4th of July Parade Info – 2013

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

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

rosevalley1-1

“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

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.

First Annual St. Helens Harvest Festival

The St. Helens students had the opportunity to experience a Harvest Fest on October 16th. A celebration of the garden, an opportunity for members of the Lower Columbia School Gardens and St. Helen’s parents to teach students how to prepare food, music, games and a really great time.

Click the image to go to the schools website to see more images.

St. Helens “Day of Caring”

“Wednesday, Sept. 12 was the annual United Way “Day of Caring” and volunteers from Norpac spent the day with our students in the school garden. Activities included painting more signs for the garden, spreading mulch, and making tasty snacks from plants and vegetables. It has been a wonderful experience for the volunteers and students. Thanks goes to Ian Thompson for coordinating the day and working with volunteers on the project.”

Click the image to go to the St. Helens School website and to see more pictures.

Update from the Monticello School Garden

“Most any Thursday afternoon you will find us in our garden. Advised by Mr. Smith and the expertise of Mr. Ian Thompson, we have a pretty good garden! We’ve had the garden for a couple of years and this time of the year we get to harvest the ‘fruits of our labor.'”

Click the image to go to the Monticello School website and to see more pictures.

Sept. Healthy Child event featured school gardens

Kids teamed up with a local restaurant to provide the meal; heath agencies dished on school gardens, healthy eating at school and at home. If you weren’t able to attend the Healthy Child Growing Mind workshop at Northlake in September, check out the Daily News article with some great photos and back story on Lower Columbia School Gardens.  http://tdn.com/lifestyles/article_77dc1e02-ec99-11e0-8847-001cc4c002e0.html