Our Baskets are Growing!

The Jebef Family has donated two Free Trade Bolga Baskets for our K-2 project teachers.

These baskets will hold magnifying glasses, field guides and a wonderful collection of gardening books - courtesy of Rooh - for our emerging K-2 gardeners.

If you would like to contribute to the baskets, we are still in need of the following tools:

20 - 10x magnifying glasses
20 - regular sized hand trowels (hand shovels)
10 - fingernail brushes
2 - white 5 gallon buckets
4 - spray water bottles

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.

Action Team Meeting Thusday 27 September

The Gardening Action Team Meeting will meet on Thursday 27 September from 6:00-7:00 pm outside the Flex Room/ Library adjacent to our intended garden space.

Books from Rooh!

Rooh has generously purchased the following titles for our K-2 class gardening baskets. Thank you Rooh!

Progress Report - Team Meeting 18 September

A dedicated group of gardening parents assembled to define next steps for Aveson's learning garden. Keep reading for a front row seat at tonight's meeting...

The Garden Team's current priorities are defined, in order:

A) Purchase and assemble raised beds.

B) Install irrigation.

C) Coordinate delivery of soil and compost.

D) Start seeds in classrooms.

E) Supply garden baskets to all K-2 teachers.

F) Supply 5 gallon composting buckets to all 3-5 teachers

G) Confirm cost associated with Common Vision Tree Fruit Tour and submit or postpone application.


A) Raised Beds
After much research and discussion, Orcaboard's Raised Garden Bed Kit was selected as a healthy alternative to not-so-sustainable redwood, toxic treated wood, and pricey Trex.

Orcaboard is made from recycled plastic milk containers and is designed to snap together for easy, child-friendly assembly. The product comes with a 50 year warranty and is recommended by Organic Gardening.

From the website www.orcaboard.com
Orcaboard™ Raised Bed Garden Kits are maintenance-free, non-toxic, guaranteed for 50 years, and look great. The tongue and groove boards are pre-cut and pre-notched for easy assembly. Elizabeth will coordinate the delivery of the beds.

B) Irrigation
Phil, our esteemed Plant Manager, is building a materials list based on MG Jill's design. Matt will use Phil's list to source and price the project.

Phil will install irrigation once beds are assembled and placed.

C) Soil & Compost
Chris is donating a load of mulch and will coordinate the delivery of soil from our Sunland resource. He will also oversee the harmonious mixing of compost and soil for transfer to the beds.

D) Seeds
Carol is developing Aveson's First Annual Seed Drive - the first gardening event of the season. Students will collect and start seeds in their classrooms for later transfer to the garden. MG Jill has donated nearly $300 in delicious seed packs from Renee's Garden.

E) K-2
The Gardening Team would like to outfit each K-2 teacher with an extra large Gardening Basket containing the following:

10 Hand Trowels - adult sized
20 Magnifying Glasses (10x magnification)
5 Fingernail brushes
2 Laminated Guides to Insects
Age Appropriate Gardening Books
visit www.acornnaturalists.com/ educational supplies.
We warmly invite Aveson's parent community to donate basket items. Please contact Elizabeth to coordinate.

F) 3-5
3-5 classrooms will be outfitted with 5 gallon plastic buckets to be used for compost collection on select composting days.

G)Common Vision
If the costs associated with hosting Common Vision during their upcoming Fruit Tree Tour are within our means, Beth will complete and submit our application.

NEXT
In our next phase of development, we would like to outfit the 6-7th grade classrooms with worm bins and material related to companion planting. Think three sisters. Or nasturtium loves citrus.

For upper grades, we would like to engage them in mycorestoration using burlap or plastic bag mushroom farms and the design and construction of a green house.

PREDICTED ALLOCATION of FUNDS

3000 Raised beds
300 Weed Mesh
350 Soil
350 Gazebo

FLOTSAM & JETSAM

Bulb Fundraiser

Connect with Chris's friend, longtime Crenshaw High School gardening teacher, Adonaja to discuss curriculum.

Establish a gardening library.

Engage Master Gardeners in volunteer teaching rotation.

Check out www.ipm.ucdavis.edu for 6-9 curriculum ideas.

School Garden Weekly

Courtesy of MG Jill, a link to the School Garden Weekly weblog for
students, educators, parents and volunteers authored by fellow Master Gardener, George Pessin.

www.schoolgardenweekly.com

George Pessin is a Master Gardener in Los Angeles County specializing in school gardens. Currently George is working with three schools: Hollygrove Child and Family Services, West Hollywood Elementary School, and Vista del Mar Child and Family Services.

Raised Beds Update

Action team member Carol has kindly volunteered her husband Steve and his compound mitre saw for the construction of our beds!

Our aim is to construct beds in the coming week.

Team Meeting Tuesday 18 September

The Garden Team will meet on Tuesday evening in the library from 6-7 pm.

Garden Plan

Here's MG Jill's latest draft for the garden's layout.

Raised Beds - Material List & Construction

From our valued MG Jill:

Here is what you need to construct a raised bed
measuring 36W"x120"Lx18"H: all wood is redwood.

6 pcs. 2"x6"x36"
6pcs. 2"x6"x120"
6pcs. 2"x4"x16.5"

1lb box #8 deck screws 2.5" long
1/4" mesh hardware cloth 36"x120"

Chop saw
drill
drill bits ( one for counter-sinking)

Choose top boards with care. Look for the smoothest
edges to prevent splinters. As a general rule the
smoohest side should always face outward. I buy the
10' boards standard and have 12' boards cut into four
equal lengths. The 2'x4's are also cut to length.
You will need one 10'er per bed. This will change as
each 10' board yields an extra piece that can be used
in the next bed. You may find that purchasing a
different size based on your overall needs may be more
cost efficient.

I choose my boards for the short sides, lay them out
top to bottom, then measure in from the end 1.,5
inches( the width of a 2x4 and mark that line. Place
a 2x4 along the line and begin pre-drilling holes
where necessary (two holes per board). Assemble the
short sides first then lay in the long boards one by
one on each side. Again, pre-drilling where
necessary. Once the bed is assembled I add screws at
each corner for added support. Then I place a 2"x4"
support at the center point of each long side of the
bed. Now the bed can be set in place on top of the
mesh. I place newspaper on top of the mesh to help
prevent weeds from growing through. I wet the paper
thoroughly, then add soil on top of the paper. Expect
the soil to settle about 10-20% so over fill a little
bit. You may need to cut the mesh around any
irrigaton lines that come into the beds.

Next Steps

The following is a list of tasks that need addressing in order to realize our winter harvest goals.

Establish irrigation system - with Phil's help.

Coordinate delivery of lumber for construction of garden beds and compost station.

Purchase weed cloth.

Coordinate "barn raising" for construction of garden beds and compost station - including the use of a chop saw.

Coordinate delivery of soil - including use of wheelbarrows and bobcat to transfer soil to beds.

Coordinate delivery of compost to supplement soil.

Coordinate delivery of wood chips for pathways.

Install pole tipi.

Acquire seeds.

Install posts to establish site line for garden entrance from K-5 playground.

Sow lettuce and sweet pea seeds with students.

Common Vision's Fruit Tree Tour

Aveson aims to engage Common Vision to help plant stone fruit and apple trees on Aveson's campus during their upcoming Fruit Tree Tour. The area adjacent to the swings has been designated for the orchard.

From www.commonvision.org:

Founded in 1999, Common Vision is a solution-focused nonprofit organization, a project of International Humanities Center. Common Vision's mission is to cultivate ecological awareness and respect for the Earth while generating social and environmental changes towards sustainable lifestyles. We integrate concepts of ecology with the traditions, music, and art of cultures that live or have lived in harmony with the Earth.

Fun with Fungi

Inspired by the L.A. Farm Lab's use of mushrooms to rehabilitate toxic soil (mycorestoration), the Garden Team is exploring the use of classroom mushroom farms as an extension of Aveson's garden and ecoliteracy objectives.

Click here for more information about the use of mushroom spores as a replacement for conventional foam insulation.

For more information on the curative power of mushrooms check out the following topics: mycelium running,mycofiltration, mycoforestry, mycoremidiation, mycorestoration.

Team Note: Jennifer Carey's fungi contact is Michael Rossman. Also see Pal Stamitz.