Category Archives: Curriculum

Rain or Shine

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seed-jar-sprouted_02-06-09_I’m getting really excited about our first project meeting this weekend. We all know it won’t really go according to the plan we’ve laid out, but we’ve still spent some time thinking through the first day, the weather, the logistics of getting to know the group and the shared vision we hope to create. 
Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:

Overview
  • Introduce the project and how we’d like to work together
  • Get to know one another
  • Get to know the garden space as it exists now and explore plans for making it work for our project
  • Explore botany basics and the foundation of plant needs
  • Get to know the kitchen and what we will be cooking
  • Make a Thank You note for all the seeds contributed by the National Gardening Association

Detailed Class 1 Plan (Which will be adapted as we go along, I’m sure!)            

10:00 to 1:00 Saturday, February 28th (~One week after last expected
date of frost.)

Theme: Intro to the project, Intro to Botany

Lunch: Vegetable Soup with some of the Favorite Vegetables added

Program Supplies: 
Plant Parts materials 
Potting soil  
Six-packs for planting 
Seeds (peas, onions, lettuce, beets,spinach, collards, chard, radishes, bush beans, broccoli)
Supplies for water measurers 
Journals, decorations and supplies 
Lunch    

Supplies for Families to Bring: 

Rain gear
Favorite vegetables, uncooked
Bowls and utensils for the family      

Class<plan:

a)  Welcome circle and Intros (personal and intro to the program)  

b)  Safety, boundaries and behavior goals

c)  Ice breakers

d)  Plant parts activity

e)  Group A Plant Parts scavenger hunt and Seed Starting
Group B Kitchen Intro and Favorite Veggies

f)   Group A Kitchen Intro and Favorite Veggies
Group B Plant Parts scavenger hunt and Seed Starting

g)  Lunch

h)  Rain Measures/Journal decoration

i) Closing circle, intentions, thoughts on the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dirt to Dinner Reading List

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We have enjoyed many of the resources we are pouring through as we plan the Dirt to Dinner program and want to share our top-picks-so-far list with you. Let us know if you have a don’t miss title of your own to share.

Gardening

Golden Gate Gardening by Pam Peirce who also blogs at Golden Gate Gardener

The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosh, who also writes a regular gardening column for the Washington Post

 

Cooking

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

Simply in Season Children’s Cookbook by Julie Kauffman

 

Learning More

Math in the Garden by White, Barrett and Kopp

Botany on Your Plate: Investigating the Plants We Eat by Barrett, White and Manoux

The Growing Classroom by Jaffee and Appel

“How’d That Get on My Plate?” on the Food Network

“Food Detectives” on the Food Network

 

Good Background for Older Kids/Adults 

Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

King Corn documentary by Aaron Woolf

Super Size Me documentary by Morgan Spurlock

Six Arguments for a Greener Diet by the Center for Science in the Public Interest

 

Dirt to Dinner Field Trips

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We’re considering adding three or four related field trips to the Dirt to Dinner program. Here are some of the ideas so far: 
Rice Soil Farm in Half Moon Bay
UC Berkeley Urban Bee Gardens
Ceres Project – Consider contacting our Food Precurement Coordinator, Chris Sitting, chris@ceresproject.org to volunteer to harvest produce at several local farms.
Blue House Farm
Sunnyvale Demonstration Garden 
Gamble Garden

Project Specifics

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The garden is a natural lab that can bring together a wide variety of skills and interests from architecture to poetry with lots of learning in between. This Spring Davis and I will be using the garden as the base for most of our homeschooling activities and testing out many of the projects propsed for Dirt to Dinner classes.  

Here are some further details about projects kids may be invited to try during the Dirt to Dinner class sessions.

Botany will be explored in many different practical, hands-on ways, with additional ideas from Botany on Your Plate. We will examine parts of different kinds of plants, the wide variety of seeds, test different sprouting methods, try growing similar plants under different conditions and other related experiments.

Butterfly or Hummingbird Garden to test which plants and growing patterns attrack which kinds of birds or butterflies.

Compost Science (Chemistry, Physics, Biology) using, among other things, a Scientific Inquiry for High School students program developed at Cornell University.

Ecology with examples from California Academy of Sciences Sustainability Made Simple. We’ll also be looking at food in terms of globalization, fair trade, wise use of available resources, and culture with the support of many additional resources. Kids will also be introduced to Bee Gardening based on the work being done on urban bee gardens at UC Berkeley or the Great Sunflower Project.

Math concepts including number operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis and probablity will all be part of our garden explorations with further inspiration from Math in the Garden.

Nutrition and Cooking will be covered with careful additions from resources such as the Simply in Season cookbook and What the World Eats. We will also plan service projects around feeding ourselves and others with the help of the staff of the Ceres Project.

New project ideas and individual projects that need a garden home are also welcome.  Join us!

Class Concept Final Draft

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From Dirt to Dinner:

An Exploration of Food, Science and the Natural Rhythms of the Kitchen Garden

Join us for a garden-centered hands-on program learning about food, seasons, life cycles, cooking and nutrition.

Dirt to Dinner will encourage participants to explore full food systems (“seed-to-table”) through both individual and group learning such as compost chemistry and physics, bee gardening, nature journaling, botany trails, cooking service projects, entomology research, food preservation or projects of the participant’s own design.

The goals of the program are to allow participants to:

  • Increase understanding of ecological principles
  • Integrate math, science, language arts and cultural studies through hands-on experiences of their choice
  • Develop an appreciation for where food comes from and how it is grown
  • Experience growing, preparing, eating and sharing healthy, sustainably-raised food
  • Learn about people and communities through the lens of food, its history and world-wide distribution
  • Promote healthy, sustainable living

Learn to make smart choices about food and resources

Group Size  ~8 to 15 kids. Parent participation is welcome.  Registration is due on or before February 14th.

Meeting in Santa Clara near 280 and Lawrence Expressway.

10 meetings, February thru July, to allow us to participate in the Spring growing season.  (A Fall session is also being considered to follow.)

Tuition is $150 per child.  Sibling discount and work exchanges are also offered.

Tentative Schedule

Meetings on Saturday’s 10:00 to 1:00, including lunch

February 28th  March 14th  March 28th  April 11th  April 25th

May 9th  May 23rd  June 13th  June 20th  July 11th

Instructor Bio

Mackenzie Price was born and raised in Southern California.  She always sought out the wild places in her suburban home: building forts in the canyon, playing in the waves or feeding the chickens in her backyard. In high school the weekends would find her rock

Mackenzie Price

Mackenzie Price

climbing or catching some waves.  With a creative approach to education Mackenzie has been a student of the classics at St. Johns College, a student of nature with Sierra Institute (a 2 month long backpacking trip), an intern on an organic farm, a co-creator of a four month backpacking trip and a graduate of RDNA (studying nature awareness and permaculture).  Mackenzie is a part of the Riekes Nature Awareness staff where she works with preteens, teens and expeditions.  She has also worked as a garden instructor for Life Lab at the UCSC farm and garden.  In her free time she loves to cook, play music and get her hands dirty in the garden.  Mackenzie is first aid/CPR and Wilderness First Responder certified. 

Questions?  Email Juli idleman@gmail.com.