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Strawberry plants can be picked up during the schedule listed below at Bounty Farm (55 Shasta Ave. Petaluma, CA 94952). Their preference is to donate to under-resourced communities that may not have the option to grow strawberries otherwise. If you will take a large number (over50), please contact them ahead of time ([email protected] or (707) 364-4883).
Thursday, 11/29: 2pm - 5pm Saturday, 12/1: 9am - 12pm We have two varieties available (more variety information below). Once we run out of a variety, we will post on our Facebook page. More information on strawberry varieties from Lassen Canyon Nursery website: Chandler continues to be one of the “go to” varieties for roadside strawberry stands, backyard gardeners everywhere and many commercial growers in the southeast. Chandler produces semi-early delicious sweet fruit. Fruit size is medium to large and medium in firmness. Chandler performs well in the east and is well adapted to the south. Sweet Ann is a vigorous plant with high productivity and exceptional flavor. The attractive fruit is large in size, with a beautiful long conical shape. It has medium firmness with a good acid-sugar balance and very sweet taste. Sweet Ann is a glossy red color both inside and out. The variety produces few runners in the fruiting field. Sweet Ann seems quite disease resistant to everything but fusarium wilt. It is an excellent choice for the organic production systems. Sonoma County Bee Keepers Association offers free educational presentations with activities for classes with grade appropriate material. They prepare several hands-on activities including singing, drawing, and manipulating bee-related paraphernalia. Also covered are more advanced topics in genetics and environmental issues for high schools and adults. Please see this document for a general outline of the various topics covered: Topics Covered in School Presentations (PDF).
For more information and to request a free presentation at your school. Visit their website here. This month, NestWatch unveiled a new FREE resource for educators of middle school students (grades 5-8). Thinking Outside The (Nest) Box, It includes a series of five activities leading youth through the steps of making a nest box for small songbirds, placing it in the appropriate habitat, and monitoring the birdhouse as a citizen scientist. Students get hands-on experience while learning about the life cycles of birds.
Learn More... Student Activity Field Testing Opportunity
Want to play a part in helping Beetles publish resources for instructors? Sign up to help them test out new BEETLES student activities! Testing and feedback from instructors in different settings are important parts of making their activities work well with audiences across the country (and other countries too). Activities ready for testing include a beach exploration, 2 garden based activities, an adaptations activity, and a routine to set up group agreements for science discussions. Field testers will receive a $20 stipend for each activity tested. Interested? Fill out this survey. Reminder: Send them your awesome activities! BEETLES wants you to send them your outstanding student activities! These should be activities that take place outdoors and involve students engaging directly with nature. BEETLES will read all activities submitted, choose two they think can be shared nationally, then revise and field test them. The resulting “rockstar” activities will be published with a shared copyright agreement between the organization that submitted them and BEETLES. Want to know more? See the full announcement and guidelines here. Noci Sonoma has generously donated extra veggie starts for school gardens and they're awaiting your pickup at
Ceres Community Project's Sebastopol garden site. Staged in the far left side of the garden, on the pallets labeled SGN, you will find a few trays of large tomato plants, mostly Sunrise Bumble Bee variety, 1 tray of parsley, 1 tray of fennel & 1 tray of celery. All the seeds are organic and are ready to be planted! A special thanks to Noci for supporting schools gardens and for the Ceres garden for always hosting a place for SGN's free plants. Summer Job for Teens! The School Garden Apprenticeship program IS now accepting Applications4/14/2018
Deadline is May 11, 2018 at 5 pmThe School Garden Network (SGN) of Sonoma County is seeking motivated, responsible and hard-working teens for its summer School Garden Apprenticeship (SGA) program. This program will train and pay up to ten teens during the summer months to maintain school gardens and install irrigation systems to SGN member schools. The mission of the School Garden Apprenticeship is to provide job preparedness skills for youth 16 years of age and older. The long term goal of the program is for teen participants to receive enough training in irrigation installation that it could be a viable pathway for employment in the future. Joining the team of School Garden Apprentices is a great opportunity for youth to earn some extra money during the summer, spend time outside, and learn about productive and efficient garden systems. School Garden Apprentices will be trained in drip irrigation installation and basic gardening skills and will participate in up to 4 Water Wise School Garden installations projects over the summer. These participants will work in school gardens 6-10 hours per week and get paid a stipend of up to $575 for the completion of the program. All teens will be under the supervision of School Garden Apprenticeship Project Manager Annie Klein, and volunteer Steve Ehrmann. School Garden Apprentices must:
Applications are due via email by Friday May 11th, 2018. For questions, contact Annie Klein at 707-318-6948 or [email protected] The Water-Wise Mini Grant Program is a collaboration between SGN and Harmony Farm Supply. Eligible SGN affiliate schools will receive a free irrigation design, installation support and up to $400 in funding for a drip irrigation system. Irrigation systems will include battery operated timers, electric anti-siphon valves and a shut off valve to isolate the system. To qualify for the grant please take these steps.
Next you may fill out the Water-Wise grant application. School gardens will be required to supply a detailed map of the garden and obtain principal and maintenance authorization signatures. All details are explained in the application. April 11th 9am-3:00pm Ceres Garden, Sebastopol Literacy learning in the garden classroom, like in any classroom, is most successful when students engage in tasks that promote authentic language use. What does that look like, exactly? Evidence supports activities that provide opportunities to read, write, and talk in the ways actual gardeners do. - Carrie Strohl Learn how to connect cooking and gardening instruction to the Common Core ELA or Math standards and the Next Generation science standards. This workshop, taught by science educator Carrie Strohl, is designed to develop educators’ understanding of how common garden activities can be adapted to become robust lessons designed to meet the current curricular standards expected in schools. We will spend our day both in the classroom and in the garden as we explore hands on lessons and deepen our understanding of how best to link the garden and classroom studies. Instructor: Carrie Strohl earned her Ph.D. in science education from UC Davis. She specializes in standards-driven curriculum design, science-literacy integration, and garden-based learning. For six years, she engaged in research, curriculum development, and professional leadership at the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley. Most recently, she teaches science methods to pre-service teachers and coaches teachers to integrate gardening and cooking at an environmental science magnet school in Napa, CA. Questions? Contact us at [email protected] FEE: $125 Earlybird registration postmarked by March 10th $95 Teams from same school receive a %10 discount! ***CEU units will be available!! Morning will start in the Tarsier Room at the OReilly Media Center next to the Ceres Garden. Teas, vegetarian lunch and snacks are provided! Project Produce, a program of Chef Ann Foundation, provides schools funds to spend on fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole ingredients used in scratch-cooked recipes.
Use $2,000 Project Produce grants to increase food literacy, boost student consumption of fresh produce, and learn which fruits and vegetables your students want to see on school lunch menus. Read the grant requirements here, see what schools have done before here, and look at sample application here. A district can apply for up to five schools to receive grants. Nutrition directors, managers, or supervisors must submit the application, but you can collaborate with grant coordinators, wellness professionals, teachers, and food and nutrition advocates. Get your application in before May 4th and get your Project Produce plan into action in 2018! School Garden Network is offering funds to schools gardens that sustained either direct or indirect damage as a result of the fires. Click on the button below to fill out our application.
The deadline is extended to Wednesday, April 11th. Questions contact [email protected] |