Sustainable Food Edmonton
Community Garden in Bloom: A Gardener's ...

Central Community Garden in Edmonton is an inner city garden housed in the Central McDougall community. In this blog post, read words of reflection from the garden Director, Dr. Kevin Solez on his experience at the garden this year.

Community Garden in Bloom: A Gardener's Reflection
Sustainable Food Edmonton
HARVEST RECEPTION UPDATE!

We are very excited to be having our Annual Harvest Reception in Latitude 53 this year!

HARVEST RECEPTION UPDATE!
Sustainable Food Edmonton
City of Edmonton Zoning Bylaw Changes and ...

Yesterday City Council approved Zoning Bylaw changes that enable and encourage more urban agriculture activities in Edmonton!

City of Edmonton Zoning Bylaw Changes and Vacant Lot Inventory for Urban Farming
Sustainable Food Edmonton
Thank You for Making the Harvest Reception a ...

We would like to thank everyone who came out to last night's Harvest a Reception.

Sustainable Food Edmonton
Reminder: The Inaugural Harvest Reception is ...

Don't forget Sustainable food Edmonton's Inaugural Harvest Reception is this Saturday. There will be great local food provided by Chef Eric Hanson and entertainment provided by The Den.

Indoor Garden Adventures in 2024

Growing sprouts, veggies and herbs in a classroom is not always straightforward. Plants have specific needs and nature’s ecosystems are finely tuned to meet these needs. In our buildings we don’t have pollinators or predatory insects or other checks and balances we find outside. Pests can make an appearance...whether they are tiny thrips, spider mites or aphids.

But sometimes a garden becomes a buffet for larger critters, such as mice.

At Garneau School, the students were very excited about the progress and growth of their veggies until....”when we came back from spring break [we found] that a mouse had eaten our peas, dill, chard, basil, some beans, and lettuce - which were all in little pots. (I had checked them during spring break and they all looked lovely...so disappointing). We [transplanted] a bean, cucumber, tomato, lemon balm, and nasturtium and wrapped our garden in tin foil hoping the little beast(s) would stay out. That seemed to have solved the problem for a while. We had beans, tomato and cucumber blossoms, and our nasturtium was taking off. On Friday, the top of our bean plant started to look wilty - I was thinking we had bugs, but had only spotted one here or there.

When we came to school today, the real problem was discovered. The mouse ate through the main stem close to dirt level so I think that is the end of our beans.... The next day we noticed that cucumber blossoms and mini-cukes were gone and there was some significant tunneling noted in all three boxes. Instead of growing Jack's beanstalk as we were hoping, it looks like we've opted for the Secret World of Og instead, haha. I guess we will have to figure out some further mouse-proofing strategies for next year.”

These challenges can be a bit discouraging but we’re always happy to hear that teachers and students try to find solutions. Gardens not only produce food but also young people that are willing to trouble shoot and persevere. 

At Avonmore School, the indoor garden is new to the Grade 4/5 class and they really embrace it. Ms Beer reports: “...our garden is absolutely FLOURISHING!!!!! I love it. We love it. Truly. I am so thankful for this opportunity. We already harvested our nasturtiums. We dried, ground the leaves and mixed it with salt to make a nasturtium seasoning salt. We also propagated some nasturtiums and the students are taking them home as a Mother's Day gift! We are LOVING the L.G.T. program.”

To propagate more nasturtiums, a small branch with leaves is cut and placed in water. After 1-2 weeks, small roots appear and the new seedling can be planted into potting mix.
(Click on photos to enlarge)

Peppers take a long time to germinate and grow. At St. Leo School, Ms Gall and her students have been enjoying a wonderful crop of Gypsy Hybrid Peppers (and also a large number of Persian Baby cucumbers!). The peppers have a unique shape. Ms Gall wrote: “Look at our beautiful peppers. The bigger red one is the size of a small baseball. They are so tasty. We’ve eaten about 3-4 already.” The class also had some tomatoes and the lettuce was harvested twice.

At Norwood School, Ms Rickards received a Little Green Sprouts Kit and her Kindergarten students love seeing the amazing growth of different seeds into edible sprouts. “...we're loving the garden! We had a crop of buckwheat and radish sprouts, the kids loved the flavor difference. Now we've got sunflowers coming in but they won't eat them because only 8 came up and they're calling them "our babies" and talking to them, they won't eat them! I'm going with it. One of them said today "I love nature" so there you go!”

Loving nature is a wonderful outcome of growing plants in the classroom.

Parkallen School has had an indoor garden for many, many years, and it’s always great to hear about their experiments. Ms Agrell-Smith got the kid harvesting, chopping and eating Swiss Chard. “The kids just love the swiss chard, raw and cooked!” What’s not to love about kids eating leafy greens with onions!
And there are more interesting observations: “The Chelsea Prize Cucumber is proving very fruitful again. There are many cucumbers developing. As for our pumpkin plants, they produced a number of male flowers really well for a while, but never produced any female flowers and then the plants died back. We will try again next year just for fun. 
We also took cuttings from the lemon balm and basil to grow plants in decorated pots for students to give as mother's day presents.“

Here are some other great photos from other indoor gardens this year. 

School Indoor Gardens in 2023

We had another great indoor gardening year in more than 60 classrooms! After some challenges during the pandemic, most teachers in our Little Green Thumbs and Little Green Sprouts programs engaged their students in some kind of gardening experience.

Growing a classroom garden adds more time to the busy schedule of teachers. However, we do hope that this wonderful comment from Jenna Van Herk at St. Timothy School shows the reward:

“I am happier to come to work.”

Here is a snap shot of our gardening year:

Little Green Sprouts teacher Ms Seal at Hilwie Hamdon School reported that most children enjoyed pea sprouts: “They said it was sweet, crunchy, and they looked like long lettuce!” The students also made a face using veggies and they pretended to be Easter bunnies.

At Delton School, the sprout light was also used to start veggie and flower plants for an outdoor garden, and some children took plants home. Ms Fournier indicated that some students “really latched onto the classroom garden and were very invested in its care and maintenance.” That’s really great – maybe a lifelong passion for gardening has sprouted here.

The larger Little Green Thumbs garden takes up more space and in return produces fully grown veggies, such as beans, cherry tomatoes, peppers, kale, Swiss chard, herbs and cucumbers. The students and teachers have the dilemma of choice, otherwise the garden is overcrowded. As the garden grows and changes, the students have a chance to observe, record, taste test and share their knowledge.

For example, at St. Francis Xavier School, Ms Bolton reports: “...it brings up great discussions almost every day and it is unbelievable that so many students don't know about seeds, seedlings, fertilizer, etc. I have students that I have never taught coming to ask questions about growing a garden and germinating seeds, and even taking pictures of the garden!”

At Major General Griesbach, Ms Perry indicates that “Being on our "botanist" team was a super popular job and students learned in an authentic way the different needs of different plants.”

We love getting news of harvest events, salad parties and kids discovering they love eating the veggies they have grown. Here are just a few of the comments we have received:

  • I have had sooo many cucumbers! I did not know they needed to be picked when they were smaller. That's why some have been bitter!

  • We’ve had a salad and bean party! It was sooo yummy!

  • We have eaten and shared 4 large cucumbers so far and this is a picture of 2 out of our 11 peppers that are eaten, shared or still in our garden. And we will get ripe tomatoes before the end of the year! The kids just love eating and sharing the produce they grew and cared for!

  • Look at the beautiful flowers! How do those turn into food?

Teachers report many benefits of having a garden for their students, including “taking a look at the garden when needing a brain break” or the garden “...provided quiet moments of pride and happy moments of excitement! It was also an area where students were able to relax and find a quiet spot to think and regulate.” As this is a group project, “Students needed to work together to make a garden plan and choose the seeds. It was good for getting students to collaborate. It is hard for many of our students to take perspective, so this project was a great help.”

At St. Martin School, the influx of children from Ukraine meant that the grow light did not fit and some classes used the boxes, soil and seeds to grow near a window. Once the weather allowed, the seedlings were planted into the outdoor school garden. Fortunately, extra space has been found to set up the indoor garden for next year.

 Our year again included several presentations to help students make connections to the lives of farmers and food growers. We had excellent speakers and an estimated 1240 students attended virtual presentations. As in previous years, Kirk and Trudy Harrold, Charlotte with Chatsworth Farm, and Patty Milligan with Edmonton Urban Farm gave insight into farming, bees and pollinators. A few classes were selected for an in-person visit from storyteller Ms Klassen who shared seeds from the St. Albert Seed Library.

New this year was a wonderful opportunity to learn from Jennifer with Riverside Farm about her sheep farm in BC. Her family’s flock produces wool, meat and wool pellets; a source of fertilizer for gardens.

Also new and much appreciated was Andrew’s talk about Rosy Farms, his berry farm where families can pick haskap berries. This fruit has three times the anti-oxidant properties of blueberries and the plants thrive in our cold climate. Andrew is also very passionate about regenerative farming, wanting to create healthy soils teeming with microorganisms. He works hard to ensure his land is home to a huge diversity of wildlife, insect and bird species.

We concluded our year with the Little Green Thumbs Kids Garden Contest. We received wonderful drawings, photos and poetry of how children want to take care of the land around them.

We can’t wait to convene as an indoor gardening community again next fall and winter!

Why Snails Deserve Our Appreciation and Fresh Food

We are so pleased to share this story submitted by a student in our Little Green Thumbs Program.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Slowly crawling around the clear glass walls, a septet of gastropods make their home in a classroom tank. Peering eyes follow these curious creatures, watching as they create an elongated trail of slime. While this wondrously slimy but clean escargatoire (a group of snails) ooze on by, I will take a moment to introduce myself:

Hello! I am a student of Mrs. McCormick, a grade five teacher, and I am interested in exploring the outdoors and writing. In our classroom, so wondrously inspired by plants, we have a tank of snails. Mrs. McCormick inherited these snails from our principal  Ms.Schmitz‘s children.The snails greatly enjoy Mrs. McCormick’s recreation of a mysterious clearing in which they reside, which includes a bridge, a rocky turret, a sleeping log, food bowls and snail eggs! Mrs. McCormick lets us feed our snails every couple of days with our very own amazing homegrown lettuce.

On that topic, let me discuss our garden. In the fall, Mrs. McCorrmick got multiple bags of soil, several large containers, and seeds from Little Green Thumbs. She brought them in, and our class collectively participated in planting seeds. When we got home the next day, sprouts had gathered! We had a special light to assist us, but after the first weekend, we got a wonderful surprise. The plants had grown three inches in six days. Now, we have plants in our garden three times that size, and us and the snails like to enjoy a healthy snack every once and awhile. We have lettuce, pole beans, snap peas and a surprising amount of potted plants. Every couple of days we take lettuce and put it in the snail’s food bowl, along with fresh water. We spray the snails with water to create dry scales or dehydration, a big NO!

My experiences with the snails and our garden have been so great that I wrote this piece to encourage you to follow in our footsteps. 

PART 2: WHY SNAILS DESERVE OUR APPRECIATION AND FRESH FOOD

SNAILS ARE GREAT PETS BECAUSE:

They are perfect class pets because of their serene silence, small needs, and toothless jaws. They are incredibly easy to pick up after, and are eco-friendly because they do not create  large amounts of waste and only eat plants. Learning about a species is very interesting to observe, and the snails even have lain eggs!

WHY THEY DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH FRESH LETTUCE

When our class took on the responsibility of these pets, we were taking them under our protection. It’s not as though we can take them out in the winter – they’ll die! – and if we let them starve, it would be just as bad because we would need to feed them and provide them with nutrition. Our teacher really cares about plants and has always wanted a classroom garden; the kids in our class have also asked for a classroom pet. We need to provide the snails with food (water is provided due to our sink) and at a low price. We grow the food in our classroom and kill two birds with one stone! This strategy helps the snails grow a family and expand their lifetime, it achieves Mrs. McCormick’s goal, and the cost is almost nothing. Thus, by giving snails lettuce from our garden it provided healthy food for them, it was not very pricey, it was from a local source- plus, it proved educational because we learned about such a fascinating species.

PART 4: CONCLUSION

If you are a person or teacher who is constantly bombarded with demands to have a classroom pet or want a quiet classroom pet, you may want to try out snails. They are gentle, shy, and worthy of lettuce just as much as your newborn child or cute pet puppy is worthy of food. They are living, therefore worthy of nourishment. Our lettuce is fresh, free of mold, chemicals, or unhelpful bacteria and also incredibly delicious.The lettuce is tall and strong (and delicious), and I enjoy eating it. I believe that other kids like me would like having snails and lettuce because they are so fascinating and sweet (no pun intended) and perfect for any kids without pets to enjoy free food and new pets with no cost.

Thank you, Little Green Thumbs, for letting me write about this experience, and I now shrink into the shadows, as the piece of lettuce is eaten in my mouth.

Elijah Patterson, Grade 5 student at Avonmore, he/him 

Virtual Speakers for Little Green Thumbs and Sprouts

Our food system has many players. So one of our goals is to make students aware of the farmers and non-human components that help to bring food to the table.  

The pandemic nudged us to embrace virtual connections. Therefore, for the last couple of years, we invited speakers and farmers to share their expertise in a virtual format. We had a live farm tour, slide presentations and videos that allowed many classes to learn about food production in Alberta.  So during a time when field trips and visitors were not possible, technology allowed us to be present for virtual presentations in 49 classes with an approximate total of 1070 students, some of which participated several times.

Our Kindergarten classes enjoyed both a story and virtual greenhouse tour by local horticulturalist and author Sharon Wallish. Her book “The Perfect Place for Plants” was a wonderful introduction to gardening for our youngest Green Thumbs and Sprouts.

All good things start in the soil, and Markster Composter made the topic come alive. The students learned how to set up a red wiggler worm bin and what it takes to keep the worms fed and happy. Mark talked about the amazing benefits of “worm poop” for our plants. Healthy soil is full of many types of organisms that need our kitchen scraps and leaves. Composting and vermicomposting are a natural extension of our gardening programs at Sustainable Food Edmonton!

Many people think that WEEDS are bad plants, but Paula Klassen encouraged us to think about how a Bee might see a plant. Rather than excluding plants because they are not part of our cultivated world, we should embrace “weeds” for the amazing properties they have to offer. Dandelions, Plantain, Thistle all offer some medicine that can help humans, animals and also enrich the soil. Paula’s message to the students was that “we all belong”.

We were privileged to get a private, live tour of Chatsworth Farm, led by the very knowledgeable and friendly Charlotte. Early spring is a busy time on the farm with baby animals arriving. Charlotte used her phone to teach us about the cattle and new calves. Turkeys, geese and chickens had to stay indoors (due to the risk of Avian Flu), and so we got a tour of the barns. We were fortunate to witness a chicken egg being laid right in front of our camera eyes!

We also enjoyed beautiful videos and engaging Question and Answer sessions with two other farms. Kirk and Trudy Harrold again showed how spring arrives at the farm; geese, songbirds and butterflies are a joy to hear and watch.
Maryann from Goodnote Farm had her hands full with the care of baby goats, while also looking after her chickens and ducks. May is of course a busy time for planting the gardens. Maryann does not want to garden alone and therefore, her land is home to a Community Garden, a Flower Garden and a CSA garden that provides weekly deliveries to subscribers.

Finally, the topic of pollinators is such a natural fit for our indoor gardening classes. We had wonderful presentations about the many types of wild bees that call Alberta home. The students were encouraged to watch bees and find out how they gather food and build a home to raise their young. Being able to tell a bee from a fly or a wasp is so important in reducing our fear from flying insects, and it helps us remain calm around gentle, solitary pollinator bees.

We would like to thank Patty Milligan with Edmonton Urban Farm for her excellent bee presentation and expertise. Nicola with Good Worm Garden Programs got the students to play a fun "eye spy" activity to help them learn about native bee populations.

We were thrilled to receive a Student Journal entry from a Grade 4 student at A. Blair McPherson School. What a beautiful illustration of all the learning this student captured on paper! Check it out below.

LGT Garden Stories

If I could make a garden “wordle” or “dordle”, it would include the words seeds, plant, water, earth, worms, crops, basil, beans, chard, and maybe “start” and “again”. Similar to the latest word game craze, gardening can also be addictive in a good way and create regular moments of calm observation and focus that take us away from our worries.

With any luck, some students get to immerse themselves in the gardening adventure for more than one year. From Madonna School: “I am teaching grade 1 this year...but have the same students as last year. So they are loving the second year in the garden.”

Check out the inspiring photos and notes I received from a number of gardens. Everyone is doing what they can during this second year of hard times in the pandemic.

One of the first steps in the indoor garden is to make a garden plan and plant the seeds. We plant many of our seeds in peat pellets, being careful to plant 1-2 seeds and making labels for each type of vegetable or herb.

How exciting when the seeds sprout and seedlings reach for the light. The students often keep a journal, recording the changes and plant growth with drawings and descriptions.

When the growing seedlings need more space, the children transplant them into pots first or into the grow boxes under the special grow light. The children help to fill boxes, add fertilizer and check that plants and seeds have enough water. A recycled container with a punctured lid creates a gentle flow of water.

As the plants grow, there is time to observe, measure and pursue questions that students want to inquire. For example at Mee-Yah-Noh School: “Something really exciting that we have done is taken our class pumpkin that we had in October and planted the seeds. I just came in to check on them today and they have sprouted! We are amazed with the growth in this first month.”

Challenges come in many forms. It turns out that mice sneak into schools when doors are left open during summer or early fall. Who would have thought mice like to snack on small seedlings!

Longer breaks require some thought to how much water the plants will need when nobody is in the school. Teachers might make a special visit to water, but sometimes, despite best efforts, the garden dries out. Similar to any skill development, perseverance and starting again eventually leads to success.  Being creative also helps; below we have a plastic tent solution to reduce evaporation.

After a few weeks, some leafy greens or herbs will be ready for a snack or taste test. There’s nothing better than tasting veggies from plants you have nurtured and watched in the classroom while it’s cold and snowy outside. We hope that our LGT classes have a great rest of the year and growing season!

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Growing Excitement – Big and Small

While the pandemic drags on, teachers and students are finding ways to grow and learn.

We are very grateful to receive some photos and comments, when teachers are already dealing with very busy schedules, changing student numbers and restrictions.

At Parkallen School, the students were growing beans and peas in clear plastic cups so that they could observe germination up close. The children were very excited to take their plants home. They also planted beans, peas, lettuce and radishes in their big boxes, and a sprouted onion from Ms Agrell-Smith’s home.

Earlier in the new year, we were able to accept a few new classes into our Little Green Sprouts program. The students grow a variety of microgreens, such as speckled peas, red radishes, popcorn and more. While the students do not grow full sized plants with fruit, the microgreen crops are ready in a very short time.

Here are some comments from Little Green Sprouts classes.  From Jan Reimer School: “Today we got to taste the speckled peas and red radish shoots. We had some brave kiddos. We are enjoying watching them grow so quickly and having a blast talking about the life cycle of plants/seeds!”

At Richard Secord School, Ms Chankasingh reports success with two crops that are not easy to grow: “Our garden is a hit with my students! We are having so much fun with it. So far their favorite crops have been the popcorn and sunflowers.”

And here is a great, animated story of the Grade 3/4 class at Sweet Grass School.

There are also several full sized gardens growing happily and producing different crops. At Elmwood School, the Kindergarten class has a big trellis with Purple Peacock Pole Beans and other plants that are growing nicely. Ms Moreau writes: “Garden is looking great! It has been so exciting to get it up and running. Thanks for all of your support and guidance.”

At Madonna School, peas also needed a bit of support to grow and Ms Noel indicated that her students “really love the planting and watching things grow!”.

Due to concerns over sharing food, the students at Mount Royal School also grew a number of flowers. They grew a deep pink geranium from a cutting. Check out the beautiful Zinnias and Sunflowers the students grew from seed. Nasturtiums have edible leaves and flowers, taking a little longer to bloom.

While Little Green Thumbs is all about growing healthy food and herbs, we all know that beautiful flowers are good for the soul, especially in challenging times.

Let’s hope that all students have a chance to watch the amazing growth of seeds to plants this spring and summer.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Seeds of Hope in early January 2021

Students and teachers are doing their best to follow health guidelines, and most Little Green Thumbs classrooms are too tight for our regular indoor garden. It’s therefore a true joy to learn about indoor growing projects where children are excited to learn about plants, food and insects.

At Roberta MacAdams School, the kindergarten classes have lots of plants on the windowsill, including Christmas cactus and many other houseplants. In addition, they have managed to make space for their Little Green Thumbs garden.

The children have been growing the garden since September, planting seeds of all kinds. They have squished a tomato to find the seeds inside; they have grown pumpkin seeds to see if they would grow in the indoor garden, and they have planted a “jar garden”. The LGT garden has already produced beans, peppers, and the Tiny Tim Tomatoes are in full bloom. The students know to gently tap the flower clusters for good pollination. Some beans were left on the plant to mature and dry out, and soon the children will crack open the pods to harvest the bean seeds.  A pepper plant has produced a dark red, almost purple fruit – very exciting indeed!

As with any garden, there are challenges. Most indoor gardens provide a perfect home for fungus gnats, tiny flies that feed on the organic matter in the potting mix. The flies become a bit of a nuisance in the classroom. Ms Brown told me that she tried all kinds of methods; finally play sand was spread over the top of the potting mix, and that halted the gnat proliferation. Both success and challenges are excellent learning opportunities, and so the children collected and studied dead fungus gnats that accumulated on the windowsill. They learned about their wings, stripes and legs. Even gnat “poo” was important to study.

“The kids tried our purple pepper yesterday in class. After much discussion on whether or not it would be spicy they were pleased to find out it was ‘tasty’ and ‘juicy’. We also discussed what a greenhouse is, why they are helpful and how they work. Great ideas and wonders about this.
We are currently gathering seeds from home and learning about where seeds come from. We are going to start some adventure growing next week of the many seeds coming in from home. Currently we have sweet peppers, apple and honeydew melon. ”
— From Ms Wallace

The kindergarten teachers told me about two boys that absolutely love the garden; for hours they sit and talk near the plants, and share their gardening experiences. These are the delightful stories that keep us going during this pandemic, and provide hope for the New Year.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

School Indoor Gardens and COVID

Gardens are great to lift our spirits during the pandemic. While schools are closed, some Little Green Thumbs indoor gardens are still growing. Every situation is different and it’s clearly an exception that some teachers maintained their indoor garden or found other creative ways to share plant growth with their students.

So here are a few notes and images to share during this strange period.

From Holy Spirit School
Mrs. Matheson reports “Over the last 6 weeks, I have taken photos of the plants, sometimes using a meter stick to show the growth. I have sat in front of the Earth box so that the snap peas were behind me as a backdrop as I created a video and read to the students, to help them get a sense of how tall they grew. I took close ups of the blossoms, and now of the actual little snap pea pods that are developing.

I have the students continue to write little entries into their plant journals. I have assigned books about the growth of plants for them to read through the site Epic books. I did take photos of the one lonely cucumber plant that had grown at school and was thriving, showing how it too was climbing the mesh, had produced blossoms and how those blossoms actually were the place that cucumbers grew from. Although we were not at school together. my students have been watching the amazing wonder of how plants grow!”

From Rio Terrace School
Frau Gille writes: “This morning I was at our school and I haven't dismantled the indoor garden yet, but switched off the lights and packed up the tomato and pepper plants and brought them home.  I harvested the Swiss Chard and ate it (and was once again amazed at how long it takes for it to grow so big and then it's such a small portion ..)! I had already picked the snap peas before Easter, there were about 20 of them.

I made packages for all students that the parents picked up, including nasturtium seeds we harvested last fall from our school garden, hoping the students would plant them with their parents at home. So that they can at least garden a little more at home!”

From Madonna School
Ms Noel also planted an outdoor school garden: “At Madonna we have been able to keep our garden going and growing. I have come in every couple of days to water. (Thankfully I live very near by).

When parents came to pick up belongings at various times, I sent home beans and Swiss chard with students. A little girl said she is planting some of the bean seeds indoors at her home, to plant them in her own garden this summer.

We have some green Tiny Tim tomatoes on 4 plants (seeded in January) and about 13 other cherry tomato plants (seeded in early March) that I keep transplanting into larger containers in hopes of getting them outside in our school garden.

I am going to do an outdoor garden at school and hope that families will be able to visit it (maybe at the end of May/June or even into the summer). That way come September the kinders who will then be in grade one, will be able to see and eat some of the plants!”

From Centennial School
Ms Lissinna has been sharing her garden bounty with the children by making videos and she writes: “Last week I sent a video about our garden to my children as a part of our plant unit and work they are doing at home. I have been going in to water our garden once or twice a week. It is still doing well. We have had 4 or 5 students say how they notice our garden when they are out for walks and they stop by to look in the window. Parents say how interested the kids are in how much it has grown. You may remember we have those very large windows all along one wall of our room and that bright light draws attention. The only down side is that we aren't able to share our vegetables. We ate some of our kale and lettuce before we had to leave, but they won't get to share any of the rest. I attempted to bring the tomato home. I will see how it goes. I just transplanted it into another pot. I thought of trying to transplant the pepper, but I don't think it would do well because it is so big.”

From Parkallen School
Ms Agrell-Smith sent an update and new video on May 25: "I make a weekly garden tour video to share the growth in the garden; I ask students to leave a comment in our Google Classroom under the link to the tour and then we discuss our garden at my class meetings. The kids are still really excited about gardening and seeing how the plants are doing. More students have started their own gardens at home. One of my students has decided to try to grow anything that she can find (seeds in apples, scraps from the kitchen). She has tried almost all the ideas growing from kitchen scraps videos that I shared and she shares their growing progress at each class meeting."

From Mary Butterworth School
Ms Nahirney sent several photos of the garden her students planted pretty much on their own. “I went in to check on my garden and harvested FOUR cucumbers!! I sent pictures to the students in the class that planted these :-)”

From Windsor Park School
Ms Wilson had to clean up her garden and decided to haul two boxes with lush tomatoes and cucumbers to her backyard patio, with her dog supervising the operation. Fingers crossed the plants survived the chilly weather and produced some veggies.

From Mount Royal School
Ms Stauffer has been going to check on the garden and sharing footage with students while she explores what’s growing. There are ripening peppers and tomatoes, lots of basil, kale and Swiss Chard. The cucumbers are flowering and she has pulled some large carrots!

I hope these stories are heart-warming for you as well and we hope that students can return to their classrooms and indoor gardens in the fall!

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Kale for Zebras and Crickets for Canadians?

Times are changing in our food scene. The importance of healthy food choices for all people and for the domestic and wild critters that share our planet is resonating with many. Awareness of the precarious situation of wild pollinators, and the high carbon footprint of large-scale meat production is increasing. Creative humans are pushing for solutions and exploring more planet-friendly options.

Meet our amazing speakers that visited 16 schools, each home to a Little Green Thumbs indoor garden. About 500 students had the opportunity to see photos, hear stories, ask questions or interact with materials the speakers brought to their school – just in the nick of time before schools closed due to the pandemic.

Silvia Ronzani with Camola Foods is a cricket farmer and an entomologist with a big passion for food. With her partner Claudio, they became the first cricket farmers in Alberta, selling high protein cricket flour and tasty snacks at local markets and through their online store.
In her classroom presentation, Silvia shared information, photos and short videos from their unique farm. A converted shipping container is home to thousands of crickets grown as a very high protein source. The students learned about the cricket lifecycle and their need for a very warm, dark environment, a little water and relatively low amounts of mixed grains to feed them. The children learned that cricket farming has a low space and carbon footprint compared to other sources of protein. The students had a chance to observe cricket eggs and incredibly tiny baby crickets. They learned to distinguish male and female crickets by the number of “tails”. While males have two cerci, females have two cerci and an ovipositor for laying eggs they lay in special boxes filled with a little bit of potting mix at the farm. 

Did you know that Zebras like eating kale, and Lucy the elephant enjoys mint popsicles at the Edmonton Valley Zoo? Who knew that Arctic Wolves love to rub lavender all over their fur?! Susan Parker is a volunteer with the Edmonton Horticultural Society, and she has been instrumental in planning and growing an increasing number of vegetable, flower and herb beds for the zoo animals. Susan is part of a group of volunteers that make sure the beds are planted, weeded and harvested from spring to fall. Thanks to their work, wild pollinators, bird, reptiles, lemurs, wild cats, reindeer, camels, monkeys and other animals receive organic food or sensory enrichment. Susan’s presentation was a great way for our Little Green Thumbs classes to learn that even zoo animals benefit from home-grown, fresh veggies and herbs.

Patty Milligan, an educator with Northlands, again brought her very popular presentation and beekeeping toolkit to some of our LGT classes. The children learned about the difference between bumble bees, solitary bees, wasps and domestic honeybees. Patty explained their needs and how bees overwinter, make a nest, lay eggs, and care for their young. She highlighted the bee’s importance as pollinators for our food crops in fields and gardens. The children enjoyed exploring tools beekeepers use, and the products domestic bees produce, such as wax, propolis, and pollen. Most also welcomed a small treat of sweet honey.

We were also very pleased to have Kirk and Trudy Harrold back, sharing what they grow on their multi-generation family farm near Lamont. While the students had many questions about the animals at the farm, they also learned that the cows, sheep and a donkey eat a mixed food produced from the many crops grown in the fields. Challenging weather conditions and markets are prompting the Harrolds to investigate growing industrial hemp on some parts of their land that are suitable for that crop. Hemp fibers are used for building materials, the automotive industry, for textiles, insulation and a replacement for some plastic products. The Harrolds pride themselves in learning about new and sustainable opportunities while respecting the needs of their land and all creatures inhabiting their bioregion. They strive to practice good stewardship of the land that has been in their care for 113 years.

We feel fortunate that our speakers made time to visit some of our Little Green Thumbs classes. We hope that the children have gained an increased awareness of the connection between their indoor garden and the larger world of food production.

If you know of someone interested in visiting some Little Green Thumbs schools to speak about food production, please contact us.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Health, Math, Science and Literacy in A Garden

Little Green Thumbs gardens offer many learning opportunities across the curriculum. It’s a pleasure to see this in action when we get reports from teachers or have a chance to visit.

At Keheewin School, Grade 4 student Molly told me that her favorite plant is dill and she loved making dill dip with her classmates. Her teacher Ms. Lubert-Wolodko confirmed that the kids were super keen to make a salad with kale, parsley and dill from the garden. “You’d think I was a goddess, they were so excited!” she said. Time and time again, teachers tell us that children love to eat veggies they have grown themselves, which hopefully leads to healthy nutrition choices at home.  

The indoor garden is also a great opportunity to communicate verbally and in writing. While at Keheewin School, two students interviewed me skillfully for their school news channel K-TV.

At St. Catherine School, Teacher Ms. Galicia shared the following precious moment: “Our students just finished drawing our plants in their journals. Most of them noticed that snap pea grew faster than cucumber. But 1 snap pea came out so late and 1 student said, ‘Hey! What’s wrong with you? What took you so long? Grow up fast!’”

At Windsor Park and many other schools, the students document the indoor garden’s progress in their journal. The Grade 1 class practices writing, spelling and creating a detailed account of seed and seedling growth. Words like fertilizer and conditioner are not easy for young children but there is meaning and motivation to learn the vocabulary associated with growing plants for food.

Some students are encouraged to pull out a ruler and measure the growth of plants in centimetres, while younger children compare the length of stems, leaves or fruit to the length of their finger. They also use non-standard units to explain change in growth. The Kindergarten class at St. Catherine School did exactly that – the length of a Diva Cucumber was compared to different classroom objects.

At Bessie Nichols School and A. Blair McPherson School, we planted daikon radish and peas with the Grade 4s. These microgreens produce a crop in 10-14 days. The students had many questions about their larger garden and the children were very attentive when planting their seeds. We also placed some basil cuttings in water. In two weeks, the stem of the cuttings developed lots of roots and we transplanted the seedlings into a pot with soil. This science concept from the Grade 4 unit “Plant Growth and Changes” shows how we can plant food from seeds and also “clone” herbs by rooting cuttings in water.

Sometimes the indoor garden can be challenging for a variety of environmental or technical reasons. Therefore, it’s very exciting when the stars align. At Dr. Lila Fahlman School, the plants simply took off. When I visited in February, the kale was beautiful, ready for taste testing. Recently, Ms Mulligan has shared the following comments: “One of the kids counted another 27 pea pods on the vine today! There are 5 cucumbers growing, and the tomato is flowering all over. The kids beg for kale, which I love to hear! We may need to make kale chips though, it's starting to get a bit bitter. But it's all amazing.” It most certainly is!

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Ready, Set, Grow Indoors!

Snow has arrived in Edmonton, but our Little Green Thumbs gardeners are getting ready to plant seeds with three events to start the year.

New Gardening Supplies

57 classrooms have all they need for another indoor food growing adventure. Teachers picked up their supplies from The Root Seller, a local garden centre that stocks all we need for our gardens.

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Kick-Off Event at Arch Greenhouse

We had a fabulous day at Arch Greenhouse, learning about the garden centre’s social entreprise and the special programs for adults with developmental disabilities. We also had a tour of the greenhouse, filled at this time with lovely poinsettias.

Teachers also learned how a local company grows crickets that are then processed into a high protein flour for use in food products. We are looking forward to having Camola Foods visit some of our classrooms later in the season and inspire students to learn about cricket farming as another way to produce food.

We concluded the day with a short hands-on activity where teachers learned about growing microgreens in class or at home. They each planted a container with radish seed or a mix of microgreens seeds.

A huge Thank You to our volunteers, helping with setup, food and cleanup! We are also grateful for some great door prizes donated by Apache Seeds.

New Teacher Training

Becoming a Little Green Thumbs gardener takes some time and a willingness to learn about the requirements of plants grown indoors. Around 20 teachers took over a garden this year and came to a training session, learning about light safety, grow box setup and planning the indoor garden. We wish them well on this hands-on growing and learning adventure.

We hope our Little Green Thumbs classes are now off to a great indoor gardening year!

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Learning About the Many Facets of Farming

Our local food comes from many sources: from farms large and small, from urban farms and gardens. And for food plants to grow well and produce, we need lots of pollinators, including our native solitary and bumble bees, as well as honey bees kept in hives. In the last couple of weeks, more than 420 students in our Little Green Thumbs classes had an opportunity to learn from one of our valued speakers. All of them have a passion for healthy food production in our province.

We were happy to welcome Albert Schermers from s4greenhouses into several classes to share the story of how his family grows delicious veggies we can purchase at local markets. Students were impressed to see photos of beautiful tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and beans growing in large greenhouses. While our indoor gardens require supplemental lighting, the veggies grown by the Schermers in Lacombe use sunlight that penetrates the protective greenhouse plastic. From January to early December, the plants are tended indoors. Bumble bees, ladybugs and other beneficial insects help to keep pesky bugs in check. The students had many great questions for Albert and we hope the presentation encourages them to choose veggies on a regular basis for healthy nutrition.

Another type of farm the students learned about was the Harrold Family Farm, located near Lamont. Trudy and Kirk Harrold, together with other family members, have a beef cow-calf operation and they grow many crops, such as barley, wheat, oats, canola and yellow peas. The crops help to feed the cattle and the surplus is sold for human food. Many wild animals, birds and insects also make their home on the land – a great sign of a healthy landscape and that the Harrold’s environmental farm plan is working.

The Harrolds have installed solar collectors on a building and are excited that they will be almost doubling the area this coming year, increasing the amount of electricity produced and used. Surplus power will be fed back into the grid, and therefore, the Harrold Family Farm produces both crops of food and electricity for us.

“Urban Farmer” is a new concept for many students. A class of Grade 1 students in west Edmonton had many questions for Dr. Chanchan Wang, who grows gourmet mushrooms and mushroom kits right in our city. Some of the children wondered if she keeps animals and grows food plants on her urban farm, and they were a little bewildered to learn that a farmer does not necessarily keep animals, and might live right next door to us in the city. The students admired and passed around Lion’s Mane, Oyster and Reishi mushrooms that all grow at different rates, and provide us with food, medicine, and building products. After the presentation, the Grade 1 class went for nature walk and discovered some mushrooms in the wild. They were interested in contacting Dr. Wang to learn more about the mushrooms they found.

Most people are familiar with the important role of honeybees in pollinating orchards and gardens. Knowledge about our native bumblebees and solitary bees is also growing, and so it was a pleasant surprise when a Grade 1 student proclaimed that he read a book about leafcutter bees! Patty Milligan with Northlands helped the students sort out the similarities and differences between bees, such as their lifecycle, numbers, and their role in rearing their young. The students had a great time dressing up as beekeepers and exploring bee equipment in a hands-on way.

Our presenters did a fabulous job adapting their stories to different age groups and class sizes. Their time, willingness to share life as a farmer and dedication to food production is greatly appreciated!

If you know of someone interested in visiting some Little Green Thumbs schools to speak about food production, please contact us.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

The Key to A Sustainable Food System:  Urban Agriculture

In 2019, we are living in exciting times!

Better healthcare, clean water, and an abundance of food supplies have resulted in longer lifespans and a flourishing population world-wide.

However, with this explosion in the global population, it is more important than ever to look towards our food system to ensure it is sustainable for future generations.

One way to do this is through urban agriculture.

What is Urban Agriculture?

Urban agriculture is the practice of growing plants (particularly harvestable food) in, or within proximity to the cities we live in.

Individual, environmental, and community health are three of the top priorities when it comes to the production of food. Although seemingly separate, these issues share a deep connection at the core.

Urban agriculture is a farming technique with the rare capability of addressing all of these issues, tying them seamlessly together in one sustainable package.

With that said, here are the:

Top 3 Benefits of Urban Agriculture

1. DECREASED TRANSPORTATION REQUIRED

Did you know that 2007 was the first year that the amount of people living in cities outnumbered those living elsewhere? This begs the question: if we are changing where we live, why haven’t we changed where we grow our food?

Right now, the food we eat is transported hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers from farms to cities. This requires burning enormous amounts of fossil fuels to power large trucks, boats, and even cargo planes to transport our food.

According to the David Suzuki foundation, the average meal travels 1200 kilometers from farm to plate. Multiply that by 3, and 3600 kilometers of carbon-dioxide-producing-transport is needed for just one day’s worth of meals!

What if we take it one step further?

In one year for one person, food is transported approximately 1.3 million kilometers

Urban agriculture allows us to grow food right in our cities and towns, thus reducing the amount of pollution from mass-transport.

Smaller scale food production also requires less machinery and resources, thereby further reducing the environmental impact!

2. INCREASED DIVERSITY IN THE DIET

Do you ever notice when you’re driving on the highway and see a farmer’s field, there is only one crop planted as far a you can see in any direction?

This is called mono-culture.

 Mono-culture results from government subsidies on crops like corn, intended to keep the supply high and the price low. This gave farmers incentive to specialize in a single crop.

While this has economic benefits for the consumer, nutritionally it may cause some problems.

Here’s how mono-culture reduces nutritional diversity:

In order to maintain health, the human body requires a variety vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

You’ve probably heard the expression “eat the rainbow.” Colorful fruits and vegetables contain fiber, antioxidants, and essential vitamins and minerals making them great for our health.

With mono-culturally produced crops, we begin to see a decrease in the choice of nutrients available. Instead of a range of fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables, we have hundreds of different products like crackers and chips.

The low price of these corn-derived products resulting from government subsides makes it difficult for the average consumer to justify spending more money on a healthy alternative.

The Fix

Urban agriculture counteracts this cycle. Instead of focusing on a single crop, a wide selection of fresh produce is grown to cater to the health of the community. 

Also, because urban agriculture eliminates most of the transportation costs associated with food production, it is a viable way to make healthy foods affordable to all.  

3. DECREASED LAND REQUIREMENTS

One of the biggest problems of our agricultural system is the destruction of land used for farming.

The culprit?

Although many reasons for this phenomenon exist, mono-crops are once again at the heart of this issue.

We can see another chain reaction taking place in this situation:

Mono-crops lack plant diversity required to provide proper nutrients to the soil.

Which results in…

Fertilizers being needed to make up for this shortage of nutrients.

Which causes…

Increased acidity levels and reduced microorganisms in the soil rendering it unusable after prolonged exposure.

The sheer acreage of land required for crop production is also becoming a real issue worldwide. With the global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, we must start being as efficient as possible with how we utilize our land.

Saving Land with Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture lays the foundation for nutrient rich soil by promoting a diverse harvest. This helps soil receive all the nutrients it needs from the variety of plants grown, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.

Another benefit of urban agriculture is that less physical land is required for crops. This is a result of vertically integrated farming, a space saving solution that involves growing plants in vertical layers to conserve land and resources.

INterested in Learning More?

Many programs right here in Edmonton work to inspire a green planet, and a healthy population.

Community Gardens, Little Green Thumbs, and Urban Ag High are all examples of projects working towards a more sustainable future for our food system through urban agriculture.

They share a common goal of developing a sense of community and showcasing the many benefits urban agriculture has to offer!

 Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

About the Author

Ivan Boychuk (http://sustainablebusinesswriting.com/)

Hi, my name is Ivan Boychuk and I am writer with a keen interest in environmental sustainability and nutritional health. I specialize in writing quality content for businesses who share my goal of preserving health, protecting the environment, and sustaining the future.

 

LGT Students Grow Microgreens

The December holidays present a bit of a challenge for indoor gardens started in late fall. Although the grow light is on a timer, plants can grow and use up water quickly during a two week period. Therefore, many teachers start the garden in January.

At Mary Butterworth School, Ms Paul was looking for a short growing project in November or December that could be wrapped up before the holiday break. Her students grew radish microgreens in small containers near the Little Green Thumbs grow light, to harvest and put on top of “mini-pizzas”.

I had the pleasure of making a visit when it was time to harvest the microgreens and make the pizzas. The students cut and washed the small plants. They put some tomato sauce, pepperoni sausage and cheese to their liking on an English muffin and placed radish greens on top. Then Ms Paul baked the treats in a toaster oven. The students seemed to enjoy their lunch treat, and it was a great way to spark some conversation about growing food.  

The microgreens project took some extra time, potting mix, containers, seeds and groceries to organize for the teacher, but within 8-10 days of planting, the radish greens were ready for harvest. While full sized vegetables take a little longer to grow, sprouts and microgreens are fast, nutritious crops to grow and enjoy, even without extra lighting.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Protected: The Key to a Sustainable Food System - Urban Agriculture

In 2018, we are living in exciting times! People have access to better healthcare, clean water, and abundant food supplies. All these things have led to people living longer and our population numbers flourishing. However, with this explosion in the global population it is more important than ever to take a look at our food system to ensure that it is sustainable for future generations.

Currently, among the top concerns relating to the production of our food is our individual health, as well as the health of the environment we live in. In order to make sure that we stay healthy and can continue to live in harmony with this beautiful planet, change at the community level is a vital stepping stone to inspire action around the world, and instill sustainable food production practices for people elsewhere to follow suit.

With that being said, there are many programs in place right here in Edmonton that you can check out! Sustainable Food Edmonton offers a variety of programs such as Community Gardens, Little Green Thumb, and Urban Ag High that are all working towards a more sustainable future for our food system. With all of these, the aim is to develop a sense of community and showcase the many benefits of urban agriculture.

In case you don’t know, what is urban agriculture?

Urban agriculture is the practice of growing plants (particularly harvest-able food) in, or within close proximity to the cities we live in.

There is a wide array of benefits that can be reaped from the steadily-developing techniques of urban agriculture but today I’m going to focus on 3 that I feel are at the top of the list!

Hopefully you learn something new from this article and it inspires you to get involved in your city! With out further ado, here are

3 Benefits of Urban Agriculture

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Decreased Transportation Required

Did you know that 2007 was the first year that the amount of people living in cities outnumbered those living elsewhere? This fact was presented in a 2013 review article for the Argonomy of Sustainable Development by Francesco Orsini and it begs the thought provoking question, should we be rethinking where we are growing our food?

As we all know, currently in order for us to be able to eat, we have to transport our food from a farm, sometimes hundreds of kilometers, to our cities. The unfortunate result of this process is the burning of enormous amounts of fossil fuels contributing to climate change as well as other forms of pollution.

Isn’t there a more efficient way to get our food from where it is grown to our plate without these crippling environmental effects? Luckily there is!

With urban agriculture we can grow our own food right in our cities and towns, thus the amount of pollution from transportation can be significantly reduced. Also smaller scale food production requires less machinery and resources thereby further reducing the environmental impact!

Increased Diversity In The dieT

Do you ever notice when you’re driving on the highway and see a farmers field, that there is often only one crop planted as far a you can see in any direction? This is known as mono-culture. Often times, particular crops such as corn are subsidized by the government in order to keep the supply high and the price low, providing farmers incentive to specialize in a single crop.

While this is great if you simply observe the economic factor for the individual consumer, nutritionally it may cause some problems. For example, because corn is subsidized, it is used in several products, often alongside synthetically produced ingredients designed to make the product taste good. Pick up any package in the store and you will have a good chance of seeing a corn derivative in the ingredients list.

Herein lies the problem; consumers typically only have a certain amount of money to spend each week on food. Although most of us know a bag of apples will be healthier than a box of crackers, it is much easier to justify buying the crackers when they are half the price of the apples.

With the production of mono-crops, a domino effect can be observed. Products with these heavily subsidized crops are cheaper to produce, therefore they are cheaper for consumers to purchase, and in turn we reduce our consumption of healthier alternatives with diverse nutrient profiles advantageous to our health.

Combine the price factor with a plethora of lab alterations added to  mono crops like corn to create tasty things like high fructose corn syrup, and you’ll begin to see why we make the choices we do, even to the detriment of our own health.

If we can give our taste buds what they so desperately desire at a cheap price, its almost impossible not to fall in the trap!

Urban agriculture counteracts this cycle because instead of focusing on a single crop, a wide selection of plants are grown to cater to the desires of the community.  The result is the production of a diverse selection of fresh produce to accommodate nutritional needs.

Although it will be more expensive for this type of food in the beginning, as time progresses, urban agricultural centers are becoming more and more efficient, therefore the price will drop lower over time.

Additionally, once you shift your diet to incorporate more natural, whole foods, you begin to crave altered products like corn derivatives less. This is because your body is finally receiving the nutrients it craves in order to sustain its proper functions, resulting in no need for those other empty calories.

Decreased Land Requirements

One of the biggest problems of our agricultural system is the destruction of land used in the process of farming. That’s another issue of the mono-crops mentioned above. We can see another chain reaction taking place in this situation:

Mono-crops lack plant diversity required to provide proper nutrients to the soil —–> Fertilizers have to be used to make up for this shortage of nutrients —–> Fertilizers raise acid levels and kill off essential microorganisms in the soil rendering it unusable after prolonged exposure.

The sheer acreage of land required for crop production is also becoming a real issue worldwide. With the global population expected to reach 10 billion by the year 2050, we have to start being as efficient as possible with how we utilize our land, and what we use it for.

Urban agriculture addresses this issue because it maintains soil quality by promoting a diverse harvest that lays the foundation for nutrient rich soil, without such a large emphasis on fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. The benefit of this is we do not see the complete destruction of the soil on a plot of land as we often do with large scale industrial farming in the form of mono-crops.

Furthermore, particularly in indoor urban agriculture facilities, advancements in technologies such as vertical farming (growing plants in vertical layers to conserve space and resources) help to reduce the physical amount of land required to produce a higher yield compared to traditional methods.

In Closing

In this day and age it is critical to start challenging the commonly accepted practices of food production and regularly ask ourselves the question, “is there a more efficient way to do things and, if so, how?”

Urban Agriculture is just one of many answers to this profound inquiry.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

Ivan Boychuck



Little Green Thumbs Kick-Off to a new gardening year

We celebrated the start of another indoor growing season with close to 20 Little Green Thumbs teachers and volunteers. Our fun evening started with a tour of Northlands Urban Farm where we got to see hardy kale, collards and some flowering plants still going strong after some early season snow. It was too cold for the honeybees to fly, and so it was easy to take a close peek at the hive through a viewing window. 

Patty Milligan, our tour leader with Northlands, also encouraged us to feed the chickens and shared what students are very excited about when coming to the farm – holding an egg recently laid by one of the colourful hens! Our tour also included a taste test of edible Tangerine Gem Marigolds, and farmer Suzanne made a compelling case for us to taste Electric Daisies, aka toothache plant or buzz buttons. This flower in the aster family is a medicinal plant that creates a tingle on the tongue and is a favorite of some of the youth visiting the farm.

Our second part of the evening was a cooking demo and dinner at Highlands School with Chef Daniel Huber, a strong and busy supporter and volunteer with YEG Leftovers. This organization rescues leftover food from restaurants, grocery stores and food producers. The food is cooked in commercial kitchens and made available to Edmontonians in need. Daniel shared the story of YEG Leftovers and his efforts to encourage young people to cook for themselves with your teachers.

At the same time, a delicious veggie curry simmered on the stove. After a short while, we got to enjoy a wonderful shared meal in the school’s food lab. Our participants appreciated the opportunity of a preview to the indoor gardening season and to share conversation with like-minded Little Green Thumbs teachers eager to grow food plants with their students.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Speakers visit LGT Classes

Beyond the indoor garden boxes, people with an interest in nature contribute to food production and health products. Recently, some of our Little Green Thumbs students and teachers had an opportunity to learn from interesting and engaging speakers.

Edible gourmet mushrooms, whether for home-cooked or restaurant meals, are receiving more attention these days. Dr. Wang, a chemical engineer, mom, gardener and mushroom lover, was unable to find the mushrooms she was used to in her native China. Once she mastered the skill of growing her own oyster, reishi, lion’s mane and other mushrooms, she decided to start a business preparing and selling mushroom kits that families can tend and harvest at home. The kits are available at local farmers’ markets.

Our Little Green Thumbs students were amazed to learn that in addition to food and medicine, certain mushrooms lend themselves to being turned into leather, building bricks, and boards to replace wood in furniture and other applications. Many mushroom varieties help to remediate soil, loosen compacted soil, and help plants extend their root network to access nutrients and water. Mushrooms need high humidity and like to consume cellulose from wood chips, straw or hemp. While indoor plants need high levels of light, mushrooms do well in indirect, less intense light during the day. Dr. Wang’s presentation piqued the curiosity of many students.

Another unique job the students learned about was that of a herbalist. Dionne Jennings shared her passion and knowledge of some common herbs or medicinal plants we can grow at home, such as mint, lemon balm, rose, calendula, thyme, garlic and red raspberry. A refreshing water-based spray of mint to freshen up the face or hands was well received. The students also learned about the benefits of the dandelions, how every part can be used to support the body - and it’s an important food for bees! The students had a chance to taste garlic syrup and elderberry syrup, both helpful support the body’s immune system.

Our most requested topic for a presentation was the life and importance of bees. This topic fits very well with science in grades 1-3 and many children know that some bees have suffered from habitat loss, pesticide use and other factors that contribute to their decline. Patty Milligan with Northlands did an excellent job helping the children understand the lifecycle of bees. She also brought a fun kit with tools of the trade. The students tried on a bee hat, practiced using a smoker (without any embers of course), and they got to smell and feel pollen, honeycomb and propolis. Tasting two kinds of honey was another highlight.

We were fortunate to have Trudy and Kirk Harrold again to speak to a few LGT classes before spring work gets super busy at the farm. On their 111 year-old farm, the past, present and future play an important role as three generations farm together and grandchildren might continue as they grow up. The land is rich in history as well; Kirk passed around a 200 year-old stone hammer and mentioned finding numerous ancient arrowheads and flints. The Harrolds told the story of how they care for their land by leaving buffers of vegetation around water bodies and plant extra trees and shrubs to increase habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife. They also limit the use of chemicals as much as possible. The family raises beef cattle, and grows cereal crops, canola and peas in rotation. These crops feed the animals and surplus harvest is sold for human consumption. The students had many great questions and got a really good insight into the human – plant – animal food web at work on the Harrold farm.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs

Sharing the Abundance

Spring is officially here but in our indoor gardens it’s harvest and sharing season. We are thrilled to learn about the diverse and rewarding stories from our Little Green Thumbs classes!

At A Blair McPherson School, parents and about 100 students celebrated the garden. Ms. Woelber reports that her students gave a talk and then everyone shared beans, peas, basil, lemon balm, lettuce and parsley. A student who’s only been in Canada for 6 months from India designed the poster to invite the school community to the event.

At Windsor Park School, the students created a “Three Sisters Garden” in early February (see above), after reading the story. Eight weeks later, the garden box is very prolific with pole beans that have reached the ceiling. Tasty beans are ready for harvest and the cucumber is starting to develop fruit. The class had a “Salabration” in early March and recently invited me to a fun tasting event. The students enjoyed fresh beans, pea and nasturtium leaves, and also yummy lemon balm iced tea.

Another salad event took place at Dr Margaret-Ann Armour School. The children harvested, washed and cut up fresh kale to mix in with other salad ingredients. The salad spinner was a popular tool and not a scrap of the kale salad remained when it was time to go home.

Indoor gardens also have challenges, including insects that somehow manage to get inside and help themselves to our plants. As there are no natural insect predators in the classroom, soapy water spray or sticky traps may help. In severe cases, the class may need to “cut their losses” and remove plants that are unable to fend off the pests. This is fertile ground for discussions about predator-prey relationships in nature and our role in supporting healthy insect populations in our gardens. At St. Kateri School, a tough decision was made to remove affected pepper plants. Fortunately, the tomato plants fared better and the students have harvested many baskets of yummy cherry tomatoes, and fresh nasturtium leaves (see photos below).

Another challenge is watering during holidays. At St. Teresa School, some plants died during the December break. Ms. Hanneman wrote: “We had a great exploration about why the plants died and what we need to do for the next time. Students loved observing the plants that had dried up and comparing them to healthy plants. Students then problem solved for our next planting that will be over spring break. They have decided to write a letter to the daycare that will be here to look after our plants and water regularly. The students have learned a valuable lesson about the responsibility of taking care of plants to have them grow.” What a great writing activity and a chance to involve the daycare children in the indoor garden.

Humans are not the only ones in need of fresh vegetables for nutrition. In the Genesis Early Learning class at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, the gibbons have shown a clear preference for indoor garden lettuce versus store bought lettuce. The children also grew KATNP that has been shared with some of the big and small cats.

Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs