On Wednesday, September 30th, more than 40 kids and their parents arrived at the Central School cafeteria ready and eager to get their hands dirty. It was great to see both familiar and new faces in the group!
Petra Reitz got things rolling by showing Eloise Lizie and others how to form pots from strips of newspaper using a wooden pot maker. Once the seedlings start to grow, the entire pot can be planted in the ground (in warmer weather) or into a larger pot to be placed in a sunny, south-facing window sill. Peat pots, recycled plant pots and yogurt containers were also availabe for use as containers.
With their pots in hand, the kids gathered around the soil table and listened as Susan Levasseur (in the red shirt) showed the kids how much dirt to add so that their seeds would have plenty of room to grow.
Next, the kids carried their pots over to the seed table where they had their choice of basil, cilantro, rosemary and other seeds to plant. After adding a few drops of water, the kids walked around proudly with their pots, eager to show each other their work and compare seed choices.
Lisa Rue and her backpacker guitar had the entire room of kids and parents singing along to the “Garden Song” written by David Mallett. The song, which will be sung at the beginning of each CSG meeting, will serve as a cue to the kids that it’s time to settle down and listen. For those parents who want to sing along at home, we will post the lyrics to the song on the site soon.
After planting their seeds and singing along with Lisa, the kids had worked up an appetite. Luckily, we had sliced Cortland apples and cider from C.N. Smith on hand for everyone to try. Matthew Strassel certainly enjoyed his!
Thank you to everyone for making the night such a success! We’ll see you at the first meeting on October 14th.
Kate, Korin, Lisa, Petra, Susan and Arthur
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