Stirring up in spring

Is it OK to declare the present time as spring? It certainly feels that way... all kinds of things are pushing forth with a vigor unheard of in winter...

We work to help the greenhouse, counting seeds!

Start with an empty container, and then do volume calculations

Of course, final volume doesn't get there without a fight :) 

With a set amount of water and a starting height, we can best understand gravitational potential energy, forces, and motion

But certainly we should give it the most interesting path possible :)

There's a reward to all our experimentation, that is continually springing forth (and being tasted)!

Eleanor Underhill, a local musician with an interest in community involvement, helps us make fun guerrilla gardener 'grenades' -- made from clay, seeds and soil

Ms. Sizemore's class has been playing around with trying to be as crafty as birds (in caring for their young!)

A special seedling-starting party, to help give the demonstration food plot / CEA a strong footing!

I've never been more excited about the growing season as I am this year. Let us achieve something that doesn't simply enrich the academic experience of the young people at Dickson... let us realize something that touches both the local community AND a select group of parents and teachers focused on local, sustainable enterprise and social justice!!! =)

It comes once every thirty days...

...or so. And you guys and gals certainly are helping bring the required elbow grease:

Thank you for everything that you did to 'cultivate' loveliness at our second annual garden workday!

We crafted vertical trellises for four garden beds (unofficial word is, the snap pea seeds gawked on, and ultimately approved). We finished filling all 26 teacher's patio containers, so that they can easily introduce their students to plant life cycles and the economic value of these lovely organisms. We mulched the path in the big garden and mulched landscaping throughout the school's courtyards. We planted pollinator seeds in portable crate gardens. We refreshed our greenhouse lettuces.

We painted lots of signs (together with Timbersong Academy). We planted seeds for our Plant Starts Fundraiser. IDES parents, teachers and partners kicked it (butt, that is)... =)

We enjoyed a fabulous potluck... absolutely fabulous. I unfortunately do not have a list of names - but,  there were between 60-80 people who attended. Apologies if you are typically recognized by name and are not here; apologies similarly if this was your first big volunteering and we similarly missed out on giving you props. Special thanks to Bountiful Cities Project and Asheville Greenworks, for offering very thoughtful and kid-friendly programming on-site!

There were easily more than half a dozen Dickson teachers out here getting down n' dirty with us... its hard to enumerate the downstream value in having our kids' schoolteachers so readily throwing their skin in this game, but its also easy to see that IDES staff are all about getting this landscape more and more prepared for learning (and playing) experiences. :)

Excited to post more about what Joan is doing in (and out of) classrooms next week... until then, please carry on with loving this early spring wave we've been sent.

A big bump, to Sow True Seed!

Hey there, I will try to be brief, for the first time ever -- since I've got no fun pictures to include this time around...

FIRST:

Buy seeds this spring. Try to grow stuff. Use Asheville favorite Sow True Seeds to help you do this. If you use the coupon code 'idesgarden2017' then 25% of what they get from you will go on a check that they will write out to Dickson Elementary. Pretty generous, huh? If the code doesn't seem to apply correctly -- which seems to happen if you have just one 'sale' item in your cart -- then simply make a note of the error, and of the code you had hoped to use, in the 'notes' field of your order. Remember: Sow True Seeds... code idesgarden2017... paste it in the 'notes' field for good measure. Its that simple!

SECOND:

Consider becoming an 'official sponsor' for the pilot year of what we hope will be a variation of the 'CSA' model that I'd like to call a CEA. Stands for Community Enriching Agriculture... contact me, Mr. Mikulski, at roaringgarden@gmail.com, if you are anywhere from curious to already convinced :) Please leave a phone number so I can follow up with you by phone. Just to get your saliva flowing, here is what we're hoping to cultivate for the CEA: Our 'Sow True Seeds' Shopping Cart . I said 'hoping' because surely we'll win some growing battles and lose others =)

Until next time!

Upcoming February garden work day... AND, do you want to be an 'official sponsor' of our upcoming community garden?

Helping to prepare one of many delicious quiches, for the winter show!

In our first post of 2017, I wanted to let you know that we are having another garden workday in a couple of weeks. What degree of action is employed in a typical garden workday? Look at my last blog post for a hopefully compelling visual record :) Plus, there's real good food at the end! Please click on the flyer image to enlarge / see details (thanks, Steve Agan, for putting this together):

Also, a quick shout-out to Asheville Mulch Yard and Southern States Cooperative... one supplied the new wood mulch (that replaced the re-purposed rubber) on the Dickson front-and-center playground AND promised us some donated goodies in return, while the other offered us a series of 100-gallon galvanized planters at a very generous discount. The plan, as Joan explains it, is that IDES teachers will use the planters (plus donated potting soil) to realize their very own little 'mini-gardens' this coming spring. Imagine such delight, right outside every classroom... what an awesome vision, Joan and Brad!

In summary: Plan to come on out, IDES garden fans, on Saturday the 18th -- as we build on the substantial improvements (and revelry) that we enjoyed in December!

Everybody must meet a worm!

Finally, as the operations manager for the 'Demonstration Food Garden' -- a working vegetable plot that we plan to do on the west end of the garden space -- I wanted to let you all know that we have begun seeking 'official sponsors.' Our hope is to get one dozen individuals to commit to ensure that we have all the supplies we need to BOTH 1) grow a substantial amount of seasonal, organic produce for our students/teachers to learn/teach from, and... 2) have a substantial weekly surplus, to be used to help educate and enrich the communities that neighbor IDES about the healthy, financially sustainable, and uniquely satisfying nature of enjoying food grown right in one's 'backyard.' =)

Lovely goodies donated by Roots and Annie's, for the winter show

If you are interested in being a part of this alternative, inclusive form of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), then please contact me (Mr. Mikulski) directly at roaringgarden@gmail.com for more details. Please include a phone number in your email, so I can respond to you by phone!

Coming soon... courtesy of a long, unbroken chain of goodwill and kindness (see 37gyouthveggies.blogspot.com and wpveggiefarm.blogspot.com for glimpses of that original, fertile soil :)

As usual, I'm 100% looking forward to showing you more of what we're 'sprouting,' and very soon :)

You all rocked out the workday!!! SERIOUSLY

Yes... I am talking about YOU. Special thanks, out of all the lovely people I've been fortunate enough to meet at Dickson, to...

Jennie Faile and Spencer Lyerly
Yumiko and Tom Virant
Katy Estrada
Michelle Bedard and Steve Agan
Suzanne Evans
Sharon (Enly's mom)
Emilio Ancaya
Shannon Fields and Matt Menne
Matt Parris
Ellen and Brent Edelman
Xandria Birk
Cordasia
Timbersong Academy
Joan Pinegar
Dorothea Schulz
Bunches of children

Here's a slideshow, that I'm too tired right now to annotate:

We moved four beds, planted the greenhouse, organized the kitchen, installed a Little Free Library, stored 50 hoses for the winter and had a very nice meal together! Big shout outs to Principals Johnson and Cobb for encouraging us, Steve Wyda for designing the garden and Asheville Mulch Yard's Daniel Pope for his amazing soil. I can only hope that EVERY monthly garden work day is as fun and productive as December's :) 

Let me close out our last post of 2016 by saying...may your holidays be full of joy, introspection and plans to grow in new, vigorous and robust ways -- into your family, friends and community. 2017 is a year that will be precious, like any other, and not to be squandered! Let it be the year that you draw a line in the sand, and commit all the extra time that ends up being necessary to hold it. ;)

Won't you come out for our first IDES garden workday?

It's been a couple of weeks since we shared with you some of our goings-ons... so here is some eye candy of that sort:

Outdoor ed, courtesy of the learning/playing station on the NW edge of campus that AVL Greenworks helped install

Pumpkin measuring fun at the outdoor ed centers!

Now that's taking her around the equator :) Mrs. Sizemore's class (not pictured) got to experiment with the biodegrading of pumpkins!

All the fantastic mineral-filled cooking greens that Joan & Co have grown, right out the back door of Dickson classrooms...

Ms. Leslie's class, helping to harvest greens (pretty sure these ended up on plates at the Soul Food Potluck ;)

...let's learn...

How does one cook an egg?   ....

...I'm pretty sure that 'carefully' is part of the recipe :)

Making apple crisp... it takes hands, utensils, and eager minds you know

What our community garden space will look like, after the first seven steps of 'Phase I'

Ms. Ellen's 3rd grade, making personal pizzas

So many yummy olives... now, that is MY kind of pizza!

Mr. Agan did a great job making us a flier for our first big 'Workday' at the garden, next Saturday, Dec. 17th, from 10 AM to 1 PM. He wrote:

We will be getting the greenhouse “ready to grow," moving four raised beds, and moving soil for blueberry bushes and the seating area. Hot chocolate and hot tea will be provided, and the kitchen will be open. High temps likely in the mid-40’s, so dress warmly! (But don’t be discouraged from coming out, just like we do for the HC10K.)

What we are doing, basically, is the first of seven 'stages' that will allow us to complete the first phase of our community garden space at the school. When finished with Phase Three, we will have an educational farm and garden unlike any other in the state!!! Please RSVP to Joan (a link to her email is linked on the upper right of this page) if you plan on coming out...

I sincerely hope to get to meet some of you -- who have been reading our blog and cheering for us but maybe haven't shown up in person yet -- next Saturday. Bring your kids, bring some gloves, and come get dirty and productive with us! =)