South Pointe Elementary's Organic Edible & Smoothie Garden Blog

The Butterflies Need Your Help!

2012-01-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to our happy garden-loving readers!

We apologize for our brief hiatus, but we were busy hawking Peace Lilies for the holidays and making our big plans for the South Pointe Elementary Butterfly Garden!

That's right- we have been teaming up with some green-thumbed SPE parents to design and develop a fabulous butterfly garden that will be filled with beautiful, low-maintenance, Florida native plants- that will also act as a buffer around our organic edible garden- which by the way, is doing quite amazingly! We encourage you to have a gander at the next drop-off, or pick-up. It's really quite a bounty that we are so so proud of.

As you all know, "it takes a village", so on that note- we want to thank everyone who have made our garden what it is today. All the time, love (and weeding!) is what truly makes our garden grow. Following suit, we would like to put an open call to anyone interested in helping us get the new butterfly garden installed.

Here is our open call:

Come all gardeners - tall and short, large and small, green-thumbed and all thumbs! We're installing the butterfly garden this Wednesday January 11th, and we need your help! Join us to raise arbors and plant butterfly-attracting plants around the Organic Edible Garden.

All children are welcome with their parents or caregivers. See you at the garden!

See Catherine Prescott upon arrival and get digging! Questions? Email us! Subject: Butterfly
southpointepta@gmail.com

Eat Your Greens!

2011-10-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Last year, the USDA finally replaced the good old Food Pyramid with a plate. Yes, that's right- a simple plate.

MyPlate to be exact, is the branded term for the new federal goverment dietary guidelines. MyPlate advises Americans to enjoy their food, but less of it- based on a plate divided into quadrants. 1/4 fruit, 1/4 vegetables, 1/4 protein and 1/4 whole grains- and a serving of low fat dairy.

As parents of pre-school and elementary children, we all know that mealtimes can be challenging. It's easy to get into the habit- especially with our time starved lives to whip up sureshot dinners that we know our little ones will eat such as pasta or chicken strips- and forget about our much needed greens and reds!

Statistics show that only 22% of children aged 2-5; and only 16% of children aged 6 and up are getting the government recommended fresh fruit and vegetables- according to a recent study from Ohio State University. We live in a nation with ever-increasing rates of Type 2 diabetes and obesity amongst adults and sadly, amongst our children as well.

Here are five easy tips, that we hope will help those of you who have picky little ones- to help introduce fruits and veggies into their diets and to help them become stronger and healthier eaters!

1. Re-Brand! Make up new names for vegetables. Create silly names like "Power Pellets" for things like brussel sprouts or green beans- to make them more kid-friendly and appealing.

2. The One Bite Rule. Try telling your child that they at least, need to take one full bite of something before vetoing it. At least it gets them trying something, and hopefully eventually getting comfortable with it.

3. Shop and Cook with your Kids. Let your kids pick one vegetable that looks appealing to them- then also let them help your prepare them. It's easy to let them (depending on age of course) to wash, snip, or pour a little dressing on a salad to steamed green beans. If they take part in preparing something to more apt they may be to wanting to eat it- even if it's a little bite!

4. Hide the Veggies. The simplest place to sneak in vegetables is your basic spaghetti sauce! Steam, boil and puree squash, spinach or sweet potatoes- and mix into your favorite tomato sauce. Add some parmesan cheese into the sauce as well- and we guarantee your little ones won't know the difference.

5. Hold Dessert Hostage. For those households out there that enjoy dessert after meals, this is a simple, and seemingly not-so-nice way to get them to try vegetables, but it usually works. Tell them that they have to eat their vegetables (set them up for success by starting with a small portion!) in order to get dessert. Show them that it applies to the grown ups as well. Soon enough it will become second nature and sometimes dessert will even go un-noticed.

Good luck and happy healthy eating!!!

Helping Hands and Green Thumbs!

2011-10-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

September has come and gone quickly, but we are pleased to report the latest garden news.

To date all of the garden beds have been tilled and mulched thanks to our resident green thumb and garden advisor extraordinaire, Roger Horne!

And although last weekend's rains delayed some planting, they didn't stop Ms. Jaqui and her Gardening Club from planting the first bed. We plan to complete the planting for each grade level within the next week. Trust us, we'll keep you posted.

Last week we received a donation of herb plants from Morel Landscape including some fragrant Rosemary, which is delicious to eat and known to be a natural insect repellent properties. Thank you!

The mixed veggie and herb seedlings that we're putting into the ground have been donated by Teena's Pride. Teena's Pride, in Homested, Florida, has specialized in locally grown produce for over 35 years - and has been a strong supporter of the SPE Edible Garden from the outset. This year, Teena also gave us a Raspberry bush, which is a new addition to our garden. Come October, we'll also receive some of her award-winning, to-die-for Heirloom Tomato plants to add to our garden. Can't wait! We encourage you to check out Teena's website and sign up to be a part of her CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Picking up your share of fresh produce from Teena's CSA from the Whole Foods on Alton Road makes the 'farm to table' concept a very simple reality for your family.

We truly thank everyone who continues to help our garden grow in so many ways, and we encourage everyone to take an interest - even if it's by simply taking the time to read our blog updates - because we promise you that every step along this year's growing season will be a journey worth sharing that will hopefully inspire parents, teachers and students to take pride in this special green initiative we've nurtured at South Pointe Elementary.

September's Here. Time to Grow!

2011-09-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

As we bid farewell to a long, hot summer in Miami Beach and send our little ones back into a new school year - we also welcome one of our favorite times of the year - planting season!

Since 2009, South Pointe Elementary School has been fortunate to build, grow and sustain its very own Organic Edible Garden and Smoothie Garden.

The school garden's main goal is to educate and benefit our children. The commercialization of food in today's world has taken away a basic "farm to table" understanding amongst many Americans. School gardens are a fantastic way for up and coming generations to witness where and how food grows. School gardens also have a positive effect on children's vegetable intake. Put simply, if they plant it they will try it. And we can’t ask for more than that.

In the coming weeks, the children will plant a cornucopia of vegetables and herbs, and through this experience, they will understand and appreciate the value of harvesting something that started as a seed or a seedling. We truly hope visions of broccoli and string beans will dance through your child's head...

In the meantime, we encourage you to read more about the benefits of school gardens here and also read up on this great article posted on CNN recently.

There are many ways we fund the garden: from grants to our annual Green Market. This year we are taking part in the 2011-12 Fairchild Challenge. Last year we gained top honors (placing in the top 16 schools) and won $250 to use towards our garden. We will also apply for a Foodcorps School Garden Grant, through Whole Foods- who has been a supporter and friend to our garden program. Wish us luck!

Thank you for your continued support. Hope to see you in the garden this year- there's a lot growing on!

G.R.O.W.!

2011-05-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

The entire second grade recently spent a day at the Miami G.R.O.W. Project learning about urban farming, organic growing practices, nutrition and food justice. It was an inspiring - and yummy - day for the kids (not to mention the teachers and chaperones!). We tilled the fields, planted fresh crops, then dined al fresco on lunch made with ingredients from the farm.

Here are two recipes from the amazing Thi Squire @ G.R.O.W.:

G.R.O.W. – Jo Grilled Chicken

1Lb. Chicken

2/3 cup assorted chopped fresh herbs (tarragon, Cuban oregano, mint, rosemary)*

3 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup onion chopped

Juice of 2 sour oranges

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

Place chicken in bowl. Add following 7 ingredients and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Heat grill. Grill on both sides to create grill marks, turn down heat and cook thru untill done.

G.R.O.W. Goddess Dressing

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream or plain yogurt

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Juice of ½ lemon

½ cup favorite assorted herbs (chives, chervil, mint, parsley)*

Salt & pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Serve with your favorite salad or use as a dip.

*herbs from our farm ready for harvest today, use your favorite and freshest herbs available to you.

Thanks, Thi and the Miami G.R.O.W. Project!!

The Fairchild Challenge Results!

2011-05-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Breaking News: South Pointe Elementary placed in the top 17 schools for its first-ever run in the Fairchild Challenge! (Click on the link to see the list of winners.) Thank you to all the students, parents, teachers, administrators and gardeners who contributed to this year's efforts! For placing in the top 16, SPE will receive $250 for its environmental programs. Yeah!

Youth L.E.A.D. Visits SPE

2011-05-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Erin Healy from Youth L.E.A.D. who led a cooking demo last week for our after-school garden class. Using herbs from the garden, Erin, Roger and the kids whipped up dips for veggies and crackers. They were a huge hit with the kids and adults alike. The lesson proved that if you give children healthy food choices, they'll (at the very least!) try what's there. The carrots and celery dippers were almost gone before the second class arrived, which told us we need to plant more of them next year! Here are the recipes (you may want to modify for picky eaters, i.e. use less garlic or pepper). Each one can be made in a food processor or blender - just combine, puree and serve.

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Bean and Fresh Herb Dip

3 cloves of garlic
2 cans cannellini beans
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh basil
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper

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Green Pesto

Two bunches of fresh basil
A bunch of mild greens like swiss chard (rainbow chard is always a hit)
1 clove of garlic
a pinch salt (to taste)
1/4 cup of pine nuts
2/3 cup olive oil (to taste)
1/4 cup of parmesean cheese (to taste, if desired)

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Vegan Ranch Dip

6 oz. tofu
3 dates (pitted)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup green onions, cut small
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp fresh herbs
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp dill
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (like Braggs)
dash cayenne

Fertile Earth Fundraiser

2011-05-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

One of our collaborators, Fertile Earth Foundation (FEF), is having its annual fundraiser this Saturday. FEF will donate worm casings for every ticket purchased. Simply write "South Pointe Elementary Organic Edible Garden" in the "instructions to seller" field, and we'll receive a heap of good fertilizer while helping a great local organization dedicated to sustainable, organic growing! Please go to www.fertileearth.org for more details.

Green Market

2011-03-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came to the Green Market! It was a huge success! Thank you to our sponsors for helping to make the event happen, and to the community for supporting green initiatives at the school. It was a healthy and fun fundraiser for the gardens and for the 5^th grade graduation. Pictures will soon follow.

At the gardens, the Garden Club is sowing quick crops (radishes and lettuces) and trying some things for the first time (strawberries and luffa). With only two months to go, our growing season is winding down. The banana trees are not, however. Almost impervious to seasons, they are blooming and stretching out new hands in many directions. The papayas and mulberry trees are fruiting as well.

Family Weeding Fridays are still happening. With no big projects looming, it's an easy weeding/watering time. There's still an abundance of food in the garden. If you help out, you can take some home. If you're not already on the email list, please send an email to southpointepta@gmail.com. See you in the gardens!

Green Market Invitation

2011-03-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Please follow the link below to RSVP to the Green Market and to become a Garden Sponsor. Thank you!

South Pointe Elementary Green Market

Saturday, March 26, 2011 from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM (PT)

South Pointe Elementary
1050 4th Street
Miami Beach, FL 33139

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Event Details: GREEN MARKET @ SOUTH POINTE ELEMENTARY FREE EVENT FOR ALL!! Farm-fresh produce, baked goods, food specialty items, garden flowers, herbs, plant sale and lots of environmental activities for our families! Presenting: The Tremends & the SPE Chorus!...Read more

Share this event on Facebook and Twitter.

We hope you can make it!

Cheers,
South Pointe Elementary PTA

2011-03-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

Save the date for SPE's annual Green Market! Come celebrate health and wellness, come explore the gardens, come for the three R's and beyond! This year's market will feature Teena's Pride (All Locally Grown Produce), Vita Coco, Whole Foods, GROW, Genius Jones, ECOMB, Rethink + Reuse, the Bass Museum and many more vendors, educators and green partners with special thanks to the The Clifton South Beach, a Cambean Hospitality Hotel for sponsoring the event. At the Green Market, families can make art out of recycled and reclaimed products, exchange lightbulbs and shower heads for more efficient models, recycle electronics, purchase locally-grown food, learn about native plants, find products made from sustainable materials, learn about water conservation, and find ways to become greener, one small eco-step at a time! (Proceeds from the event will be put toward green initiatives at SPE.)

Gardens and Green Market

2011-03-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Miami spring has sprung and our gardens are again taking shape! The mulberry trees surrounding the vegetable beds are fruiting beautifully; our kids pick the fruit as quickly as it ripens. The vegetable beds are brimming with tomatoes, lettuces and herbs. Roger Horne visited the garden last month and started some luffa seeds. If they're a success, look for them at the Green Market next year (healthy fundraising, anyone?). Thanks, Roger!

The Smoothie Garden survived the whiteflies (still brewing, but not as abundant) and winter's brisk chill. Banana hands have returned, and we hope for an abundant crop before school's out. The Praying Hands variety just sprouted a hand, and the kids are amazed to see bananas growing not only in different sizes, but in different shapes. Mr. Londono's fifth grade class is now the custodian of the Smoothie Garden. They water, fertilize and mingle with the trees on a weekly basis. Thank you, class!

Finally, please save the date for SPE's annual Green Market - Saturday, March 26, 2011 from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. We have 18 vendors confirmed from Teena's Pride, Whole Foods and Vita Coco to HiHo Batik, Jaya Loves Tekeko and Genius Jones. We'll celebrate what's good for us and what's good for our planet. If you would like to participate, please email us at southpointepta@gmail.com! Thank you!

Family Weeding Fridays

2011-01-12T13:55:00.001-08:00

The first Family Weeding Friday last week was a huge success. Please join us at the gardens again this Friday from 2:00-4:00pm!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011!

In our news, we're so grateful to the families who adopted banana plants from November through December, but we've decided to call it off. Whitefly is persistent and the effort it takes to keep the plants free of them is enormous.

Instead of adoption, we're resuming the Weekly Weeder program - now, Family Weeding Fridays - every Friday afternoon from 2:00-4:00. Parents and children are welcome to come to the gardens to weed, water, trim, stake and do whatever it takes to take care of our green spaces. The gardens are in full bloom - the tomato vines are thick with fruit, the lettuces abundant and herbs vie for space. Marigolds, nasturtiums, sunflowers, peas, tomatoes, radishes, beets...the list goes on and on. Join us one Friday and taste for yourself!

If you want your children to experience the gardens in an after-school activity, sign them up for Cindy Hill's cooking class or the Gardening class. Cindy Hill's International Nutritional Cooking meets Mondays, and Jaquelina Zingales' Gardening meets Fridays. Sign up is next week - 1/10, 11 & 12 in person in the courtyard from 7:30-9:00am!

2010-12-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Please spread the word!

Garden Update

2010-11-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

The vegetable beds are mostly planted, and will sprout within the next two weeks. This year, thanks to generous donations from community partners Teena’s Pride and Tacology, we have over five different varieties of heirloom tomatoes and heirloom squash. Did you know that touching a tomato plant releases a hormone that stimulates growth? Plus, it just smells good. Come by with the kids to see for yourself.

Garden Clubbers have already tasted fruit from the Jamaican Papaya trees. First report: yum! The banana trees are recovering from a bout of whitefly. The new invasive hurt our first crop, but the trees have all been adopted by SPE families and receive weekly TLC. (THANK YOU SPE FAMILIES!) Since then, four more trees have sprouted banana bunches (a.k.a. hands).

Have you ever dreamed of owning a banana tree? This is your lucky year! Our bananas have been so prolific, we’ve run out of space for the baby trees (a.k.a. pups). We’re holding our first ever “holiday banana tree sale” between Thanksgiving and Winter Break. Stay tuned for details.

We’re always asked by families how they can get involved in the gardens. Here’s a short list of big and small ways to help the garden:

-Donate twist ties, twine, bamboo and toilet paper rolls. We use twist ties and twine to demarcate planting areas and to create trellises. Bamboo has a thousand uses in the garden – from delineating planting zones to creating elaborate trellises. Toilet paper rolls are a handy, economical and a green solution for starting seedlings. Please leave any donations by the garden shed.

-Donate time. Ah, harder to come by, we know. But if there are always opportunities to dig and weed. To get on our email distribution list, please email southpointepta@gmail.com!

-Donate money. A little goes a long way, and is always appreciated!

This Weekend - the Edible Garden Festival @ Fairchild - Fun for the Whole Family!

2010-10-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Click here for the event schedule:

http://www.fairchildgarden.org/Events/?date=2010-09&eventID=455

Tree-lemma Dilemma and More

2010-10-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

As part of our plan to eradicate whitefly, the gumbo limbo and palm trees around the playground will be treated today, and the banana trees sprayed with a saltwater solution. Then we will take over their treatment using neem oil. Special thanks to Adrian Hunsberger for diagnosing the type of whitefly and to Katie Manhire for coordinating treatment, and to the ten families who agreed to adopt a banana tree! We'll meet today, Friday, at 3:15 pm.

In other garden news, Jaquelina has been planting with many classes - and many of those seeds have grown into seedlings. This week the second after-school garden class welcomed three more students and the first class is at capacity. The children are busy in the garden and the curricula will evolve as the garden evolves. Now that they have prepared the beds and started seedlings, students will transplant, weed, tend to the plants and explore the garden with Jaqui as their guide. This year we plan to teach more about seed saving, through which children will come to understand the lifecycle and reproduction cycle of plants.

In yet more news, we were happy to welcome Roger Horne back to the garden last week. He brought heirloom squash for the kids to plant, and tended to the mulberry, cherry and guava trees his organization donated to the school last year. The kids loved working with Roger again. Thanks, Roger!

Please visit the garden for a sneak peek of what's to bloom. Good things are happening in the garden.

Calling All Families!

2010-10-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

The Smoothie Garden needs YOUR help. We’ve met our opponent and its name is whitefly. We’ve sprayed the trees and cut them back, but they need more attention than we and our gardener can give. Since we’re using an organic solution, it will take diligence to rid the garden of this pest. We’re asking you and your family to ADOPT a banana tree. Taking care of your tree will involve watering and spraying the leaves and trunk each week. We’ll provide the sprayers and soap. Four of the trees have new flowers and fruit, but it will take some effort to save them. Please let us know if you have room in your family for a tree! Thank you!

In the news!

2010-09-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

The new garden beds are installed, making our garden look more established than experimental. Thank you to the Garden Club, and many parents and students in our community who put them together and filled them with soil. Students will start planting this week; so, in the next few weeks, look for green shoots :)

The banana trees have been sprayed with an organic soap solution, so we hope that the trees recover completely. We lost some bananas, but the new growth is stronger and healthier.

In the news, we had a great showing at the beach clean up this past weekend! A small group of us ran into local weatherman, Jeff Berardelli, south of Fifth Street. See us at http://cbs4.com/video/?id=101389@wfor.dayport.com Thank you Channel 4 for the shout out! Our kids are making a difference!

What's Up, What's Down

2010-09-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

We’re so grateful to have an exceptional group at the school working on environmental issues - so fantastic, dedicated and visionary, we’ve changed our name from the Green Committee to the Environmental Action Team (EAT). Here are some upcoming events:

Raising the Beds

Tuesday, 9/21, 2:00-4:00pm @ South Pointe Elementary

Roll up your sleeves to build garden beds! The Garden Club will lead the activity, but all kids and parents are welcome to come...the more hands, the better!

Weekly Weeders

Every Wednesday, 1:00-4:00pm – Smoothie Garden

Our garden needs a little TLC. Please stop by with the kids to pick up a weed or two. It’s still hot out there, so wear covered shoes, bring a hat and something to drink. Thank you!

Miami Coastal Clean Up Day

Saturday, 9/25, 9:00am – all over

The clean up is up and down Miami Dade County; the site in our neighborhood is the South Pointe Jetty Park, sponsored by ECOMB. Please register you and your child today! In the organization slot, fill in South Pointe Elementary.

Visit: http://www.miamidadecoastalcleanup.org to register

If you’ve stopped by the Smoothie Garden you’ve noticed a few downed trees. We hope to resuscitate them. Also , it seems we have an infestation of some sort of pest that leaves white circles all over the trees. Dumbfounded, we have calls into our banana experts, but if you know a banana guru please let us know!

Welcome Back!

2010-08-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to another school year, and the gardens' 2nd year! Thank you to our garden supporters and volunteers who established the gardens last year! The gardens wouldn’t be here without you! And thank you to our volunteers who tended the gardens over the hot summer months, especially the Elliot, Prescott and Weaver families.

This year SPE is a Fairchild Challenge School. This means the gardens will have comprehensive support from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden! More information on this collaboration will be forthcoming.

The Smoothie Garden blossomed this summer, literally. Two banana trees sprung forth gorgeous, monstrous red and purple flowers and two ripening groups of bananas. Two papaya trees are flowering, growing and ripening papayas. The short tree is a Jamaican variety, and the taller tree is from store seeds, which we believe were cultivated in Belize. The milkweed plant along the wall ballooned and played host to a family of monarch chrysalises and butterflies.

The trees are towering and so are the weeds. To that end, we're starting a Weekly Weeder program every Wednesday from 1:00-4:00 pm. We'll gather in the Smoothie Garden to weed, whack dead leaves and water. Stay for 3 minutes or 3 hours, come one week or every week: whatever help you can give is very much appreciated by us and the plants! Of course, working in the garden is not limited to Wednesdays; you're welcome to pull up weeds any day of the week and bring a friend because company makes it all the more fun!

Regarding the Organic Edible Garden in front of the school, we’ve hired a fantastic gardening teacher, Jaquelina, who will engage teachers and students in the gardens, tend to them and run the after-school garden club on Tuesdays. In September, we will have ONE volunteer day to get the beds in order, and that will be all!

We look forward to another great green year at South Pointe Elementary!

Preparing for Summer: Some Thanks

2010-05-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Liz, Steve, Kim, Lisa (and Max) for working in the garden today! Stubborn weeds in the Smoothie Garden were coerced by shovel, hoe and brute strength, but we can now see the trees from the weeds - and it's looking good! One Jamaican papaya tree flowered and fruited, while another boasts tiny buds. The banana trees are gaining inches in height and have sprouted one to four pups each. Surrounded by dry, sandy soil, the banana trees enjoyed a deep watering this morning only to be topped off by afternoon storms.

While parents worked in the Smoothie Garden, SPE students minded the Organic Edible Garden beds. Thank you to our energetic students and their enthusiastic (and very patient) teachers! Ms. Brisuela and Mr. Londono's classes tilled the vegetable beds, pulled many weeds and turned the soil countless times, while Ms. Hendrickson's class finished the job and checked the almost-ready compost. The compost will be used to fertilize the Smoothie Garden before school breaks for summer (next week!).

Last, but not least, thank you to the hose-and-nozzle-fairy family, the Weavers. It was a great surprise yesterday morning to find two extra-long hoses and two brand-new nozzles by the garden shed! Thank you!

Last Work Day

2010-05-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Please join us this Wednesday, May 26 at 8:45am for a work day! There will be coffee, sweet things to nosh on and lots of laughs.

On our roster: weeding and mulching the smoothie garden; weeding and covering the sunflower bed; building another vege bed; and, turning the soil and planting cover crops in the vege beds.

We may finish some of the smaller jobs between now and then with the help of our garden teacher, Roger, but for the rest we'll need your help! This is the LAST time this year we will ask for your brains and brawn. Please, please, please come! We love you!

May

2010-05-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

May is here and the heat is rising. This marks the end of our main growing season in South Florida. This month, we’ll add a few more beds - so more classes can be involved in the garden next year - mulch what’s left and sow a cover crop. Cover crops are mulched right back into the soil, adding vital nutrients which will make the soil more fertile for the next growing season. The cover crop is like a blanket, which we’ll lay down as we put our beds to sleep for summer.

As for the Smoothie Garden, we’ve planted some pineapple heads, a guava tree and Bermuda cherry and some small mulberry trees. (You’ll notice a few mulberries around the vegetable beds as well.) Although all of our trees are native to warm climates, we plan to add some irrigation to the Smoothie Garden soon so our trees survive the summer - and we’ll have a crop of bananas to look forward to in the fall!

Thank you to SPE’s administration, the PTA, Geane Brito, our teachers, students and volunteers for making the gardens’ first year a great one!

March/April Update

2010-04-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Up north crocuses have just popped out of the ground, but down here we’re winding down our main growing season and preparing for summer fruits. Our gardener, Roger, is harvesting veges with the after-school Garden Club and trimming the beds back as we wind down for summer. If you haven’t been to the garden recently, check out all the green tomatoes growing and ripening. In the next few weeks, we expect a good crop of peacevine cherry and yellow pear tomatoes and pickling cucumbers. Our gardening classrooms also harvested this month: greens, herbs, carrots, snow peas, and lettuces were abundant. Mr. Londono’s class tried sautéed Asian greens on a pizza and were surprised about how good greens could be.

Slow Food Miami, a garden benefactor, visited us to check on their Slow garden bed (maintained by Ms. Brisuela and Mr. Bogart’s classes), and share advice and ideas with us for next year. We loved the visit and gleaned a year's worth of information in one hour. (Thank you, Slow Food!) They were impressed with the Organic Edible Garden and Smoothie Garden and our Wellness Committee! They loved how it all ties together: gardens + good nutrition + care for the earth + exercise = wellness = nourished students (and happy teachers and administrators)! And we are grateful for the chance to work with and learn from them!

Our garden will continue to grow next year. Last month we were happy to receive a seed grant from Johnny's Selected Seeds (Thank you, Johnny's Selected Seeds!), so we will have more seeds to plant in our garden and to use in the classrooms! And we were thrilled to learn that we were given a monetary grant from the South Beach Wine and Food Festival's family event, Fun and Fit as a Family! (Thank you, Fun and Fit as a Family!) Among other things, this grant will help us build more garden beds so more classes can have a stake in the garden, expand our Smoothie Garden, provide fresh fruit for the Fresh Fruit Tasting Days and buy blenders so the PTA can sell more smoothies…

And speaking of smoothies, have you seen the Smoothie Garden lately? The banana trees have quadrupled in size!!!! And they will be producing bananas by next school year. The gardens will need a little TLC next month as we need to weed, harvest, till, cover and mulch to prepare for the hot months ahead. Please stay tuned. If you’d like to be a garden volunteer, please email southpointepta@gmail.com. Thank you!

Green Market!

2010-03-15T09:33:00.001-07:00

Come to the Green Market, Saturday, 3/20, from 10-2pm at SPE! Bring batteries, cell phones, iPods, GPSs, video games and consoles, laptops, inkjet cartridges, used DVDs, clothes and household items to recycle! Join us for games, green activities, art projects, cooking demonstrations and the chance to buy herbs, seeds, fresh fruits and veges and organic, local products created by folks in our community!

The market is free and open to all!

2010 Update

2010-03-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

Our SPE little gardeners have been working hard preparing to sell their plants and seddlings at our SPE GREEN MARKET. If you look at the beds right now you will see the amazing growth of the last month since Mr. Londono, Ms. Brisuela, Ms. Hendrickson and Mr. Bogart sowed their seeds with their students.

The third garden bed has been cared by the Save the Planet Club and the Gardening Club. The Gardening Club is off to a great start too. This past month, they planted pineapples, peppers and took care of the beds.

Depending on future donations and grant support, we plan to add new garden beds so more students and teachers can have a personal stake in the garden. If your class would like to be involved, please send an email to southpointepta@gmail.com.

Welcome to 2010!

2010-01-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

If we have one resolution at the garden this year, it is to expand student participation. Over the break, while tomatoes proliferated and banana trees grew to new heights, we planned for a student takeover of the garden. Starting this month, an afterschool gardening class will be offered at SPE for kids from grades K-6th. Jamee Garland - a teacher, green activist and environmentalist - will lead the classes with appearances by guest lecturers. We would also like to welcome our new garden caretakers: the students in Ms. Hendrickson’s, Mr. Bogart’s, Mr. Londoño’s and Ms. Brisuela’s classrooms and Ms. Arsenault’s Save the Planet club. The classes and afterschool clubs will each inherit half a garden bed to cultivate. At the garden we are happy to turn over many new leaves in 2010! Watch us grow.

Giving Thanks

2009-12-02T07:30:00.001-08:00

At the garden, we have many reasons to be thankful:

Thank you to everyone who worked in the Banana Grove last month. It was exhausting, but the cloud cover, bagels, coffee, muffins and camaraderie made it all bearable. Thank you to Jonathan who delivered and unloaded a truckload of mulch, to Steve who tilled the Smoothie Garden and to Neal, Liz, Leslie, Rasheeda, Katie, Victoria, Kimberly and Peter who pulled up roots, unloaded bags of mulch and spread it around. Thank you to baby Jack who sat quietly while his mum, Katie, worked!

Thank you to Peter who put the new bed together and to Kimberly and Catherine who spread tarp underneath it and to Neal who filled it with good soil, peat moss and vermiculite.

Thank you to Steve who tilled the sunflower bed, to Neal and Andy who brought up the soil and to Victoria who spread the soil. It was a communal effort - and we are fortunate to have so many parents on board who aren't afraid to get dirty ;-).

In the next few months, we’re transitioning garden plots to classroom teachers who have shown interest. We have identified the teachers and will work closely with them in the upcoming months. We are thankful for their adventurous spirit and enthusiasm for the gardens!

Thank you to Adam Mopsick, who is working on irrigating the gardens.

Special thank you to Jason Russell, Andy Augusta and Andy Prescott for putting the shed together! Once it's secured, we'll have a place to store all the garden supplies! And, thank you to Eric and Victoria Elliott for bringing hundreds of pounds of bricks to the Banana Grove, which will act as a border to keep the mulch in. Thank you to the random volunteer who helped me lay some of the bricks.

We've also begun a butterfly garden by the school store in memory of Betty Arsenault's father who passed away last month. Thank you to Jason Russell for transplanting the Porte Weed and Small Milkweed plants and to our children who cleaned out the Sunflower bed and sowed seeds.

Thank you to the Criscitos and the Benzels for their generous donations to the garden. With their donations we’ll be able to purchase more butterfly-attracting plants to the gardens and seeds for the teachers to sow in the new year.

Thank you to Geane and to the school administration, which continues to support our efforts as the garden grows! New grass on the great lawn compliments our green efforts.

Thank you to the plants which grow and proper almost in spite of us – our green cherry tomatoes are now turning red, the heirlooms are rounding out and the broccoli plants have just sprouted tiny heads.

Thank you to chef Cindy Hill who uses the produce from the garden in her cooking class!

Thank you to all the green garden volunteers for all their work – their minds and their muscle! Without them, none of this would be possible.

Harvest/Update

2009-10-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a grant from Slow Food Miami, our garden will continue to grow! This weekend at Fairchild's Edible Garden Festival, SPE's Organic Edible Garden was given a garden bed and a check for supplies on behalf of Slow Food Miami! We are grateful to Slow Food Miami for supporting the garden. The third garden bed will be installed in November!

We are also grateful for a grant from Les Dames D'Escoffier International, which will enable us to buy a much-needed shed and other supplies for the garden!

A little over 6 weeks after the garden was seeded and planted, we now have Genovese basil, lime basil, chard, mesclun, collards, yellow squash and cucumbers! Ms. Brisuela's 2nd grade class harvested basil and made pesto (which 28 out of 30 children ate happily!), and Chef Cindy Hill will incorporate some of our bounty into her cooking class this week. To spread the love, organic veggie style, some produce will be bagged and sold on the cheap at the PTA's Pumpkin Patch this week.

While the garden is prospering, it hasn't been all roses: we lost one papaya tree to the school groundskeeper's lawnmower, and a few sunflower seedlings to the same lawnmower, and a caterpillar infestation ate most of the beans. But, we're learning quickly from our mistakes: The caterpillars we found eating the beans were relocated into habitats, which were distributed among teachers. And the Smoothie Garden and Sunflower garden will undergo changes in November, which will eradicate the need for lawnmowers to graze nearby.

Our garden signs are also a work in progress. They were re-varnished last week and will be slowly incorporated back into the beds.

On the compost side of things, Ms. Brisuela’s class has begun adding lunch scraps to our outdoor composters and Ms. Arsenault’s class is hosting a 5-tier worm hut. Lanette Sobel, from Fertile Earth, donated some worm tea to the garden, which has kept our plants (if not our volunteers) very happy.

Students continue to circle the garden before and after school and at recess. After witnessing the cucumbers this morning, my first grader said, “I can’t believe we’re actually growing things!”

Coming up next: Save the Date for more digging on 11/12, sheds r us, fence/don't fence it in.

Bamboo

2009-10-09T12:49:00.001-07:00

Bamboo guru and artist, Brad Hallock, came to the garden today to install cool bamboo teepees and temple-entrance-like trellises for our vines to climb and heavier plants to grow against. Where art meets function, please stop by the garden to see this latest installation. (See slideshow for more pics.) Also, if you look under some leaves, you’ll find baby squash and baby cucs – just as cute as anything. Watch the stems though, they’re prickly – and we’re reminded that Mother Nature is at once a fierce protector and provider.

Signs and Worms!

2009-10-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

Please stop by the garden to see the signs created by SPE students. They add color, life and the children's touch to our growing garden! Mr. Balzano's class also began a sunflower garden by the school store this week. Please stop by to wish it well.

Also, please join us for a WORM WORKSHOP, presented by the SPE PTA and the Save the Planet Club: this THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH AT 3PM AT SPE MEDIA CENTER: Led by Lannete Sobel from the Fertile Earth Foundation, SPE children will learn about the importance of worms and worm composting in the garden. In the hands‐on workshop, Ms. Sobel will help the children build a worm box for the SPE Organic Edible Garden. Children will be able to ask all their questions about these incredible forgotten little creatures that are so important for us all! FREE! ALL GRADES AND AGES WELCOME!

Going Bananas and New Growth!

2009-09-25T08:28:00.001-07:00

Please see the updated slideshow for pictures of our garden's growth taken this morning by Sophia Elliott, a 4th grader at SPE.

The garden beds now boast 5" tall tomato plants, bursting mesclun, tall beans, climbing cucumbers and squat squash leaves. Herbs are slowly sprouting: the basil plants are the first to show their small green heads.

The voracious pumpkin plant was moved to an area by the school fence where it will have plenty of room to climb and conquer.

The Banana Grove, one part of the smoothie garden, has been planted on the East side of the school. The transplanting went smoothly with only a few trees going into temporary shock. Now even the starkest banana trees have new growth! In addition to the banana trees, two baby papayas trees were also planted.

Garden signs are being created – as we speak - by the afterschool Art enrichment classes. Our garden logo and art guru, Liz Atlan, painted a beautiful prototype for the children to use as a guide.

There is much to look forward to in the coming months. If you haven’t seen what we’ve been up to, stop by the garden, add a bit of water, pull up a weed and give our plants love.

Stay tuned for compost and rain barrels...

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden's Edible Garden Festival

2009-09-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

Fun for the whole family!

The Edible Garden Festival
Featuring the Scarecrow Contest

Saturday and Sunday, October 24-25
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Fairchild's Edible Garden Festival will show you how to create a fruit and vegetable garden in your backyard or as a container garden for you porch. Informative lectures, cooking demonstrations, delicious foods, plant vendors and demonstrations will also be available. Come and sample local products, learn from renowned chefs, enjoy kid's activities and cast your vote in the first South Florida scarecrow contest.

In the News...

2009-09-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Our garden is in the Neighbors section of The Miami Herald today: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/communities/story/1222366.html !!!!

Seeding the Garden

2009-09-08T18:19:00.001-07:00

We're working in the garden this Thursday from about 7:30 am till noon. What's to be done: building a composter, watering coconut palms and banana trees, preparing seedling pots (gifts for SPE students), measuring the garden beds into square feet and - finally - seeding the garden! Students and their teachers will join on a volunteer basis from 9:00 on, and we'll need extra hands in the soil. Hope to see you there!

On Growing Tropical Plants

2009-09-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Found a great link to tropical plant growing, which includes very detailed instructions for for growing pineapples from storebought fruit: http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com

Scenes from Installation Day

2009-09-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

For more pictures, click on the slideshow in the sidebar.

2009-09-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

On Garden Installation Day...

2009-09-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

Our Hero, Dennis Finneran from Miami Victory Gardens, arrived at school at the somewhat ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. yesterday. He pulled up in his white (and orange) stallion, a fully loaded U-Haul weighted down with gorgeous cedar planks and bags of black gold, stunning organic soil in a gazillion twisty-tied bags.

Unfortunately, despite her calm and charming attempts, Catherine, could not persuade our otherwise fabulous school maintenance man, Jorge to open the gates so the truck could pull up to our site.

So, instead, the guys—with almost no perceptible mumbling--pitched in to lug the 100 or so bags by hand from the loading dock, down the hall, down the stairs and into the beds.

That is, once those suckers got bolted together. Note for next time: bring extra drills, bits, and a power cord!! Okay, so, some of our holes were not exactly lined up. But, thanks to Ms. Fishman’s and Terry’s keen eyes and persistence, our beds were.

The Neighbors reporter and photographer, Paradis and Daniel were so very wonderful to have with us. Thanks, guys!

We had a real buzz going. And, yes, Catherine and I freaked out a bit. But with the help of a truly staunch crew of parent volunteers we recovered. Please take a bow: Terry, Neal, Teresa, Clara, Liz, Okan, Tiffany, Geane, Chino, Helen, Leslie, Kristin, Giancarlo, Steve, Helen, Adam, Andy, Leslie, Jaleh, Eric and Carmen!!

We managed to get the beds in just around 9:30 –only about half an hour past our deadline, which is actually very early if using a Miami watch.

The best part was that from the minute we got there, yesterday and today, kids swarmed like buzzing bees. "Can I help?", "I want to plant", "How can I join?"

And help they did. Each of the 508 South Pointe students shoveled dirt into the beds and few fifth graders planted our marigolds to help discourage bugs. They held their new and quite gorgeous royal blue SPE flags with new real pride.

Others settled in at the picnic tables to come up with their personal garden wish list. Daniella said “I want berries, just berries.”

Berries may take a while, but at least now we do have beds.

And I am sure, we will all sleep well tonight knowing what hard work we did to get our garden growing.

Next up: worms, seeds and bananas.

Garden Installation Day

2009-08-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

The garden will be installed by Miami Victory Gardens and PTA parent volunteers this Thursday, September 3rd beginning at 7:30am. Please bring shovels, rakes and strength and join the effort!

On another note, we are still collecting donations for the garden: Shovels, trowels, kid-size gardening tools, watering cans, empty milk jugs and detergent containers, wood and cash are welcome and very much appreciated!

Thank you!

Welcome to the Garden!

2009-07-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to SPE's Organic Edible Garden blogspot! Here we'll keep track of the garden's growth. Please check often for pictures and updates.