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Yearly Archives: 2013

“What are you people doing with my money anyway?”

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As of October 2013,

  • LCSG has helped create and sustain twelve school gardens (totaling over 100,000 square feet) in Cowlitz County, as well as smaller projects at 4 other schools.
  • 2920 students engaged in past 12 months
  • 280 volunteers engaged in past 12 months.
  • 9,540 volunteer hours in past 12 months.

October 2013 Harvest Festivals:

  • 5 schools
  • 1530 students
  • 1,600 pounds of apples pressed for cider
  • 1,100 ears of Willow Grove corn shucked and roasted
  • 300 pounds roasted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, beets)

LCSG also facilitated gardening & cooking activities for kids in six Youth & Family Link programs and 9 Longview Parks and Recreation camps in 2013.

  • Staff:  one full time program director; one full time Cowlitz AmeriCorps member.
  • 2012 budget: $85,000.  All revenue comes from private donations from community members and local businesses as well as grants from foundations and corporations – no school district or government funding.
  • In-kind donations for school gardens – seeds, tools, equipment, building materials, excavation and construction services, administrative & technology support – total over $150,000 since 2010.

 Thank you – it’s working!

“Feeding Washington Tour” features School Gardens

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A revealing video featuring some terrific agencies (school gardens start at minute 6). This was part of a “Feeding Washington Tour” by 19th District Representatives Brian Blake and Dean Takko on August 15th.

As always, the real credit goes to the hundreds upon hundreds of students, families, teachers, businesses, service organizations and charity groups that have created all this with their hard work and generous donations.

4th of July Parade Info – 2013

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LCSG Float 2011 035School garden kids and adults are invited to walk and ride in the parade. We will have 2 decorated trailers this year, and we are still looking for two drivers with trucks to pull them!
  • Initial decorating: 2:00 to 4:00 and again at 6:00 – 8:00 pm Wed July 3rd, behind Northlake Garden
  • Decorating with live flowers 7:00 am July 4th in front of Ian’s house.
  • We will take our place in the queue at 9:45 – we are #56.  Kids can show up at 10:15.  Find us on 14th Ave between Maple and Broadway – about 4 floats back from Broadway.
  • Kids will hand out lavender and seeds packets as well as candy.

Contact Ian for more details

Cascade Middle School Garden is now online

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cascadeUsed primarily by Life Skills students, Youth & Family Link’s after school program, and Sarah Wirtz’s science class, the Cascade Middle School Garden will soon be looking to expand.

Also in the works: Increased partnership and mentoring with neighboring Columbia Heights Elementary, which has a larger, more established garden.

Contact Sarah Wirtz if you like to help or have any questions.

Help Grow the Rose Valley School Garden

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“Help Grow Our School Garden” is our current motto!

The Rose Valley School Garden is currently in its preparation phase with plans to plant in the spring of 2013.  Macy Grafton, a 3rd grader at the school, is organizing the project with the help of fellow students  Addie Schierscher, Gracie Gann, parents & teachers, principal Dr. Mark Connolly, and Ian Thompson from LCSG. The garden will offer an outdoor  classroom where students can develop a love for gardening while learning hands-on science, math and nutrition.

If you are interested in volunteering  or have any questions please e-mail us at rvschoolgarden@gmail.com.

Groundbreaking at Huntington Middle School

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DSC_0487 (Large) (3)Looking for some good news? Look no further….

Taking advantage of a window of clear weather, we broke ground at Huntington Middle School in Kelso this Saturday, clearing a space for a new 70′ x 100′ garden.

Once again we are thankful and completely humbled by the community support. Jammie’s Environmental donated the use of the tractor and 2 expert (think “heavy equipment ninjas”) operators; Watkins IMG_1010Tractor donated the use of the excavator for the day. ECS donated the silt fence. There was a great turnout of volunteers.

Huntington Garden is off to a good start with funding from Weyerhaeuser Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, as well as Huntington PTO and some private donors. Help is pledged from Kellogg Gardens (soil and amendments), 5 Rivers Construction (concrete forms), and Cowlitz Fence Co.

Kids and volunteers Huntington Garden 091are anxious to start digging. I guess I’ve been saying this for years now, but these are exciting times.

Good stuff, people.