NJ School Garden Surprise

While one of the garden volunteers was cleaning up some trimmings, they stumbled upon these the other day:
 

They appear to be grapes. They're at the edge of the school property on the fence line shared with a neighbouring residence. They have yet to be consumed because they are really hard but what a happy coincidence. 

If anyone knows what they are and if they are edible, we'd love to know.

Until next time...

Garden Progress: Week 3 + 4 Update

 

This is what the garden was looking like during the 3rd and 4th weeks of July. It was overgrown and the squashes were taking over everything. Pruning has happened since then and things are looking a little more tame. 

We had some good flowering growth during the 3rd and 4th week of July. Check out some of our produce:

The summer squashes were taking good shape.

We're not sure but somehow we managed to plant a decorative squash/gourd plant and this is one of them almost matured.

 They're not edible (which defeats the purpose of our edible schoolyard project), but they do look pretty. They're also an unfortunate reminder that fall isn't too far away.

Our beans are climbing the fence really well and are flowering now. Fingers crossed for some beans soon.

The red flowering beans live behind the tomatoes with the red cages and some may say they colour coordinate rather well.

 The snow peas and tomatoes seem to get along rather harmoniously. The peas are rather fond of using the neighbouring tomato cages as a place to climb and latch on.

 An English cucumber growing away.

 The zucchinis and cucumber plants are still covered with a nasty looking fungus. It doesn't seem to be impacting their growth but it's rather unpleasant to look at and to have rub against your skin. Post-gardening showers or rinse-offs are recommended if dealing with this stuff.

 The cabbages are really coming along too. Their stalks are thick and hearty and the heads are hiding behind many layers of protective leaves. Buried in their is a cabbage head that will one day soon make an awesome coleslaw, kimchi or cabbage roll. Hopefully they keep long enough for our students in the fall to venture out to do something like that with them.

One of the biggest issues thus far with the garden project have been the bugs. They look like this guy below:

 They eat all the leaves of the plants and their numbers are multiplying exponentially.

We also have these yellow and black striped cucumber bugs (pictured in the flower above). Their good at eating cucumber, squash and zucchini flowers as well as zucchinis themselves. The garden is not a fan of these guys but countless attempts at getting rid of them using natural, homemade sprays have not worked. Suggestions are welcomed.

Here are a few more snapshots of the garden from the end of July:

 

 Last but not least, one of the garden hauls from the end of July. Beets, garlic, baby leeks, two summer squash, a zucchini and three cucumbers. Everything that could be cleaned up and frozen or stored until the fall has been in hopes that the students, when they return in September, can make a garden harvest feast.

Until next time...

Garden Progress: Week 2

During the second week of July, the garden started to take off. The squash and cucumbers were starting to grow outside of the raised beds and in an effort to keep them out of the reach of the lawnmower's path, some of the plants were staked.

 We have a plethora of squash and zucchinis. Many of them started to squeak out during the second/third week of July.
 
 

 This was the collection of zucchini and squash flowers after the first 2 weeks or so. Since they are very perishable and can't be frozen or saved, one of the volunteers took them home and stuffed them with delicious ricotta and herbs and then lightly fried them in an easy, quick batter.

 Our peppers and cucumbers were starting to take shape this week too. Have a look:

Some of the tomatoes started reaching the tops of their cages and the cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower were really starting to grow.

 A few of our garden volunteers reported seeing a bunny eating a lot of our beans and peas. So far the bunny has yet to be caught on camera but everyone's fingers are crossed that "Bugs" (the bunny's given name) will leave our peas and beans alone long enough for us to grow a few.

In case anyone was interested to see our watering set up so here it is:

It's not pretty but it's functional. As our water hookup is 50-60 feet away and requires a special key, there a few volunteers who keep one of the keys and just refill the rain barrels for the majority of those who stop in to look in on things and water when needed.

Next year, we're hoping to have a closer/easier water hook-up to the building and possibly a more sustainable method of filling those rain barrels. But progress takes time so this is just the start.

More photos/updates from the last 2 weeks of July coming later this week.

Until next time...

NJ's Veggie Patch: Week 1

It's Monday, July 28th. The summer is flying by and already half over. Apologies for the infrequent updates.

The summer has been unusually wet and slightly on the cooler side of normal for Canada's capital in June and July.

There are tons of photos of the garden now but it seems more dramatic to do a quick recap of where things started back in early July.

So without any further adieu, here is a recap and update of the Norman Johnston school garden project from week #1...

 
 End of June - raised beds were completed by an amazing group of students in the wood shop class and by the incredibly amazing teacher, Shamus. It was time for the soil to go in.

 With the effort and help from a group of student/staff/custodial volunteers, the soil went into the raised beds in record time. A big thanks to McKeown Contracting and Big Yellow Bag for their help with the soil.



After all the seedlings went into the beds on day 1, we were left with the start of a very lovely garden that looked like this:


After a week of sun and some tender loving care from all of the garden volunteers, our NJ garden was looking more like this:


We even had some zucchinis starting to really take shape:

That's where we left things at the end of the first week.

Check back for the next post soon.

Until next time...

NJ's Food Grant/Garden Project on the web

Greetings All!






Check out this awesome guest post written by NJ Teacher, Sally Collins. It appeared on the very popular food blog, "Weighty Matters" on June 2nd.

Norman Johnston Alternate Program's New SNACk team with Chef Cezin of Wawatay Catering

This guest post is from Sally Collins, a local teacher and real food enthusiast who was inspired to try to make a difference in her students' education by ensuring their education included a healthy focus on healthy food. Here's how she's going to spend the $50,000 grant she received from Ontario's Ministry of Education in support of healthy eating initiatives. (Who says I never post happy stories?)


I'm a teacher at the Norman Johnston Alternate Program, a high school in Ottawa primarily serving at-risk youth. Our students are great…but their eating habits are horrid! In fact, we did a survey one day and found that only 15 out of 45 students polled had eaten breakfast, and only 10 out of 45 had brought something for lunch. We don’t have a cafeteria, so they weren’t planning to buy a meal, healthy or otherwise; they were just going to go without food. If students do bring food to school, they usually bring it in a McDonald's or a Tim Horton's bag…Ughhh. Not surprisingly, our students often complain of hunger and sign-out early because they are too hungry to concentrate on their work. When they leave the building they tend not to continue working, which means they are not completing their credits and not moving towards graduation.

So, when the Ministry of Education recently advertised grants for schools that wanted to promote healthy eating, we knew we had to apply. Eleven pages of government forms later, including evidence of student need, photos of successful past endeavours, SMART goals galore, curriculum tie-ins everywhere, and signatures of people I have never even met…our part was done. Two weeks later, the Ministry told us that we had received a grant for $50 000!!! Fifteen months from now, our school will hopefully be filled with students who are excited about growing, cooking, and eating healthy food. As I type this it seems much harder than when I was dreamily writing it up in the application…

The first step will be to get the students on board; this initiative needs to be student-led for it to carry weight with their peers. Interested students will join our “SNACk” team – the Student Nutrition Action Committee (with a non-existent “k”). To get things started, we’ll take our keeners away to a camp and offer them some intensive training. In the kitchen, Chef Rose will instruct them in cooking skills, and the rest of the time I will teach them leadership skills and nutrition. When the students get back to school, they will be encouraged to engage others in healthy eating activities. They can create activities such as free lunchtime salad bars, start up healthy eating poster campaigns, or organise a Norman Johnston Iron Chef competition—anyone up for a kale cook-off challenge?

Students will also team up with seniors from a residence across the street to plant a vegetable garden and fruit trees on our school property. The carpentry class will build raised boxes to hold the plants at a level that is comfortable for everyone to reach. The project will not only provide us with healthy food, but partnering with the residence will, in itself, be beneficial. We find that developing intergenerational relationships with seniors or small children brings out the best in all involved.

The produce we grow will be used in our food and nutrition classes and at special healthy eating events. About once a month, a different local chef will be invited to teach students to cook a healthy meal. As relationships are formed between the chefs and our school, we will be able to place students in co-op positions alongside the chefs. Students will gain valuable, hands-on experience in the restaurants and then come back to the school and teach others how to make great meals.

To make sure that students know what makes a meal healthy, we also have a dietitian, Rob Lazzinnaro, who will be partnering with us. He will be teaching students the basics of nutrition, as well as ways to make nutritious food delicious. He’ll also work with the SNACk team to plan a family day, where all students will be encouraged to bring their parents and siblings to the school. We’ll provide food and entertainment while Rob teaches parents and kids to make healthy meals together.

More learning will happen through our partnership with Algonquin College. We’ll be sending students to the college to try out culinary courses for a day or even a full credit. College culinary students will hopefully also give presentations to our students. We will even be able to hire a part-time Algonquin professor to refine our food and nutrition teachers’ culinary skills.

After all of these activities, we will still have enough money left over for a new student kitchen. Our current one is about the size of a walk-in closet; there is no chance we can get our entire SNACk team in that room. By the end of next year, my classroom will be equipped with an oven, a fridge, a dishwasher, counter-space, and cupboards!

We’ve only been able to use the grant for a few weeks so far, but things are already under way. Last week, the chef from Wawatay Catering came in and taught students to cook traditional Algonquin food, including a moose she had hunted and cleaned herself. Next month, our dietitian will give his first presentation to the students, and a carver from the Cordon Bleu cooking school will do a demonstration. Before the end of the year, we’ll celebrate it all with a home-made pizza party.

The entire project is going to be delicious!

Sally Collins has been teaching with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board since 1998, but just started teaching food and nutrition last year. This was when she developed a passion for cooking and eating real food as she worked towards her own 85lb weight loss. She is now somewhat of an evangelist, telling the unenlightened how much better life can be with healthy food. She especially loves cooking for her family, Scott, Sage (7), and Riley (5).



Welcome

Welcome to the site of the new Norman Johnston Alternate School Garden Project Site.


This is a space where we will chronicle a small school's journey towards sustainable and healthy eating education in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.


Thanks for stopping in and checking our project out.


Please check back regularly for updates now that the growing season is underway.


Until next time...