Category Archives: Garden
Potato Power Potato Tower
One of our favorite things to grow in the garden is potatoes. They are easy to grow, the kitchen can always use as much as we can produce, and the treasure hunt of harvesting is always a really fun job for our student gardeners. This past week, we’ve been proud to get several different varieties [...]
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Biology of the Flower
Springtime is a great time to study botany in the garden, because we have a large and diverse group of flowering plants in full bloom. The seventh grade curriculum includes the anatomy and reproduction of flowering plants, and the garden is a perfect place to explore the topic. Seventh grade ears immediately tune in when [...]
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Bees
In seventh grade the science curriculum focuses on life sciences, and more specifically on reproduction, genetics, and heredity. The spring garden is the perfect lab to explore these concepts. One of our favorite lessons to use is one completely concentrating on bees. We start the class with some fact about bees. We explain that there [...]
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The Moon in Springtime
Spring has arrived at the Edible Schoolyard! We greeted last week’s equinox, and onset of the new season, with open arms. It is wonderful to watch the transition out of dormancy and cooler weather. While our mild Berkeley climate keeps the ESY a luscious green oasis straight through the winter, there is truly nothing as [...]
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Transforming Space
To most people at King Middle School, the weed-filled, litter-strewn triangle between the garden and the basketball courts was a forgotten piece of land. Students and teachers walked through it and looked over it without ever really noticing it. Recently, however, garden staff started eying the area more critically after Dave Wilson Nursery generously donated [...]
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The Art of Grafting Apple Trees
One part cloning, one part surgery, and one part fruit production: grafting apple trees is an irresistible combination for our sixth grade students in the garden. This is the second year we have had grafting classes with students, and our success last year at making viable apple trees inspired to us to order more root [...]
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Catching Water
Last winter, in the Edible Schoolyard garden, the 6th and 7th grade students installed a rainwater catchment system that can hold up to 6,000 gallons of water. From October to May, which is our rainy season in Berkeley, we captured and stored over 5,000 gallons of water. Our students calculated that for every inch of [...]
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Mesopotamia Walk
Every fall in the Edible Schoolyard garden, sixth grade students participate in the Mesopotamia Walk, a virtual walk through ancient Mesopotamia. The ancient Mesopotamian people were the first in history to domesticate plants and animals, and they are also given credit for the creation of the first wheel, plow, and sail. Ten thousand years after [...]
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The Olive Harvest
We have waited in eager anticipation of the olive harvest, and this week the majority of the olives have reached the desired plumpness, color, and maturity. Olives are fun to pick, and many students enjoy climbing into the lower branches of the trees to harvest the firm, round fruits. The ripe olives are a beautiful, [...]
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A Pizza to Remember