School Garden Plant Sale is coming soon – Saturday May 7th

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Hillary Ann

On your marks…get set…garden!

The School Garden Plant Sale is happening on Saturday, May 7th from 9 am to 1 pm.
There will be many kid-grown plants to choose from – Veggies, Herbs, Flowers, Perennials – as well as natives, edibles and ornamental plants from our friends at Watershed Garden Works!

It’s going to be a great time at the Northlake Elementary Garden at 2210 Olympia Way in Longview to benefit School Gardens and help us continue to connect kids and families with real food and hands-on learning. Join us for live music, tours of the garden and orchard, and meet garden rabbits Sam and Sorrel.

Spring Garden Programs begin week of March 7

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Hillary Ann

Spring Garden Programs begin the second week of March, which means weekly volunteer opportunities!
If you haven’t volunteered with us, please email info@lcschoolgardens.org to tell us particular times you’re available – weekly, monthly, or even annually – every hour makes a difference in the lives of kids and families in our community.

Print your own copy: School Gardens Spring 2016

Edible Olympic is online

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Ludger

What is Edible Olympic?

First the garden. On Thursdays students are farmers. They work in a 10,000 square foot garden that was an unfenced green field in early 2015. They’ve planted berry bushes, fruit trees, and have rows of soil waiting for the spring planting. They plant, weed, and thin their crops until the food is ready to harvest.

Second the kitchen. On Fridays the students are chefs. They take this produce and combine it with healthy, economical groceries and slice, dice, bake, roast, simmer, and sauté incredible meals. After the cooking class they take the ingredients they need home and cook and eat the same meal with their families.

Xerces Society Pollinator Habitat signs help make School Gardens a haven for pollinators

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Hillary Ann

Students show off yellow kale flowers favored by many pollinator species, in front of their school garden — Carrolls students show off yellow kale flowers favored by many pollinator species, in front of their School Garden.

Earlier this year, The Xerces Society of Portland generously donated Pollinator Habitat signs for all of our School Gardens. Posting these signs with students has started a number of profound conversations about the vital role that pollinators play in our gardens and our food supply.

A pollinator habitat sign proudly displayed in the Huntington School Garden.

For some students, these conversations have made them less fearful of insects that they thought were only made for stinging, and others have become more interested in paying attention to the small differences between various kinds of pollinators. The signs have also been a good reminder to simply be aware of the helpers in our gardens that are not always easy to see.

Not all bees are yellow and black - this species of sweat bee is a beautiful metallic green. Photo by Hillary Jensen. — Not all bees are simply yellow and black – this species of sweat bee is a beautiful metallic green. Photo by Hillary Jensen.

Students have helped to create a great deal of pollinator habitat in school gardens by planting many flowers and other plants crucial to their survival.

Thank you, Xerces Society!

To help protect an essential part of our environment, take the Pollinator Pledge and order a Pollinator Habitat sign for your own garden.

A "Thank You" for Xerces decorated by Carrolls students. — A “Thank You” for Xerces decorated by Carrolls students.

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$250k Kaiser grant expands School Gardens for Longview and Kelso

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Hillary Ann

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2015

Kaiser Permanente Northwest Awards Grant to Cowlitz County Health Department
Cowlitz County Health Department’s (CCHD) Office of Healthy Communities received $250,000 over
the next three years to partner with Lower Columbia School Gardens and the Longview and Kelso
School Districts to increase fruit and vegetable consumption for school-age children. This collaborative
project will expand access to school garden activities and curricula for children and their families.

This grant will allow Lower Columbia School Gardens to expand their capacity to serve more children in
our county through their 14 school-based gardens, and to integrate their programs and activities more
fully into the school environment. Longview and Kelso School Districts will be able to fully utilize school
gardens as an educational and community resource.

“We are grateful to Kaiser Permanente for this opportunity to engage even more kids in our school
gardens. We know that school gardens work; kids are more likely to eat and enjoy fruit and vegetables
they grow themselves, and they get excited about healthy cooking and eating as they learn about
where real food comes from and how it’s grown. We see that reality in our work every day, and this
new partnership will allow us to share that experience with more children, teachers and families in our
community,” says Ian Thompson, Executive Director of Lower Columbia School Gardens.

Kaiser Permanente Northwest is dedicated to improving the health of individuals and the communities
they serve. Specifically, their work is focused on connecting low-income people to health care,
educating children and families about healthy eating and active living, creating and sharing
groundbreaking research, strengthening health safety nets in communities, and supporting their employees’ community engagement.

CCHD provides broad-spectrum public health services to Cowlitz County residents aimed at improving
and protecting the health and well-being of individuals of all ages. To contact the Health Department,
please call 360-414-5599.

CCHD Official Press Release

October is for Harvest Festivals

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Hillary Ann

The month of October was chock full of fun and goodness in the world of School Gardens. Most months of the year we delight in bringing real food and hands-on learning to hundreds of students on a weekly basis, but do you know what makes October so special?…

Harvest Festivals!

School Garden Harvest Festivals only happen once a year and call for “all hands on deck” to make them work. That means all of our School Garden volunteers, PTO members, staff, AmeriCorps members, parents and many of our board members show up to help. This year, our biggest year yet, nine elementary schools were able to participate.

That means every student at those 9 schools:

made and drank fresh apple cider
ground corn into cornmeal and wheat berries into flour
ran the straw bale obstacle course
shucked fresh corn
ate roasted garden veggies and corn-on-the-cob
listened and danced to live music
learned more about real food

…all in their School Gardens.

Once again, none of these opportunities for our local students to experience real food and hands-on learning could happen without the support of so many people and businesses in this community. Thank you!

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Farmer Randy donates 700 pumpkins to School Gardens

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Hillary Ann

There were even-happier-than-usual kids in many Kelso and Longview School Gardens last week as After School Garden Clubs had the opportunity to carve locally-grown pumpkins. 700(!) pumpkins were donated by Woodland farmer Randy Behrendsen who was happy just to know they were going home with kids. Members of the LCSG board, LCSG staff and a slew of volunteers met in Woodland early on a Saturday to load pumpkins into trucks and deliver them back to school gardens in Longview and Kelso.

During the following week, kids in elementary and middle school gardens throughout the area got the chance to carve, decorate and take home their donated pumpkins. Students also enjoyed freshly roasted pumpkins seeds and made-from-scratch hot cocoa with their pumpkin carving.

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Entek generously sponsors St. Helens Harvest Festival

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Hillary Ann

Every student at St. Helens had a blast on October 6 and learned a lot about real food at the same time. The Harvest Festival at St. Helens was generously sponsored by Entek. Many thanks to all our volunteers who worked so hard to make it a wonderful day for all.

Email info@lcschoolgardens.org to get in on similar events every year during the month of October.

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LCSG brings the School Garden spirit to Squirrel Fest

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Hillary Ann

Kids and adults alike enjoyed decorating the garden wigwam with their hand drawn fruits and vegetables. — Kids of all ages enjoyed decorating the garden wigwam with hand-drawn fruits and vegetables.

August usually means a break from classes for students, but it’s the time of year when School Gardens are in full swing with summer programs. Summer also provides many opportunities for us to participate in community events around our area and Squirrel Fest is one Longview event not to be missed. All proceeds from Squirrel Fest this year went to Cowlitz County Habitat for Humanity.

Students and school garden volunteers shape the dough for garden pizzas.

School Gardens had a fun set-up in the Kids’ Area at the event this year that included:

– Handing out free garden seeds

– Offering samples of right-out-of-the-oven delicious garden pizza

– Giving visitors a chance to decorate a garden wigwam with hand-drawn pictures of fruits and vegetables

Pizzas were topped with fresh garden ingredients and made by students and volunteers on-site.

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Students and volunteers march in Longview Go Fourth Parade

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Hillary Ann

More than 40 kids and adults gathered early on the 4th of July to decorate the Garden trailers with colorful flowers, herbs and grasses picked fresh shortly beforehand. Once everyone arrived at their place in the parade line, more fresh flowers were used to assemble flower crowns for each person. Everyone looked like a sweet garden fairy! It was a lovely day marching together beneath the tall, shade-giving trees of Longview as the community gathered to celebrate. Seed packets were handed out (in lieu of candy) by students riding in brightly painted wheelbarrows, holding signs and flags that boldly declared “Eat Real Food”. You can be sure that the School Gardens had the most colorful float that day.

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