  make a difference.

Promises, Promises

There are many aspects of gardening that encourage the development of patience.  Gratification is hardly instant in food production.  Rarely, however, are patience and restraint required to partner together so desperately  as when dealing with the agony of growing asparagus.  Fresh asparagus is certainly worth the square footage required to grow it and of course good soil and seeds are hardly a sacrifice.  The time one must wait to actually eat it, however, is ridiculous.  Most gardeners are ready to accept the fact that after the average vegetable seed is planted, there is no need to set the table for at least a couple of months.  This flies in the face of our “fast food” culture but it’s doable.  Asparagus on the other hand gives “slow food” a whole new meaning.  If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you may remember our students planting asparagus seedlings in our garden.  Click here to read about it.  Yes, that’s right, it’s been almost a year.  To this date the amount of asparagus that’s been eaten or should we say “tasted” from that planting would not equal a single serving size.  The goal with asparagus is to let each plant develop and grow to the size where it won’t miss a few shoots of new growth each spring.  Asparagus is a perennial plant that, when mature, can produce for twenty years but it can take two or three years before it reaches maturity.  Even worse is that while waiting for that to happen, these plants send up shoots that look like the one pictured above.  You know it’s crisp.  You know it’s juicy.  You know it’s delicious.  You know that asparagus is the vegetable of kings.   You know you can’t have it.

Not yet.

One Simple Question

Why would anyone plant regular white cauliflower after finding out that it’s possible to grow cauliflower that looks like this?

Purple Cauliflower, who knew?

 

Special Guests

The Edible Schoolyard at OJA had a V.I.P. day this week.  The Honorable Mayor Ken Bradley and his wonderful wife Ruth visited  our campus.  Along with Winter Park’s first couple came STUFF the Magic Dragon, mascot for the Orlando Magic basketball team.  The afternoon began with a student rally in the gymnasium, where the Mission: Fit Possible team from Florida Hospital for Children led everyone in rousing nutrition and exercise lesson.  Afterwards, Mayor and Mrs. Bradley along with STUFF toured the garden and the nutritional science lab, harvesting and tasting along the way.  Our students and staff showed them how a garden and a kitchen can be integral to a child’s education and how healthy food can be fun and delicious. 

Mayor Bradley and STUFF visit the Edible Schoolyard (Mayor Bradley is the one wearing a tie.)

Mayor Bradley Sampling the Celery.

STUFF in the Garden

A Fresh Feast for a Hungry Dragon!

For more pictures visit our “Edible Schoolyard OJA” Facebook page.

D’ohh!!!!

Frostbite

For some reason (please feel free to explain in the comments section) a forecast predicting temperatures in the mid to upper thirties does not preclude a chance of frost.  In the wee hours of Monday,  morning Jack Frost decided to pay a visit to our garden.  Fortunately, most of our winter crops were unfazed, however, many of our tomatoes and eggplants were traumatized and in some cases obliterated.  What is really strange, though, is how the damage wasn’t across the board.  Like a tornado that wipes out one house and leaves another across the street unfazed,  frost found the plants that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Sometimes just a few feet was the difference between “no damage at all” and “I think that slimy blob used to be a tomato plant.”  Microclimates are real.

Unfazed

The embarrassing part is that the reason our tomato plants were in these pots to begin with was to prevent this very scenario.  The upper grades have been discussing (at length) the “window of opportunity” that gardeners have to grow tomatoes successfully in Central Florida.  They have learned that most tomatoes will not “set” fruit once temperatures consistently are above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.  This wouldn’t be a problem, except that happens pretty early around these parts and as is painfully obvious; we can still get frost in February.  This leaves precious little time to grow a plant that is big enough to produce flowers before it gets too hot.  That’s why we start our tomato seeds in pots, so that we can get them going before Christmas.  We leave them outside when its warm and bring them inside…. when … we ….uhm…have.. a…um, you know……. a frost.

Oh well, the reason we are doing this is to learn, right?  At least grace was extended and we still have many survivors.  We’ll be watching the local weather a bit more closely and will eventually put these lucky ones in the ground,  that is after Jack Frost has left town for good.

Bem-vindo Amigos que Retornam

“Welcome back!” to our returning friends from Brazil.  Though no passports have been inspected it is believed that our tenant purple martins have spent the Summer and Fall in South America.  They’ve returned to our campus once more to raise their offspring.  Mrs. Sorenson’s first grade students will be serving as ambassadors for the purple martins and are studying their migration and other fascinating behaviors.  (Please don’t hesitate to ask them questions about these amazing birds) Currently, the best time to watch the airshow is in the morning just as school is about to begin.  They are quite active then, flying in and out of the nests which hang over our garden.  Stay tuned for updates on their stay.

Tasting the Peas

Two classes of first and second graders tasted their “Champion of England” peas this week for the first time.  There were just enough peas for everyone to taste two or three but there are many more to come.  This heirloom variety did not disappoint these children who have waited so patiently. They were so sweet. (so were the kids.)  Do you remember the first time you tasted a pea straight from the pod?                                

                                                                                                                                           

 

 

Inquiry-based Learning

Lesson in a Bottle

“To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.” – Jose Ortega y Gassett.

If you surprise a child and inspire them to wonder, your job as an educator is nearly complete.  (Teachers please don’t confuse your job as an educator with your other jobs: classroom manager, statistician, counselor, mediator and general miracle worker.) In the learning process nearly everything that comes after the inspiration of a really good question is the work of the student.  This strawberry in a bottle sat on a table at the front of Mrs. Braga’s fourth grade class asking a question.  The question was so obvious it didn’t even need to be verbalized.  The answer, however, wasn’t quite so obvious.  This question sat on the table all morning long, encouraging something we all long for children to experience, the struggle of challenging thought.  It did this without the use of punishment or reward, without discipline or pleading.

After lunch the students had a long discussion about how this berry got in the bottle.  All theories were entertained with respect, even the ones that fell quickly.  Maybe the glass was cut.  Maybe the berry was dehydrated than re-hydrated.  Maybe it was shoved in really fast.  The spectrum of ideas was broad.  This conversation was lively and the debate was vigorous.  The answer was discovered more than it was revealed and the students felt the pride of solving a problem.

The puzzle that this berry presented, though perhaps more obvious, is no less challenging  and compelling than the puzzles that our students find in the garden and in nature.  This problem solving approach immediately became a template for their discussion of strawberry pollination (a theory that after much consideration and debate was skeptically accepted) Too often we give children answers to questions they are not asking.  If we can present the world to them without filling in all of the blanks, showing them just enough to inspire curiosity, education can become an engaging conversation and not just a lecture.