Its almost the start of another school year and we need your help to clear the paths in the Crestwood woods! This will allow students and teachers to more safely and more comfortably access the woods for learning. Volunteers will be working Monday, August 24th from 4-6 pm. Many hands make light work...hope to see you there! Long pants, long shirts, gloves and pruning shears (if you have them) recommended.
Contact Chris Schmidt with any questions. Whether you are new or returning to Crestwood, you may have noticed apples in the orchard, flowers blooming and insects buzzing in the butterfly garden, and vegetables bursting out of their designated garden plots. And that’s just out front! Wander behind the school building and you’ll see the back garden with vigorous pumpkin vines and a bumper crop of curly green kale. Walk the trails in our school forest to visit the classroom circle and native woodland plants, a new oak savannah prairie (still under development), and our brand new Living Stage, funded by a grant from Community Groundworks and built by volunteers in the spring of 2015. We have so many opportunities for outdoor learning! It’s no secret that school gardens and an emphasis on outdoor education is trendy now, but did you know that Crestwood’s garden and outdoor program has been in place since the mid-1990s? Help us continue this long-established tradition! While students learn about care and maintenance of our outdoor learning spaces, most of the work is done by community volunteers and teachers willing to devote extra hours to the gardens, woods and orchard. We can always use help in the following areas: · Regular classroom volunteers · Woods maintenance · Garden maintenance · Orchard maintenance · Coordinating performances on the Living Stage · Volunteer wrangler · Social media mogul If you want to join the Outdoor Education Committee or volunteer with us in any capacity, please let us know! Contact your child's teacher to volunteer in the classroom, sign up as a volunteer at the CAPT table at enrollment, or email us at: [email protected] TONIGHT!! 5:30pm BYO picnic and garden work night
Please join Crestwood volunteers this evening at 5:30 for a picnic and garden work night. BYO picnic dinner, work gloves, and bug spray. We'll be clearing weeds from the vegetable gardens, especially the back plot by the shed and discussing ideas for activities to welcome new and returning students and their families at the start of the school year. Rain doesn't look likely this evening, but in the event of inclement weather, the work night will be postponed to Tuesday, August 11. Now that August is upon us, an update on the school gardens is overdue! I am happy to report that for the most part, everything is growing well, from cucumbers... to potatoes... and tomatoes large and small! The squash vines are particularly vigorous in the Three Sisters Garden by the shed, where the sprinkler made a rainbow this morning: Of course, if the vegetables are doing well, it means the weeds are growing like mad. It's a good thing we have another workday coming up! Next Monday, August 10, meet us at Crestwood at 5:30 for another garden work night. Families welcome, BYO picnic, work gloves and bug spray. Come prepared to pull weeds and possibly harvest kale (still going gangbusters) and cucumbers. To give you an idea of the weed situation, look at the picture below and see if you can spot the bench: The patch of green running through the middle of the above photo is all thistle covering the paths and area between the back garden plot and the woods. For reasons of safety, comfort and yes, aesthetics, this all needs to be gone before school starts next month.
For children and those without thick protective gloves, there are many other areas to clear that aren't so hazardous. Trust me, the weeds are everywhere! Still, it's encouraging that our gardens are growing so well, thanks to the volunteer efforts so far this season. Cheers, Susan |
AuthorCrestwood's OE committee is dedicated to outdoor learning for all students. Archives
August 2017
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