Ghostly Garden....Halloween Fun

Students celebrated Halloween by participating in the inaugural Ghostly Garden events in the Beard School Outdoor Classroom. Despite a chilly start, sunshine and blue skies painted a beautiful backdrop as students enjoyed holiday themed activities including a hayride, dancing to spooky tunes on the stage, mummy wrapping, pumpkin bowling and parachute games. Student decorated jack-o-lanterns adorned the outdoor space, showcasing the creativity and talents of our budding artists! Here's hoping that everyone had a spooktacular time!

Fall Bounty Recipes

As the garden harvest is winding down, recipes are becoming a bit trickier. Pumpkin and zucchini were the key harvest items for this week: pumpkin pancakes (Room 106) and zucchini hummus (Room 108). In Kerry's room, we carefully followed the recipe for the pumpkin batter, but found that the first batch of pancakes was much too bland...an extra pinch of cinnamon and a smidge more sugar made all the difference in the world! Amanda, our toughest food critic, tried them, liked them and asked for more; Ben was skeptical at the initial offering, but concurred with Amanda as the last of the pancakes came off the griddle. Today's lesson: when you're the cook, it's a-okay to dip your finger into the batter and taste test...that's how we learn how to make adjustments.
Zucchini hummus was on the menu for Tonia's room (I'd been so excited about this recipe all week)...however, it wasn't meant to be. Sometime in the wee hours of Friday morning, the zucchini went from ripe to rotting....leaving an awful smell and a slimy puddle. Not to be deterred, we whipped up hummus (sans zucchini) in the food processor with pinto beans, garlic, lemon and a bit of tahini. Spread over pita triangles, the hummus received mixed reviews from the student critics (Javaid and Eric were big fans), but rave reviews from the adult contingent. So many more hummus recipes that we could try....roasted red pepper, edamame, garlic, olive...the list goes on and on!

Scarecrows

Autumn in the garden conjures images of tattered, straw-filled scarecrows keeping a watchful eye on the fall harvest. During garden lessons this week, two scarecrows came to life...albeit filled with newspaper rather than traditional straw (straw allergies changed the strategy). With teamwork, cooperation and more than a few smiling faces, a pile of old clothing, hats, dowel rods and string was quickly transformed into life-sized guardians of the Beard garden!

TWO THUMBS UP!!

I had been keeping an eye on a beautiful butternut squash as it grew the past several weeks. Unfortunately, the squash was being watched by someone else as well and disappeared before it could be used in this week's muffin recipe. Quick remedy....I picked up several replacement squash at Trader Joe's and "planted" them amidst the trailing vines. Sad at the disappearance of our squash, but momentary disaster averted. While searching for kid-friendly recipes, I happened upon butternut squash muffins. Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice combined beautifully with the squash for a delicate and lightly sweet mini muffin. As the muffins came out of the oven, a hush fell over the crowd (due to serious taste testing) and three dozen mini muffins quickly disappeared. This unexpected veggie treat was the first recipe to be a unanimous hit in both classrooms!

Let the composting begin!

After several weeks of preparation, we finally "installed" the compost bin in a shady location just outside of the garden. A garden maintenance day, all students took part in preparing the green and brown mixture for our bin: Matthew and Sara tackled the mulch mountain with shovels and buckets, Ben and Johnny shredded newspaper, and Geraldo, Amanda and Robert collected leaves and foliage. Reconvening at the compost bin, we made our initial deposit, added some water, stirred it up and called it a day! With a little luck and Mother Nature's helping hand, we hope to have rich compost just after we ring in the new year...

Farewell to Basil Fettuccine

Oh, aromatic basil plant, you have served us well this fall....but time has come to bid adieu. Using the last leaves of tender basil, my budding chefs made pasta dough, rolled it through the pasta machine and cut fettuccine noodles. I never would have guessed that making pasta is such a simple, albeit very messy, process. During the activity, the dough went from mushy and sticky to firm and dry...a little bit of something to satisfy everyone's tactile needs (and to challenge them as well). Although student voting wasn't in favor of the finished product, the kids were intrigued by and enthused with the magic of the pasta machine. While the palates of this group may be a bit on the finicky side, they are certainly willing to role up their sleeves and delve into the cooking adventures...perhaps one day we shall meet somewhere in the middle!

Fresh from the Garden Salsa

Salsa... easy, tasty and fresh from the garden!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...and Compost

As the garden harvest is winding down and the plants are beginning to wither, autumn is the perfect time to learn about composting. Thanks to our OT Chana, we have a compost bin that is ready to become an active part of our garden and a great hands on lesson in life cycles. During their weekly trek to the garden, the students in Room 106 learned about the good "greens" and "browns" needed for compost, as well as some "no-no's" in the world of composting. Dried leaves, newspaper and egg shells are carbon rich "browns," while green plants, grass clippings, fruits and vegetables are nitrogen rich "greens" - these are fantastic organic materials to toss into the compost bin. On the other hand, students learned what NOT to toss into the bin: meat, cheese, milk, onions, magazines and plastic. Now that we know what to layer in our "compost lasgna," we'll be ready to begin filling the bin. In a little over 8-10 weeks, we should have rich, healthy compost to use for indoor winter gardening.