LATE WINTER 2022
Your seasonal picks are here! Please enjoy our quarterly resources picked just for you and your school garden by our Washington Youth Garden team, the youth education branch of Friends of the National Arboretum.
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EDUCATOR COACHING HIGHLIGHTS |
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GROWING TOGETHER
Our 12 Educator Coaching Program schools are making steady progress on their goals. One of our school partners Brightwood Elementary School set a goal of increasing school staff use of their garden with 2-3 teachers completing at least one garden-based lesson this school year.
Ashley & Allie supported a garden committee-led breakfast (s/o Brightwood teamwork!) for staff to connect around co-teaching, Grow@Home kits and garden visioning (see picture above, at right).
Interested in learning more about the Educator Coaching Program? Meet Ashley & Ehren at D.C. EEC Teachers Night tomorrow (Thurs, Feb 10th at 5pm).
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WHAT WE'RE TEACHING
Plan your garden with your students:
Request seed catalogs for free (we enjoy Southern Exposure Seed Exchange or you could pick up from your local hardware store) and use them to cut out and design vision boards about what your students want to grow. Use their choices to plan what to plant!
Getting students engaged in your school garden starts with them feeling ownership over the space. By including their visions and ideas from the beginning, you can lay the foundation for a student-led garden through the growing season.
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Food Tank is highlighting children's books celebrating how a shared love of nutritious food unites diverse groups of people from cultures across the globe. Young readers can foster an appreciation for the hardworking hands that grow and cook our foods and the cultural practices that build community.
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Guided workbook with seed activities and plant prompts great for grades 1-4.
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On-site SPROUT field trips are returning in 2022! We are so excited to once again invite educators and students from across D.C. to our one-acre demonstration garden at the National Arboretum for exciting and interactive garden-based experiences.
SPROUT field trips will be offered in the following themes: Garden Basics, Pollination, & Nutrition. NEW THIS YEAR: Dig deeper with optional pre & post trip lessons to prepare students to visit the Washington Youth Garden and reinforce the topics covered during their trip. Trips will be available Wednesdays-Fridays from April-November and registration will go live in March. Check back then to secure your spot! |
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PREPPING TO PLANT
Once the ground thaws (usually mid-February), you can start directly sowing seeds like peas, spinach, and radishes, as well as some herbs and bulbs. Other cool-weather crops include lettuce, carrots, beets, turnips, and potatoes. Check yourself by sticking a finger in the ground to see if the ground is still frozen. Find planting dates and guides here.
Refer to WYG’s 6 Seasons of the School Garden maintenance calendar for more garden tasks during late Winter (February-mid March). If you didn't get a chance to add compost in the Fall, you can still do so now to improve your soil before planting.
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PRE-SPRING TLC
Don't forget to check in with your garden! It's been a long winter and your garden may need some TLC. Do your beds need repairing? Is there exposed soil that needs mulch like straw or leaves to protect it? Now is the time to prepare your garden before planting.
A key feature of sustainable agriculture is soil health. If your soil is healthy, you will grow healthy plants - just like how our bodies respond to what we eat.
Keeping your soil covered with mulch helps to increase its microbiome (yes! there should be LOTS of living things in your soil!) and retain water.
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TRAININGS, NETWORKING, & FUNDING |
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We find a lot of resources like these through other garden-based newsletters we subscribe to. Receive the Farm-based Education Network's newsletter below.
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Come see us next time you're at the National Arboretum!
The Arboretum is open every day from 8 AM - 5 PM except December 25th. Some buildings and collections remain closed to ensure visitor and staff safety.
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CONNECT WITH US:
@FONArboretum
@WashYouthGarden
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Friends of the National Arboretum
3501 New York Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002
202.544.8733
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FONA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization with the mission to preserve and enhance a vibrant public space and support experiential programming that instills a love of plants, nature and the outdoors in all who visit, while promoting the overarching research and education mission of the U.S. National Arboretum.
Since its inception, FONA has helped support the Washington Youth Garden, Capitol Columns, Flowering Tree Walk, horticultural and research internships, restoration of Springhouse Run, and much more.
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