Somerville Farm to School Project

It's been a weather roller coaster this year! We've had hot days then cold days, rainy then dry--all proving a challenge for our plantings. Even so, over the past couple of weeks many of the schools were able to harvest and eat fresh veggies right from their gardens!  Groundwork Somerville hosted "Salad Days" at Argenziano and East, while parent volunteers at Brown hosted an end of the year Harvest Party with a variety of leafy greens! Meanwhile, the Farm to School Project worked with elementary schoolers at Brown, Winter Hill, and Kennedy School to start their gardens. 5th Graders at Kennedy learned how to use basic permaculture principals to plan a garden, and explored ways we can improve and replenish soil. 2nd graders became experts in cherry tomato varieties thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  who generously donated over 75 different seeds!! 1st graders continued their study of "Sylvia's Spinach" by learning how to plant spinach seeds, ...

Our fall gardening season is off and running! The Brown School had a fantastic harvest party during the first week back.  Eighty students participated in the event (two 3rd grade classes, one 4th grade class, and one 5th grade class).     The students picked carrots, cucumbers, arugula, basil, and tomatoes and got to taste them straight from the garden (after some washing of course).  They loved it and had lots of greats answers when we talked about seeds, the plant lifecycle, and what vegetables need to grow.   Content provided by Shawn Szturma, Brown School Garden Steward and Parent.

Spring is here and garden parties are happening in all the Somerville School Gardens! A few weeks ago, the Brown School held a Garden Party to kick off their school garden season. Under blue skies, students and their families turned soil and prepped the beds for planting. They also plant beans, snap peas, arugula, spinach, carrots, kale, Swiss chard, and lettuce.  Everything looks great and they should see their first seeds sprouting in less than a week! Content and photos provided by Shawn Szturma, Brown School Garden Parent Volunteer.

A lot has been happening this year in the garden in the Benjamin G. Brown School. In this post we shared some of the first garden activities of the season. Parent volunteer and gardening guru, Shawn Szturma has been heading up the planting, maintaining, and harvesting in the garden. Below Shawn shares a few special entries from his garden journal. July We have mesclun/lettuce mix, basil and radishes ready to pick. Mesclun Radish August I just did some final cleanup yesterday on the Brown School garden before the school year.  When I stopped by, there were some local boys (5th graders) snacking on the tomatoes and pole beans in the garden.  As the garden steward, I thought that was perfect.  I told them to come back and graze anytime they saw something ripe and ready-to-eat. Cherry tomatoes   Pole beans   September Today, I brought some bok choy seedlings to the 2nd grade class at the Brown School (Mrs. Jaspe...

Garden facts Size: 120 square feet (3 large beds) Best thing about the garden: It's visible from the street and school, brand new beds and a great water connection. Plants: vegetables of all types - tomatoes, carrots, peas, beans and more! Maintenance: Parent volunteer Shawn Szturma, Groundwork Somerville Green Team, and additional Brown School families throughout the summer How is the garden used: outdoor classroom for students from the Brown School and mobile market production, when produce is available Parent volunteer, Shawn Szturma, has been spending a lot of time at the Brown School garden trimming back landscaping adjacent to the garden, planting with students, trellising beans and peas, and much, much more!     Recently, he spent the afternoon with the 3rd grade classrooms at the Brown school helping them plant some vegetables in the garden.  For many of the kids, this was the first time they planted vegetables directly from seed. ...