Garden Day - May 5, 2012

Raised beds waiting to be planted!

2011 Garden Building and Planting Day!

On Saturday morning, dozens of fantastic volunteers joined at the Tremont Garden to get everything prepared for another wonderful year of gardening and learning.  Luckily, the weather cooperated too!

Here's a glimpse of the many activities and tasks that were accomplished:



More Room to Garden
We decided to expand the garden this year to give more classrooms the opportunity to participate.  We built two new raised beds to match the six original beds. 

Clean Up and Make Ready for New Plantings
The existing six beds needed to be cleaned up after the winter.  It was really fun to see the plants that were planted last fall that were coming up, like garlic, onions and cilantro.

Tend to the Compost

The compost pile that we started last spring produced plenty of rich compost to add to our garden beds!

Plant Markers

The kids really enjoyed painting plant markers for the garden.  The colors are fantastic!

'

Rain Makers

The rainmakers were a fun activity too!

Worms!

The best part of gardening is the worms, don't you think?

Planting new Vegetables

Finally, we were ready to sow some new seeds for the upcoming season.




It was a fantastic day and everyone left with a great sense of accomplishment.

It's hard to believe that the school year is almost over.  Throughout the summer, we're looking for families and teachers to volunteer to help us tend to the garden.  We'd like for each family and/or teacher to sign up for one week.  The duties will include watering, light weeding and turning the compost.  If we get enough volunteers, we'll pair two families together for each week.  It's a great way to spend some quality time with your kids while participating in a learning activity. If you're interested in volunteering for a week, please send an email to tremontgrowingtogether@gmail.com.  Hope to see you all in the garden soon!

Get Involved in the Garden!

Next time you're at school, be sure to check out the Tremont Community Garden bulletin board.  You'll find lots of projects available to sign up for. 

As you can see, we've already had a number of classrooms sign up! 

If you are a parent and would like to participate, please inquire with your child's teacher to see what they may have planned.  If you're a teacher and haven't gotten involved yet, we encourage you to do so!

Remember, our garden building and planting day is May 7.  More details will follow about exact timing, but we're tentatively planning on 9 am - Noon.  If you're interested in volunteering on that day, please email me at robynharper@sbcglobal.com. 

Hope to see you all soon in the garden!





Spring is in the Air!

It's been a long winter and we're getting excited to get back into the garden!  We have big plans for this spring, including 4 new raised beds.  There will be fun and interesting learning opportunities, and we hope that even more kids, teachers and parents will become involved. 

** Save the Date **

Building and Planting Day - Saturday, May 7

More details to follow soon!  We hope you'll join us!

Pepper Jelly Recipe

We had a great time at Craft Corner on Saturday! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello. If any of you are interested in getting more involved with the community garden, please send us an email at tremontgrowingtogether@gmail.com and we'll get you connected with the appropriate people.

Alex's pepper jelly was a huge hit at our Craft Corner booth. As promised, here is her recipe:

Hot Pepper Jelly

 

Ingredients

. ​​2 1/2 cups finely chopped red bell peppers
. ​​1 1/4 cups finely chopped green bell peppers
. ​​1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers
. ​​1 cup apple cider vinegar
. ​​1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered pectin
. ​​5 cups white sugar
 
Directions

1. Sterilize 6 (8 ounce) canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions. Heat water in a hot water canner.
2. Place red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers in a large saucepan over high heat. Mix in vinegar and fruit pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Quickly stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil, and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and skim off any foam.
3. Quickly ladle jelly into sterile jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Cover with flat lids, and screw on bands tightly.
4. Place jars in rack, and slowly lower jars into canner. The water should cover the jars completely, and should be hot but not boiling. Bring water to a boil, and process for 5 minutes.
 
Tips:
 
After chopping drain peppers, boil for 2 minutes not 1, can use a variety of peppers as above recipe will not be very hot.

Enjoy!

Come visit us at Craft Corner!

Craft Corner is this Saturday, October 16 from 9 - 2.  The Tremont Community Garden will have a booth and we hope you'll stop by to visit.  We'll be selling pepper jelly made from the peppers in our garden, plus a variety of craft items made by Mrs. Bergen and Mrs. Persichetti's 2nd grade classes.   All proceeds will go back into the garden fund to help defray next years' expenses.  We'll also have photos of our garden throughout the year and other items to share.  We hope to see you tomorrow!


I'd also like to tell you about a blog that you and your kids will enjoy called Mrs. May's Book Nook.  The blog is written by Becky May, a second/third grade loop teacher at Tremont, and relates Becky's experiences as a teacher with particular emphasis on the importance of reading. 

Mrs. May refers to her classroom as Room 102 -- With the Garden View!  In her most recent blog post, she discusses the Tremont Community Garden and the wide variety of activities that have happened in and around the garden in the past 6 months.  Thank you, Becky, for including us in your blog!

Finally, here's a glimpse of how the garden looks this fall.  Enjoy!



Back to School!

We've just finished the first full week of school and already there have been lots of visits to the garden.  Just today, the kids in Mrs. Bergen's and Mrs. Persichetti's classes got to make and try basil pesto with Tremont mom, Alex Borstad.  It was a fun, educational and delicious experience for all!

We started by harvesting the basil from the garden. 

Everyone noticed the wonderful aroma of the basil as we came inside!

Then, everyone got a chance to help make the pesto.

We learned how a salad spinner dries the leaves.

These boys are peeling garlic.

Next, we added the ingredients to the food processor.

Everyone wanted to smell the final product!

Mmmmm....good!

If you'd like to make some pesto at home, here's the recipe we used:

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts, walnuts or sunflower seeds

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Special equipment needed: A food processor

METHOD

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.


We hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we did!