Whittier School Gardens

May 31 Workday

cgreene — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:55:00 +0000

We totally transformed the next door Skender garden from a weed-invested jungle to a clean, ready to plant garden.

Mrs. Gomez and student plant the beans they had started inside

One of our helpers

It was very hot, so we made sure we stayed hydrated.

We also made sure the plants were watered.

Some of us painted with Diane, our visiting artist

Spring Work Days

cgreene — Wed, 05 May 2010 13:54:47 +0000

Family Wellness Night Exercise is critical for health Thyme is pungent Radishes are pungent and bitter: Quack grass!!

Gardening make you happy!

Wear your sunglasses, dude!

Creating a five flavor salad. Apple for sweet and sour

Salad dressing with olive oil--sweet

Lemon for sour

Cutting up old plants for the compost

Using loppers to cut

Attacking the weeds!

Jamiah’s Good Bye Party

cgreene — Wed, 05 May 2010 13:40:08 +0000

Some of Jamiah's fan club

A teacher from Whitney Young stopped by to teach about grafting apple trees and collecting seeds

Bean seeds on vines. Collect and replant. Jamiah planted some.

Catching up

Little gardeners keep getting bigger!

Seventh graders relaxing in Xochiquetzal

Jamiah is on his next adventure: working at an orphanage in Brazil. Here are photos from his good bye party in April.

We spread out compost before the party

Cultivating Failure-The Controversial Garden Article

cgreene — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:27:20 +0000

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/school-yard-garden

Red Herrings Are Not Dinner Food

cgreene — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:24:36 +0000

http://oaklandlocal.com/article/red-herrings-are-not-dinner-food-or-why-caitlin-flanagan-wrong-about-school-gardens

Weep or Reap? School Gardens and Learning.

cgreene — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:08:30 +0000

This is a rebuttal to the article in Atlantic magazine.

http://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/school-garden-debate-weep-or-reaphttp://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/school-garden-debate-weep-or-reap

Mayor’s Landscape Second Place Award & Community Gardener Potluck

cgreene — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:13:06 +0000

Here are the gardeners with the Mayors Landscape Award: 2nd Place for School Gardens in our Region and the very FIRST Youth Community Greener of the Year

Enjoying the Fern Room at Garfield Park Conservatory

The future of our Gardens!

Without volunteers we wouldn't be here!

Youth Greener of the Year

Saturday, November 14th marked another wonderful garden potluck at Garfield Park. Our gardens were also honored as 2nd Place Winner of the Mayor’s Community Garden Landscape Award for School Gardens in our Region and by Andres Villanueva: winner of the FIRST Youth Greener of the Year!

Chicago’s Community Gardens and Openspaces

aldelgado — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:45:21 +0000

Click on link to see us on the map for Chicago’s Community Gardens and Openspace!

View Chicago’s Community Gardens and Openspaces in a larger map

October Workdays

cgreene — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:26:54 +0000

We worked through lovely Indian Summer and cold, cloudy days.

Here's the photographer

Harvesting lemon balm (Melissa officinales). We make a tea to calm ourselves.

A former student returns to help out

Diane didn't make it,but that didn't stop this artist from creating a lovely piece

Taking a break

Love that peanut butter and jelly!

Irene demonstrates how we prepare the tools for winter storage by cleaning and oiling them

We use the chipper to break down plants, so they will decompose into compost more easily.

A close-up of the chipper

On the last workday of 2009, we painted a friendly monster to protect the garden during the winter

This second grader demonstrates proper tool care

Daughter draws while mother harvests oregano for pozole

Cutting flowers for Mom

Harvestfest 2009

cgreene — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:02:57 +0000

The weather was cold, wet and blustery, but that didn’t stop us from celebrating Harvestfest. We had tostadas, pizza and cha cha, played 7 Up and generally had a great time!

Gabriela and Bart

The Perez Family

Scott, Irene and a friend

We raffled fabulous prizes!

Jamiah finally arrived around 5PM

Nelson and Ms. Nora

We gathered on Irene's new ginkgo bench