Garden Time
It's getting warmer! The Giving Gardeners have been outside preparing the land for spring planting. The first thing to go in the ground will be spinach. Until then we will be starting cold-tolerant plants indoors. The owls and kittens, and later the elementary students, planted collard green seeds, which will sit in our classroom windows until the ground is warm enough for the seedlings to be transplanted outside.
While planting, we discussed what a plant needs to grow, and how similar a plant's needs are to our needs as human beings. We also noticed how interesting it is that although plants can take energy directly from the sun, (making them autotrophs) we cannot. We are heterotrophs and must facilitate plant growth to sustain ourselves.
We noticed the different variables that might allow a seed to sprout or stay dormant, such as the depth it was planted, the amount of moisture in the soil, and the amount of daylight.
Outside, the older students prepared the beds by raking...
and removing all of the rocks.
Soon a parent of a member of the kitten's company will help us install a solar panel in the garden!
