HAPPYME111's+Garden+days+2011

=__Garden Journal's from 2011 Fall__ = === During th e fall of 2011, my class had a fantastic time helping out in the garden. We would write a Garden Journal every evening for homework. A Garden Journal is where we would write about what we did that day in the garden. For example, we would say how we used all our senses. Here, I have all my Garden Journals from this fall. ===

===At the [|Amigos School] we have a very pleasant [|City Sprouts] garden. Every Tuesday, my 6th grade class would go to our school garden in Science class. There were four groups you could be in (we rotated every week). The groups were " **harvesters" or "plant preservations", "**** biologist", " compost" ** or " ** maintenance". ** My favorite group to be in was "harvester". I enjoyed this the most because I liked being able to make food to eat. I was lucky to be harvester three times! My least favorite group was when we had to be biologists because we had to do a lot of work. I suppose that's what all scientists have to take notes, but I didn't really enjoy studying the plants and insects, although I learned a lot from it. I was in a fantastic group with doggielover101, Dr. Lu2345 and JROCKPR231. During these few months in the garden, three teachers have been helping us. They were Ms. Ferhani our Science teacher, [|Liz, the garden teacher at our school,] and Asia another helper at the garden. I think that everyone enjoyed our experience in the garden. I wish that we could go to the garden every Tuesday for the whole year, but because we can't, I am glad that we got nine Tuesdays in the garden this fall. ===

=** Garden Journal #1- Sep. 13, 2011 ** = ===Today, our first day at the garden this year was full of excitement. There were many ‘firsts’ for me today. For example, I’ve never dug a hole and put old vegetables and plants in to it so that they could decompose. A wheelbarrow full of rollie-pollies, earthworms, slugs and centipedes is one sight that I will remember from today. One texture that I will remember from today is the squishy soil and the plant compost that we had to pick upand put in the hole we dug. A sound from the garden that I will remember from today is the birds chirping overhead and in the trees. I will remember the smell of the fresh soil and the compost. I used four of my five senses today in the garden. ===

=== Today I was maintenance for the first time. We began by pouring a liquid made of milk and water onto the squash leaves. The liquid would help prevent  mildew  from growing on the leaves. Mildew are little spots on the squash leaves that turn into holes. Then, slowly the leaf dies, which causes the plant to die over time too. While in the garden, my group also put decomposing plants into a hole that we dug. We all put on gardening gloves. Then Dr.Lu2345 and Liz brought over shovels for us all while doggielover101 and I brought a wheelbarrow full of decomposing plants over to a corner of the garden. We all took a shovel and set to work digging a hole. After about five minutes we put our shovels down and began to put t he plants into the hole. Finally, we covered up our hole and joined the rest of the class. === = = = = = = = = = = = =

[|Click Here] learn about soil tests. = = = = =Garden Journal #2- Sep. 20, 2011 = === Today I was biologist for the first time. I learned that rollie-pollies are the same as isopods. I will remember looking through a magnified glass at rust on a leaf. I will remember the smooth magnifying glass in my hand. Also, the sound of the rain beating on the ground is something that will be in my memory for my whole life. I will remember the smell of the clean air from the rain. Although it was raining the garden today, we all had fun! === === Today, half my group was absent. So, my partner and I spilt up and worked separately, although we both did the same thing. For the entire time we were in the garden, we were looking at different organisms. We both had a piece of paper with questions that we had to answer. Some of the questions were: //What is one decomposer in this ecosystem? What is their role?// We walked all around the garden trying to answer these questions and many more. When we had finished all the work and it was time to go inside. Everyone in the class was wet because it had been raining! === = = =Garden Journal #3- Sep.27,2011: = ===<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> Today I was in the harvester group. One thing that I did today that I have never done before is make real potato chips. I will remember the sight of the isopods crawling in the soil as we harvested the potatoes. I will remember the texture of the lumpy potatoes as I picked them up from the soil. The sound of my classmates having a great time is one memory I will always keep with me. I will remember the smell of the herbs we harvested to put on the potato chips. I will remember the taste of the homemade potato chips we made. === ===<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> When my group found out that we were going to be harvesters, we were all very excited. It would be the first time we were going to have that job. Finally, after a few minutes, we all found ourselves with shovels in our hands, searching for potatoes. Dr.Lu2345 and JROCKPR231 started to wash and cut some herbs. Then, Dr.Lu2345 started to cook the potatoes that we had put the herbs on. Finally, we shared the potatoes with the rest of the class. We all agreed that th ey were delicious. === = =

=<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Garden Journal #4- Oct.18,2011: = =<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> Today my group was in the “compost” group. I saw a slimy worm slither through the soil. I felt the soil through my fingers when I picked it up. I will remember the sound of the soil turning when we turned the compost. The strong smell of the compost is something I will remember. I tasted the corn and water in the polenta that the harvesters made. = <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> **Sadly,** **Ms. Ferhani was not in today but my group still did a a lot of work in the garden. First, we searched for slugs, earthworms and other** **decomposers. Then, after we collected larva that we found, we sat down and started the work that we had to do. When we had all completed our work, we mixed up the compost. We then dug in the digging pit to see if we could find as many decomposers there as there were in the compost. We couldn’t find any and we thought it might have been because the soil there didn’t have as many [|nutrients] as the compost did. Finally, we all tasted the polenta that the harvesters made. I think we all enjoyed our time in the garden today.**

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">__Before we left today, doggielover101 found a snail. A dead snail. Read to find out more.__ <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> About 10 minutes before we left the garden, doggielover101 found a dead snail. She decided to make a grave for Gary the snail. Right before we left, she presented the grave she had made. Doggielover101 took a little rock and put it on top of the place where she buried him. Then, she picked some flowers and arranged them nicely before we departed.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">__More about the decomposers we saw today:__ <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">My group and I saw many decomposers today in the garden. I chose to look closely at a slug. The role of a slug in this ecosystem is to help break down organic matter. The garden might be able to survive without this decomposer for a while, but not forever. I think this because they are one of the decomposers that break down dead material and it plays its own part in this ecosystem. I noticed today that isopods have a hard shell around their body. There were many things we noticed in the garden today. = = =<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Garden Journal #5- Oct. 22, 2011 = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> My group did a lot of work today in the garden. Today for the first time I planted rye. I smelled the fresh soil that the composters were working with. I saw dead leaves on the ground. I heard the seeds that we were planting moving around in their bag when we moved it. I tasted the both sweet and bitter tea that the harvesters made. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> Today my group was maintenance for the second time. When we first got to the garden, we were instructed to cut off the dead leaves of different plants, such as sunflowers. After that, doggielover101 and I planted rye in the wheelbarrow that we had earlier put soil into. We learned that rye is a type of strong grass that will prevent the soil from coming lose and falling apart during the winter. Finally, we tasted the lemon-balm tea that the harvesters made. We had a fantastic day at the garden. = = ==

=**<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Garden Journal #6- Nov. 8, 2011 **= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> Fo r the first time today I looked closely at mildew and mold. I heard the voices of my classmates as they worked. I saw mold on the leaves of the birch tree. I tasted sweet apple cider. I smelled the fresh air. I felt the warm sun on my face. <span style="color: #0548cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> This week I was a biologist. The work that Ms. Ferhani assigned us to do didn't take very long because we all worked together. Then, we walked around the garden to see if other groups needed help with what they were doing. We decided that we should help them, so we did. Finally, at the end of class, we were all disappointed because we couldn't drink the apple cider that the harvesters had made. We had to go to our next class. Although, after recess, Ms. Ferhani brought us all the sweet cider that our classmates had made a few hours before. =<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> = = = =<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Garden Journal #7- Nov. 15, 2011 = = = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> Today my group were in the “harvester” group. Instead of making anything eat, we harvested seven different kinds of seeds. We then pressed them in flower presses to get all the moisture out of them. As we were doing this, another group found many centipedes and one big, red spider. They put all the creatures in the same container to see what would happen. Although my group was at the other side of the garden, we quickly learned that the centipedes and spider were fighting, or at leased, people thought they were. At the end of this eventful class, we set the centipedes and the spider free. It was a very exciting day in the garden.

=<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">**Garden Journal #8- Nov. 22, 201** **<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">1- **= = =
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">Today my group was in the composting group. We had to find creatures in the compost, turn it and cut up roots of a plant that the maintenance group pulled. We found slugs, isopods and earthworms. Last time we were compost, Ms. Ferhani was not there. I'm glad she was here today! Finally, we ate the salad that the harvesters made. I think that the salad was okay. Some people said that they found bugs in theirs! I think that kind of put off other people from eating their servings. Even though it was really cold today, we had a fantastic day in the garden. **

=<span style="color: #ed4af2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**Garden Journal #9- Nov. 29, 2011-** =
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Today we had to pick a card out of a hat that told us what group we were going to be in. I got harvester and I was really excited about that. I had enjoyed being harvester before, so I knew I was going to have a fantastic time today. We made humus out of sun chokes. We used chives from the garden, sun chokes, salt, cumin, coriander seed, olive oil and a special butter made from seasme seeds to make this delicious humus. We finally cut up slices of bread and put the humus in cups with the bread. I really liked that humus! **

=**<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">More Info about the garden- **= <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 21px;"> We all learned so much information about different organisms while we were at the <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 21px;">garden this fall. When we were in the maintenance group, we learned how to maintain a garden. While we were in the biologist group, we explored the garden and studied different organisms. When we were in the harvesting group, we learned how to use natural ingredient to make something delicious. While we were in the composting group, we learned about different decomposers such as slugs and worms and also what their role in the garden ecosystem is. Our class had a fantastic time this year at our school garden! I think that every class should be able to have such a fantastic opportunity.

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=__Vocabulary__=

A decomposer is an organism that helps break down organic matter in the compost or around plants. ||
 * DECOMPOSER:

Mildew is a type of mold. It will cause holes in the leaves of plants. Eventually, that plant will die. ||
 * MILDEW:

Isopods are also known as rollie-pollies, pillbus or sow bugs. They are decomposers that can be found in many gardens. ||
 * ISOPODS:

There are many kinds of slugs. For example, the leopard slug. They are decomposers. ||
 * SLUGS:

Polenta is an Italian food. It is made with corn and water. ||
 * POLENTA: