Sow it, Grow it, Eat it, KNOW IT!

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Director's Dirt
Students in Action - Seeds
Upcoming Movie Event
Local's Lunch
Harvest of the Month Tasting Table
Volunteer In The Garden
Our Roots
Wish List

Director's Dirt

It is that amazing time of the year when we start yearning for spring, warmth, open hills, and birds migrating back to the Valley. It is almost time to dust off garden notebooks, sort through last year’s seeds, till soil, and prepare for planting.

Seeds were the theme this month in our classrooms, an appropriate topic given the season and our upcoming movie event at the Barnyard Cinema. Also important to note are our Local's Lunch and Tasting Table, excellent ways for both students and our community to be involved with our education programs. Finally, as always, we invite you to help us this year in the garden.

Please read on for more information, and enjoy the last of the wintery days that will inevitably unfurl into spring.

Kim
CIB Director

Students in Action - Seeds

"And now we're gonna add some chocolate chips!" The screams of a dozen delighted children ensue. "Wait a minute. Is chocolate a seed?" After a few seconds of a riotous debate Emily announces over the voices of the students, "Yes, it is! Chocolate comes from a seed!"

February's garden lesson had students exploring the wonderful and often mysterious world of seeds. From the mighty coconut to the miniscule flax, kids got to taste, touch, draw, read about, and plant seeds in the classroom.

Depending on grade level, the lesson opened with either a story or a tactile investigation of how seeds disperse themselves (ask a fifth grade what ballistic means :) Following that was a brief review of the parts of a seed and how it grows. This was to prepare students for what they would see over the next several days as their own bean seeds would sprout and grow. First the little radicle emerges and makes it's way downward to root the plant. Next two itty bitty leaves reveal themselves and begin to grow up and up. The students can witness this whole process as their seeds were planted in a moist paper towel and then placed in a clear plastic cup.

To round out the lesson, a seed snack was in order. At the cooking cart Emily showed the students how to make no-bake seed cookies and all of the different kinds of seeds that can go into it. Are oats a seed? Yes! Do you think when you drink a bunch of water these seeds will sprout in your tummy? No!!! But a few students looked worried!

Aspen Kvicala, CiB Education Coordinator

Upcoming Event

SEED: The Untold Story
Sponsored by Classroom in Bloom
March 19^th
at the Barnyard Cinema
Doors open at 5:30 pm; program begins at 6:00 pm
$5-10 suggested donation per person

Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds. Worshipped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. SEED: The Untold Story follwows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. Watch the Trailer Here.

Thank you Barnyard Cinema for hosting this community event!

Local's Lunch

Families and friends joined students in the elementary school cafeteria for a Local's Lunch on February 23rd. In partnership with Classroom in Bloom, Methow Valley School Food Services and local farms served a delicious Washington-grown lunch. Thank you Methow Valley Schools for providing this amazing bi-annual event! The menu included:

Beef Stew made with WA raised beef, CiB garden carrots, onions, garlic and potatoes
Squash Soup made with CiB squash, carrots, onions and garlic
CiB carrot sticks
Booth Canyon Orchard apples
Marinated Green Bean Salad made with CiB green beans
Willowbrook Farms Microgreen Salad
Potato Salad made with Willowbrook Farms potatoes

We hope you join us next time in the Fall 2018.

Harvest of the Month Tasting Table

Each month in the school cafeterias Classroom in Bloom will host a "Tasting Table" to keep students excited about the foods they grow.

In February our table featured CiB carrots with homemade ranch dressing and a coconut curried squash soup. Students tasted and rated their foods on a Star Chart. Most gave their snack a 10+ Star! Here are some of our favorite comments from the elementary school kids:

"These carrots should get 20 stars, not just a 10!"

"I love this homemade green ranch dressing, it tastes so good to my tongue"

“I have never tried squash soup, its yummy!”

Our Roots

Thank you Jim Clement! As a new volunteer with CiB, Jim is using his creativity and woodworking skills to beautify Classroom in Bloom this year. He built a wooden frame for our school bulletin board and a presentation tri-fold board for upcoming events.

Thank you to Kathy Dalton, Rebecca Shoup, Katie Leuthaseur, Steve Bondi and Tracy Sprauer for hosting the Harvest of the Month Tasting Table in the schools’ cafeterias.

Thank you Alisa Malloch for being a super star ambassador for Classroom in Bloom! She frequently helps us in the garden and is our liaison with the Winthrop Kiwanis Club to help raise funds for our future greenhouse.

Finally, thank you to Booth Canyon Orchard, Willowbrook Farms, and Bluebird Grain Farms for your tremendous support during our Local's Lunch!

Thank you!

Volunteer In The Garden

Weekly garden programs will begin as students return from spring break. We will be out in the garden Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting April 11. We would love for you to be involved! Some specific tasks you can help with are:

1. Supervise small groups of elementary school kids during garden lessons
2. Help plant seed starts
3. Weeding, soil prep, compost turning, and other hands-on gardening labor

If you would like to volunteer in the garden this spring and/or assist with K-5^th grade students, please contact Kim@ClassroominBloom.org.

Thank you in advance!

LBHS physics students test their experimental greenhouses for heat retention on a sunny winter's day!

Wish List

Classroom in Bloom is in need of a few items that we update monthly. We've had some generous (big and small) help, so thank you! If you have any of these items listed below in gently used condition, please let us know. We will gladly organize a pickup. Thank you for helping us recycle goods instead of buying new.

Contact kim@classroominbloom.org to organize pickups. All donations are tax deductible.

2017 favorite seeds that are unique, colorful, and fun for kids to grow
Hula Hoe
Hand spades and digging tools
Orchard ladder

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