I got to go to my "indoor seed starting" class today and it was great! We actually got to start a flat of seeds. I pretty much chose a ton of dark, leafy greens (lucinato kale, redbor kale, spinach, and rhubarb chard) because that is my favorite thing to eat. Plus, they're cool weather crops, so I can actually get them out into the beds sooner and can harvest them in the spring. I did choose some other vegetables that will be an experiment for me, such as broccoli, baby bok choy, cherry tomatoes, and sweet basil. Once I get the system down and have a place to put my indoor seed set-up, I can start even more vegetables. I got the names of some good local seed catalogs and catalogs with seeds that are particularly good for our area/climate. I can't wait to browse through those again. It's like being a kid in a candy store. I guess tomorrow (part 2 of the class), we'll be learning more about the equipment we would need (heat lamps, etc.) to really get into indoor seed starting. The coolest thing about today was getting my hands dirty and planting today - in February. I can't wait until spring!
And for those of you that are wondering about my worm bin...well, it's officially up and running and the worms seem to be settling in quite nicely. The kids loved it! You should have seen all the healthy fruit and vegetables the students brought for snack on the day they knew the worms were arriving. They were dying to add their banana peels and orange rinds to the bin. During the week, one student came up to me and said, "These apple slices 'accidentally' fell on the floor. Can I give them to the worms?" Other students came up to me with barely-eaten apples and told me that they just couldn't eat another bite, so could they give them to the worms? I'm sure all my students' parents would be "thrilled" to know that their children's snacks were really going to the worms that week, but their enthusiasm was priceless. The students are always asking me now what can be thrown away and what can be composted and I think that that is the biggest success of the whole project. My students are learning that the garbage can is not the only option and that composting can be fun. We'll see how it works out. The whole thing makes me a little nervous because I really have no idea what I'm doing with it or how it works exactly. It's a worthy experiment, though, and it's making our class snack time a lot more exciting and nutritious too!
I got to go to my "indoor seed starting" class today and it was great! We actually got to start a flat of seeds. I pretty much chose a ton of dark, leafy greens (lucinato kale, redbor kale, spinach, and rhubarb chard) because that is my favorite thing to eat. Plus, they're cool weather crops, so I can actually get them out into the beds sooner and can harvest them in the spring. I did choose some other vegetables that will be an experiment for me, such as broccoli, baby bok choy, cherry tomatoes, and sweet basil. Once I get the system down and have a place to put my indoor seed set-up, I can start even more vegetables. I got the names of some good local seed catalogs and catalogs with seeds that are particularly good for our area/climate. I can't wait to browse through those again. It's like being a kid in a candy store. I guess tomorrow (part 2 of the class), we'll be learning more about the equipment we would need (heat lamps, etc.) to really get into indoor seed starting. The coolest thing about today was getting my hands dirty and planting today - in February. I can't wait until spring!
And for those of you that are wondering about my worm bin...well, it's officially up and running and the worms seem to be settling in quite nicely. The kids loved it! You should have seen all the healthy fruit and vegetables the students brought for snack on the day they knew the worms were arriving. They were dying to add their banana peels and orange rinds to the bin. During the week, one student came up to me and said, "These apple slices 'accidentally' fell on the floor. Can I give them to the worms?" Other students came up to me with barely-eaten apples and told me that they just couldn't eat another bite, so could they give them to the worms? I'm sure all my students' parents would be "thrilled" to know that their children's snacks were really going to the worms that week, but their enthusiasm was priceless. The students are always asking me now what can be thrown away and what can be composted and I think that that is the biggest success of the whole project. My students are learning that the garbage can is not the only option and that composting can be fun. We'll see how it works out. The whole thing makes me a little nervous because I really have no idea what I'm doing with it or how it works exactly. It's a worthy experiment, though, and it's making our class snack time a lot more exciting and nutritious too!
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