Seeds+of+thought+from++the+Garden

Garden Helpers is the program that allows students to purchase time in the garden for their good behavior. When students are observed being good --- they can buy time with their Dragon Dollars in the computer lab or in the Garden. These students made bird feeders and did other activities during the cold winter months. Now they will be in the garden every Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. if you would like to help out with this -- please email Ms. McIntyre.


 * Sept. 17th, 2010 - Goin on a seed hunt.** We explored many places we can find seeds and went into the garden to search for seeds. We found the seeds in a basil plant and harvested them for our spring garden. We planted Hollyhock seeds, harvested tomatoes, weeded the vegetable gardens. Special thanks to Ms. Obriant, who was able to help the kids in the garden while Ms. McIntyre was inside doing open checkout!
 * August 27, 2010 -** Our return to the garden after summer! Students harvested tomatoes, met some squash beetles up close and personal including 100s of baby beetles! We weeded the raised beds and worked on the much harder to weed butterfly garden!

Garden Helpers - April 8, 2010
We had 20 Garden Helpers this afternoon -- The level of excitement was so high, that it was difficult to pay close enough attention to what we were pulling --- some of us got carried away and pulled letttuce up along with some of the weeds...

We planted sunflower seeds and set them in the window, and we managed to clear one raised bed and almost completely clear another. But we must move the herbs to the butterfly garden.......next!

Garden helpers Notes - Oct. 5, 2009
Today as I took the garden helpers into the garden --- and saw the glee and excitement of those 10 children who paid their dragon dollars to go to the garden instead of getting jicky-junk-- Some of you may be wondering what has a garden to do with the library? When we encourage curiosity and real life real life experience --- we **all learn so much** -- AND basically a library is about questioning and learning. Though it is not in my job description it is necessary to prime the pump by encouraging curiosity --- questioning is the first step in the process of information literacy! Before you can do research you must have a question!

As those children pulled up the last of the carrots --- they began to compare the carrot they pulled to their neighbors carrot...they were measuring them --- Then we found caterpillars which we looked at with magnifying glasses... we planted vines that we'd started in paper cups three weeks ago! We investigated how the vines had woven their little tendrils around the blind pulls next to the window where th

[[image:Herbs&Sunflowers.jpg align="right" caption="Herbs & Sunflowers"]]
ey had been growing in the library. We gently unwound them so we could take them out to the garden. Little fingers quivered with excitement as they tried to be gentle and in a hurry all at the same time. As we planted the vines --- One of the students pointed to the bottom of the paper cup. It was disintegrating. She wondered why!?

We smelled the herbs, we picked tomatoes ---all this was generated by the kids -- not me...We were finally driven to return to the library by falling rain. The children came in wet --- covered with weed seeds --- still chattering with excitement. I, on the other hand, came in deeply content. At least for this one day --- an eccentric librarian shared with children who shrieked with delight -- the joys of curiosity sparked by something that was real --- and watched in wonder as they strengthened that remarkable human muscle they makes us human. The brain!!!!

[|Garden Helpers Sept. 2009]
Martha Stamps, cookbook author, newspaper columnist, and chef, visited Westmeade on Friday. Nearly 80 children got to watch a real chef turn a few healthy ingredients into a great after school treat. Vegetables from a real garden don't wait --- so even though the event was fraught with incredible difficulty, she was there at 2:00 in the afternoon to make a difference!

Timing was bad for her --- (she was in the midst of a move) --- because of this fact she had trouble getting my phone messages and I didn't get her email until late Thursday night (she had sent the message to my daughter whose email address is quite similar to mine but, thankfully, Noelle had forwarded it to me).

When I left home Friday --- I walked off without the cucumbers that had been in the refrigerator waiting for her! But not to be stopped by the lack of a significant ingredient --- I hopped in my car and in 15 minutes flat had organic cucumbers ready for her....She had been preparing the other tasty ingredients and didn't miss a step....I washed them up....and returned to help "strip" them and carve out their centers to make an edible bowl for the delicious heirloom tomatoes, herbs and spices!

As I helped her carry out the remaining ingredients to the car, a warm and gentle rain began falling. We finished loading the car and I watched as this lovely woman drove off to her own family. I stepped back into school to do my "car duty." Where children were eager to tell me about what they had seen. As if I had not been there, they shared the story of the lady who came and fixed "salsa" in cucumber cups!