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At the 2010 Roundtable Breakfast on Friday, January 29th, the project team of Local Matters, Brookside Elementary School, and Urban Wild was honored with the 2010 ‘Healthy Worthington’ Award. The award is given annually by the Healthy Worthington Coalition to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of organizations, businesses or individuals who have helped to improve the health and well-being of the Worthington community. In 2009 and 2010, the three organizations collaborated in the planning and initiation of a health and wellness program focused around natural development of the school site and complementary curriculum programs in the classroom that emphasize growing, recognition, and preparation of healthy, locally-grown fresh foods.

For more information about the garden, check out the “What is the Three Sisters-Settler Garden?” blog post.

Healthy Worthington Coalition is a volunteer organization dedicated to personal health in body, mind and spirit.

If you have been involved in the Three Sisters Garden up to this point, you will be pleased to hear that planning for the Longhouse design is coming up. If you would like to get involved this is a perfect time to contribute your ideas, thoughts, or just come to listen to the planning discussion. Having community members, past volunteers, and teachers involved is important so that we can capture the needs of the classrooms as well as the needs of the community. Future use of this type of structure could become very broad based, throughout school and community.
The purpose of the meeting is to propose design ideas and plan out what type of Longhouse structure needs to be built in order to support the garden. We want to create a structure that has a roof large enough to collect rainfall for watering and room for working.  We are open to all ideas and suggestions, so please try to attend this informative, decision-making meeting.
300 Spruce Street
Suite 300
Columbus, OH 43215
When: January 24, 2010
Time: 1pm – 5pm
*Please email Principal Fritz Monroe if you plan to attend the meeting: FMonroe@worthington.k12.oh.us

If you walk by Brookside Elementary you will notice the green mounds, but everything else has been pulled, composted, eaten, or left in the soil. Many herbs will overwinter, which means they will stay alive in the winter soil and sprout back up in the spring.  The lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, and fennel were left in the garden and continue to be harvested until we have a hard freeze. All dead plants and rotten fruit and vegetables were either composted or thrown out (fruit and vegetables that contain seeds had to be thrown in the trash in order to keep them from reseeding in inappropriate areas.). Any sunflower heads that had seeds were kept and dried to save seeds for next year’s plantings or to be used in bird feeders; stalks and heads without seed were broken and cut up then added to the compost pile. The raspberry brambles were tied back to protect them from winter winds. All beds were cleaned up and covered with a thick layer of straw to protect perennials and reduce weeds when the weather starts warming up again.

Check back for periodic updates and volunteer information. Thanks to everyone who helped out in 2009!

Three Sisters is not your average garden. This garden is a learning tool, a place for the community to get involved and work together, a provider of food for those in need and for the students who work so hard to help maintain it, and a place of true beauty and growth. Take a look at what some of the volunteers, students, and Brookside Elementary School Staff are saying:

Dan King

Dan King, Watershed
Helped with the bobcat and building the mounds. He came to see the garden when the plants and seeds were being put into the ground. His reaction:

“It’s incredible! We were here two weeks ago, and the grass is already growing the the kids are planting vegetables. It’s awesome!”

students

Andy, student

“We’re learning how hard it was for the Native Americans and slaves and how hard they had to work for everything. We are learning that we need to help to do something environmentally friendly, that we are giving back to the community, and our ecosystem.”

Joshua, student

“This is fun!”

5th grade teacher
“Studying plant life cycles, providing food for community and school is wonderful. We are teaching them (students) how to work together. Gardening is new to some of them. We hope to have a harvest and eat some of the things we have grown.”

Shelley, community volunteer
“It is great that we are working as a team. I have learned how to garden – I didn’t know how to garden. I am planning to help throughout the summer and fall. I love being a part of it.”

MattMatt, community volunteer
“My daughter goes to Brookside. It is a chance for us to work together as a family, learn about sustainable gardening, and make the neighborhood a nicer place. My daughter has fun with her friends here, and will hopefully have a greener thumb than her father.”

Sara, Smokey Row Brethren church volunteer
“I’ve learned a lot about gardening. It is good for my daughter because she is learning to pay attention and work with other people.”

Jenny King, Daily Living Skills Learning Center
“My students and I made a wonderful salsa yesterday from tomatoes, green chili, corn, and peppers–all from our garden! We added a few ingredients that weren’t available such as onion, garlic, and cilantro, which we should think about planting next spring. The kids loved it! Perhaps we could even make our own tortilla chips at some point!

We have tons of dried flowers (statice and straw flowers) from our section of the garden that I’ve cut and dried all summer long and they are still coming. Great for upcoming crafts at school!
This has been such a fantastic experience for all of us!”

It was quite a task getting the garden installed this year with all of the rain we had in the spring.  But we did it and it turned out great!  So far, several bushels of fresh produce have been taken to the Smokey Row Brethren Church food pantry and there are still plenty more crops to harvest.  We have had a ton of exposure in the media and were a part of the 2009 American Community Garden Association (ACGA) National Conference Putting Down Roots garden tours.  The kids are learning about plant cycles firsthand and seeing the fruits of their labor.  They’re also learning about community sharing and caring for other people, as well as how to care for plants and the earth.  None of this would have been possible without help from volunteers and students.

We will have a big fall clean-up in October or November (depending on our last frost date) to remove remaining crops and add compost to enrich and protect the soil from erosion.  We may also need a few volunteers to help pick up compost from Franklin Park Conservatory.

As we prepare for the coming year, please let Denise Gualtiere know if you would like to continue to volunteer in garden or if you would like to have your name removed from the E-mail/volunteer list.  Please contact her at dgualtiere@sbcglobal.net.

Worthington school’s garden holds cornucopia of veggies, lessons

* The garden has found its way into lessons at every grade level; meanwhile, the food has benefited a local pantry.

By PAMELA WILLIS

Suburban News Publications, Columbus Local News

Published: Tuesday, September 8, 2009 4:52 PM EDT
SNP photo by Dan Trittschuh
Brookside Elementary School Principal Fritz Monroe visits the school’s Three Sisters Garden with first-graders Friday, Sept. 4. The garden, planted last year, has become a source of learning for all students at the school.
Kindergarten students crowded around their principal last week as he knelt in the garden at Brookside Elementary School during a hands-on lesson about “growing food on top of the ground and under the ground.”

“When I pulled up a carrot, brushed off the dirt and ate, the kids were very surprised,” said Principal Fritz Monroe.

Monroe and all the classes at Brookside have had plenty of chances to dig up carrots and potatoes and pick corn, peppers, squash and other vegetables, as well as fruits such as red and white raspberries.

The school partnered with Local Matters and Urban Wild last fall to design a “Three Sisters-Settlers Garden” as part of Brookside’s Schoolyard Enhanced Learning effort.

Monroe said Schoolyard Enhanced Learning focuses on “making the schoolyard an effective outdoor classroom.”

The Three Sisters Garden concept is an ancient way of planting used by American Indians in which corn, beans and squash are planted simultaneously in rounded mounds of soil, so the corn supports the beans and the squash forms a natural mulch for the soil.

Harvest from the school garden has been plentiful, Monroe said.

“I just took a bushel basket full of sweet corn over the church food pantry,” he said.

The school is donating much of the harvest to the food pantry at Smoky Row Brethren Church.

“I like the fact the kids can learn about plant cycles firsthand and literally see the fruits of their labor, from spring until now,” Monroe said. “They’re also learning all about community sharing and caring for other people, as well as how to care for plants and the earth, so they will eventually become good stewards of the earth.”

The garden is being used in academic lessons across all grade levels, Monroe said.

“The fourth-graders were out there recently, making observations about the plants and animal life, and went back into class to do some writing about the garden,” he said. “All the grade levels can enjoy the garden. I’m very much a novice gardener myself and it’s fun to see the young faces when I pull a big potato out of the ground — and they were very big potatoes, which was surprising to me too.”

Monroe said a lot of student and parent volunteers took care of the garden over the summer.

“A lot of families signed up to weed and water, so we literally had 95 percent of the summer days covered, with people coming out at least six of seven days a week,” he said. “It has been a wonderful experience and we’re already talking about how we’ll revise the garden for next year.”

One feature of the garden is a solar and seasonal earth calendar designed by former Brookside student Chris Taylor.

Taylor’s calendar has a central pole that casts a shadow and will pinpoint the seasonal solstices and equinoxes.

Monroe said students also will create a time capsule vault for the fall equinox, Sept. 22, and fill it with messages to next year’s students.

“It will be opened on the spring equinox, around March 20, and those students will put in more messages to future students,” he said.

Copyright © 2009 – Columbus Local News

Three Sisters-Settlers Garden is honored to be part of the 2009 American Community Garden Association (ACGA) National Conference Putting Down Roots garden tours. The 30th Annual ACGA National conference is being hosted by Franklin Park Conservatory, and brings together hundreds of individuals from across the United States, Canada, and abroad, who are engaged in all aspects of gardening and greening. The conference is being held August 6 – 9, 2009. Please click here for the complete schedule or to register.

The tours of the Three Sisters-Settlers Garden will be Saturday from 12pm – 12:30pm and 5pm – 5:30pm. Attendees of the conference will be escorted to the garden for information and a brief tour. We are excited to share the beauty of our design and educational focus with others.

We are included on the Saturday tour day along with Church/Pantry Gardens, Newly Developed Gardens, and Corporate Gardens.

School & Youth Gardens
How do schools deal with summer garden maintenance? What will the you learn in these outdoor environments? How are teachers, parents and community involved not only in the garden but the process of creating it? Learn how these gardens can become experiential playspaces, learning labs, outlets for creativity in the arts, offer lessons in nutrition and increase the opportunity to hone math, science, reading and writing skills. Besides all that, youth just simply find the gardens fun!

Many people have asked what is planted in the Three Sisters Garden. Well, there are lots of delicious vegetables, herbs, fruit, and plants growing away! Each grade level got to choose what they wanted to plant in their wedge area of the garden. Some of them wanted a garden for crafting, some wanted a salsa garden, and others wanted the vegetables and herbs that they liked best. Here is the list:

Three Sisters area (Three Sisters is defined in the initial blog post. You can find it here):
Sunflowers
Corn
Pole beans
Winter squash

First two wedges:
For Flower Crafts: Strawflower,Statice, Lavender
Edibles: Sweet Potatoes, Dill, Cilantro, Chamomile (for tea)

Kindergarten and First:
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Edamame
Carrots

2nd Grade:
Pumpkin
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Carrots seeded with radishes
Cilantro, Basil, Oregano, Lemon Balm, Mint

3rd Grade:
Zucchini Black Beauty
Summer Squash
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Edamame
Basil, Parsley, Rosemary plants

4th Grade:
Red and White Onions
Tomatoes
Green Bell Pepper
New Mexico Chile Pepper
Carrots – seed with radish seeds
Garlic
Garlic Chives
Cilantro, Lemon Balm, Mint, Rosemary

5th Grade:
Zucchini Black Beauty
Summer Squash
Pumpkin – Triple Treat
Sweet Potatoes
Edamame
Carrots
Dill, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Mint

6th Grade:
Craft – Birdhouse Gourd
Pumpkin
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Carrots – seed with radish seeds
Lemon Scented Geranium, Old-Fashioned Rose Scented Geranium, Oregano, Parsley – plants
Marigold seed

Staff area:
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Sweet peas
Pole beans
Basil
Dill
Cilatro

Raspberry bushes along the Northeast wedges

Brookside students got to be recognized on TV for their hard work in the garden. The final days before summer vacation Mr. Monroe had each grade level out digging away and planting the seeds and plants that were chosen by their classes. Reporter and Anchor Ellie Merritt from WCMH/NBC 4 stopped by the garden when the students were working to talk to the students. Denise Gualtiere, one of the landscape designers, was interviewed. Mr. Monroe was taped as he informed the students on how to plant their grade level’s seeds and plants, and some of Brookside’s students got to tell Channel 4 how much fun they were having digging in the dirt.

It is nice to be recognized for all the hardwork put in by the founders, students, and volunteers. It has been a lot of dirty fun!

Reporter Ellie Merritt, WCMH 4 interview Denise Gualtiere

Reporter Ellie Merritt, WCMH 4 interviews Denise Gualtiere

Mr. Monroe shows students and WCMH cameraman how to plant seeds.

Mr. Monroe shows students and WCMH cameraman how to plant seeds.

Reporter Candy Brooks with This Week Newspaper came out to see what we were growing. She spent a Saturday morning with us learning about the design of the garden, talking with volunteers, and gathering information on what was being planted and how the food is going to be used. Take a look at the terrific article:

Wednesday,  June 3, 2009 2:03 PM

By CANDY BROOKS
ThisWeek Staff Writer

An overview of the community garden at Brookside Elementary School on May 29. The garden has offered to help supply the Smoky Row Brethren Church food pantry with locally-grown produce.

Photo by David Rea/ThisWeek
An overview of the community garden at Brookside Elementary School on May 29. The garden has offered to help supply the Smoky Row Brethren Church food pantry with locally-grown produce.

Steven Arruda, a fifth-grader at Brookside Elementary School, spreads out a layer of mulch as he and others work on a community garden at the school.

Photo by David Rea/ThisWeek
Steven Arruda, a fifth-grader at Brookside Elementary School, spreads out a layer of mulch as he and others work on a community garden at the school.

Sometimes a garden feeds more than the body.

Students at Brookside Elementary School this week are planting seeds that will advance their curriculum, provide fresh produce for needy families and bring together a community in a shared growing experience.

The Three Sisters-Settlers Garden, which was prepared by the community last weekend so that students could sow their seeds, will grow for years to come on the grounds at the elementary school in the Brookside Estates subdivision.

It is an important part of the Schoolyard Enhanced Learning program at the school. Designed to prepare students for the 21st century, the program transforms the school’s extensive outdoor space into a classroom with enriching activities and lessons that can also be taken inside.

Each grade level will plant seeds for a variety of fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, edamame, carrots, pumpkins, herbs, zucchini, onions, peppers, garlic, cilantro and gourds.

Teachers will have their own bed in which they will grow beets, sweet potatoes, eggplant, lettuce and spinach.

In a section of the garden called the Three Sisters, corn will grow, forming poles for beans. Squash will grow closer to the ground, creating needed shade.

The Settlers Garden section honors the Indians who settled in the Brookside area. The Mingo and Wyandotte Indians’ symbol was a turtle. The garden is in the shape of a turtle.

The Settlers garden will be put in next year. Community members will be able to plant their own sections.

The Native American theme will also be played out in a solar calendar designed by sculptor and former Brookside student Chris Taylor. The calendar will feature a gnomon whose shadow will indicate the solstices and equinoxes, ancient seasonal indicators for planting and harvesting.

The garden was developed with the leadership of Local Matters, which held a community visioning session and contracted with designers Amy Dutt and Denise Gualtiere of Urban Wild Ltd. to design the gardens.

Community families helped prepare the gardens last week, and will take over the weeding, watering, and harvesting this summer.

Sara Wilson brought her children Sammie, 4, and Jamie, 2. On Saturday morning, they wheeled and dumped mulch in their pint-sized wheelbarrows.

The Wilsons belong to the Smoky Row Brethren Church, which serves about 30 local families at its food pantry. Food from the Brookside gardens will be donated to the pantry.

“It’s great and the kids are having fun,” she said. “It’s good exercise for them, and gardening is kind of a lost art, especially vegetable gardening.”

The produce still available when school starts in the August will be harvested and prepared by Brookside students, who learn about healthy foods through their curriculum.

Brookside principal Fritz Monroe worked alongside students and families last weekend. The garden, he said, is an important project of the school.

“I’m excited to see the community coming together,” he said.

cbrooks@thisweeknews.com

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