Growing Together: Open Forum

Hi! We had a superb Community Chat last week on winter gardening! So many great ideas for keeping kids engaged in the cold season and keeping your gardens in shape for spring. Thank you to everyone who joined! Below are some of the resource links that were shared (and some new ones). If you have more winter gardening resources, please share them! 

Since many ideas were shared in the chat during the Zoom, here is the link to the recording so you can access the chat. This Zoom recording will only be available for a limited time but a copy of just the video is attached to this thread. 

Resources

 

• Winter Gardening Activities for ECE Sites

• Homemade Paper Valentine Hearts

• My Seed Packet (creating a seed packet about your needs and preferences)

• Growing Gratitude Activity Pack

• Hudson Valley Seed Co (recommended by a couple of members for cover crops and other products)

• Resource on solarization and occultation for killing weeds to prepare beds

• Exploring Hydroponics (grades 3-5) and Discovering Through Hydroponics (grades K-2)

• Tower Garden curriculum and lesson plans

• Farmer Brown tha MC rap music video about hydroponics/aquaponics

• Growing Together with Aquaponics Storybook

• Phenology Wheels

Time Stamps

9:55 - Rainy day indoor activities with minimal prep

25:55 - Preparing beds for winter

38:40 - Hydroponics

50:40 - Cold weather outdoor activities

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Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
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Loved all of the ideas shared during the chat! I came across another great resource for bringing phenology to your classroom from the USA National Phenology Network: Bring Phenology to Your Classroom | USA National Phenology Network

This resource includes lesson plans that meet Next Generation Science Standards for K-12 and post-secondary. It also includes ideas for creating a Local Phenology Program at your school, which will "give your students the opportunity to form research questions, design experiments, collect data, and visualize patterns while also contributing to our broader scientific understanding of climate and phenology."

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Amber Keller
Massachusetts Master Gardener
Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator
Natick, MA
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