GARDEN HELP NEEDED: Request for Volunteers

A request for volunteers from Jennifer Reese, Science Coordinator & Resource Teacher, Amherst Public Schools, 413-362-1897

GARDEN HELP NEEDED:

At Wildwood, volunteers are needed to help weed the garden beds and compost the weeds. Volunteers would work with small groups (2-3 children) at at time, meeting with several groups over the course of a 45-60 minute period. Contact Lisa Poirer (poirierl@arps.org) if interested.

At Fort River, volunteers are needed to help revitalize the pollinator garden. This will involve weeding, trimming plants, cleaning out debris, adding fertilizer, and spreading wood chips. Contact Jane Costello (costelloj@arps.org) if interested.

Gardening Help Needed in the Library

Looking for a green thumb ... please read on for a message from our school librarian

​The library has about 13 wonderful plants that need immediate re-potting​, and then regular maintenance and care. Last June we lost all of our steady volunteers, (graduated to ARMS or moved away), including our indoor gardeners.

Can anyone help us short term with the re-potting and/or caring for them throughout the year? They did well with a visit every two weeks or so last year. We will put out a request for other library volunteers soon.

-- 

Frances Ludington

Librarian/LMS

Fort River School

413.362.1215

ludingtf@arps.org

School Garden Tour on May 31 at 5:15pm

Please join us for an informal PGO meeting/tour/party in the school garden on May 31 at 5:15pm.  Our special guest Jane Costello will give a tour of the garden along with a brief description about how it is being used in school. The tour with be followed by a Question and Answer and brainstorming discussion about how families can enjoy and enhance the gardens.  

There are seeds available for planting and a sign up sheet will be circulated for those who would be willing to water and weed existing crops (only a few) over the summer. In addition, space is available for families to plant summer crops in the raised beds for their own use.  

If there is enough interest, a garden support committee of families would be extremely helpful to work with Ms. Costello in an extended collaboration to maintain and improve this incredible resource for our students and staff.

To learn more about the curriculum used in conjunction with the garden, please click to read the ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst report titled "Hope in School Gardens: The Amherst School Gardens Project." 

Here is an excerpt from the report, titled “Putting the Garden to Bed":

“As the winter winds come swooping in and the days are getting shorter, everyone was excited to get back into the garden at Fort River on one of the last warm days of the year, November 5th. The UMass Sustainable Food and Farming crew, along with Ms. Monica Bhomik’s second grade class, had such a fun time talking about one of our favorite foods: garlic! After discussing the strong, pungent, and sweet flavors garlic can have, the kids told us the foods they like with garlic in them, some of their favorites being pizza, garlic bread, stir fry, and spaghetti. Then we spoke about how garlic has a family just like the second graders do: the Allium family, which includes shallots, leeks, and onions to name of few. These related plants smell and taste much alike, and also grow in a similar way.” 

Bring the kids! They can play on the playground or pick weeds. We hope to see you in the gardens!