Thanks to all who attended our Fall Fundraiser. If you couldn’t come this time, donations and contributions are always welcome. Please check out donation page.
Please join us for our Fall 2014 Fundraiser. Click the image for all the details and to purchase your tickets.
Thank you for making this happen – your donations totaling $10,000 have poured in over the last few months. We will now send that to The Health Care Foundation who will in turn write a check for $20,000 to support local school gardens.
As you may know, everything we do is made possible by private donations (40%) and grants (60%). All the weekly garden and cooking programs that we design and run (serving 2900 students last year); all the sheds, fences, raised beds, irrigation lines, and trellises that we install; all the tools, microscopes, fruit trees, seeds, plants, fertilizers, soil, etc that we buy; all the harvest festivals, Earth Day, STEM events, volunteer trainings – all this is made possible by the generosity of people like you.
The success of this matching grant puts us closer to what we need to bring in this year to continue to provide and expand these services (still seeking $21,000 more in general donations and $20,000 from our Fall Harvest Event).
You’ve heard this before, but can I say it again? 5 years ago there was one school garden in these parts; today there are thirteen.
This was not a federal, state, or district initiative; rather, this was our community saying “This needs to happen. This kind of hands-on learning centered around nature and real food is not just kinda neat, it is essential. And every child deserves to have the opportunities and experiences that a school garden provides.”
Lower Columbia School Gardens formed in 2010 to answer that call, and we have been going full tilt ever since. Thank you for partnering with us every step of the way.
Gratefully
Ian
Our newest garden is a place to be if you like to grow and learn! Many families brought their best worker bees to participate in the recent work party. We are transforming the hillside into an outdoor classroom suited for science, math and nutrition lessons and for promoting good stewardship of our planet Earth. Our accomplishments so far: building retaining walls to create flat spots and “rooms” within the larger footprint, stripping sod and spreading soil, installing drains, shoveling gravel and, most importantly…planting! Already in: herbs, peas, onions, lettuce, squash, blueberries, grapes, nasturtiums, and more to come.
For a task list and the garden calendar see the garden website. Contact Cathleen McNelly if you like to help or have any questions.
Steve the Rabbit’s crew just picked up the first part of a HUGE DONATION from Kellogg Gardens in Longview: two and a half pallets of really good organic compost and planting soil (that’s $1,300 worth)!
Another great example of a local business helping to make a healthier community.
If you would like to learn more about Lower Columbia School Gardens come to the talk Ian Thompson is going to give to the Willapa Hills Audubon.
For the details check out the info on the WHAS website.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
In Fall 2012, first grade wanted to provide a hands-on experience that extended their science FOSS kits on plants beyond the classroom. Beacon Hill Elementary received support from the first grade teachers, first grade families, PTO, volunteers, and principal to construct four raised garden beds on the barren asphalt between two portables.
In November 2013, Ms. Clontz’s 29 first graders taught over 500 students at Beacon Hill the importance of composting and every grade is now composting after lunch!
For a task list and the garden calendar see the garden website. Contact Aspen Clontz if you like to help or have any questions.