Tag Archives: garden

New School Garden at Alta Vista School Finds a Place in the Community

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New School Garden at Alta Vista School Finds a Place in the Community

by Melody Kasulis


On a Saturday afternoon, families from Alta Vista School could be found pushing wheel barrels, shoveling, and making signs at Alta Vista’s “Work Party in the Garden.” The independent, co-ed K-8 school in San Francisco launched their new school garden with a community work-day. Lindsey Goldberg, the Sustainability Lead at Alta Vista, and fellow garden party organizer Jane Mauchly, created a range of activities that included produce sign painting, filling planter boxes with compost, making “zero-waste” snacks and photographing the event. Lindsey is already a veteran when it comes to organizing garden parties. She helped create a rooftop garden at Glide, on Ellis Street in San Francisco. “It’s a great example of place-based transformation,” says Lindsey, and an opportunity for parents and students to come together for a day of shared learning and physical activity.

Alta Vista’s curriculum is grounded in scientific method and emphasizes science, math and technology. AVS also uses experience-based learning and incorporates social development and play into its curriculum. It makes sense that AVS would create a school garden, as the space provides a bounty of hands-on learning potential while promoting collaborative work between classmates and communities, through events like “garden work parties.” Garden classrooms are becoming increasingly popular at schools nationwide. Many initiatives such as American Heart Association’s Teaching Gardens and Let’s Move are tackling the problem of childhood obesity by providing holistic programs and resources on eating healthy, exercise, and gardening. The school garden is a space for students to learn about the environment, nutrition and can even be used to enrich other subjects such as science and math. It really sounds as good as it is- an outdoor classroom that garners a better appreciation for the environment and health while making learning more exciting.

If not for its educational benefits, Alta Vista’s school garden also allows parents to get involved and help out in a community setting. Alesha Bishop, whose son Henry attends AVS, headed over Saturday with her mom and son to volunteer. The event is part of a “service-based” activity component of AVS’s curriculum. “It was amazing to see all the people that came out to help,” says Alesha, who helped paint signs and photo document the event. “There’s art, gardening, and lots of fun.” Alesha always knew Alta Vista was special and originally chose the school because of its small size and project-based learning. It is an added bonus that the school has such a supportive community and initiatives to parents getting involved in their child’s academic space, “If you haven’t done something like this with your child I highly recommend you do. It was a wonderful time for our whole family.”

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Kid-friendly Conservation Lessons

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Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home

Kid-friendly Conservation Lessons

By Rachel Bertsche for Green Goes Simple


School’s out, the weather’s warm, and kids are ready to get out and get dirty. Take advantage of the summer months and teach your children a lesson in eco-education. Call it “Camp Conservation”!

With this comprehensive syllabus, kids of all ages can learn to be a little bit greener, every single day. The best part? They’ll have so much fun getting back to nature that they won’t even notice that class is in session. Who said summer school isn’t a blast?

LESSON ONE: REDUCE WASTE

  • Get Sluggish: Composting is a great way to reduce household waste. Well, worms are nature’s composters — they break down organic scraps and turn them into fertilizer.

Assembling a worm bin is an easy alternative to the traditional backyard compost pile, plus it takes up less space. Setup is easy with these simple instructions from the University of Illinois’ Urban Programs Resource Network.

“Once the bin is set up, kids will have great fun collecting and saving materials to feed their new pets, and they’ll love watching the transformation of garbage into worm castings and rich compost,” says Crissy Trask, founder of GreenMatters.com and author of It’s Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-friendly Living.

LESSON TWO: CONSERVE ENERGY

  • Bye-bye Dryer: According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Americans dedicate about 5.8 percent of residential electricity use to the clothes dryer. If we all used a clothesline year-round, the savings would be enough to close several power plants!

Summer is the perfect time to switch to line-drying. “Take a family pledge not to use the clothes dryer,” suggests Trask. “Instead, let the kids help you find the perfect spot in your yard for a summer clothesline, and hang one line low enough that they can hang their own clothes.”

  • Re-cycle: Americans consume about 140 billion gallons of gas annually, according to the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at MIT. If you cut down on driving by just 10 miles a week, your family will save about 340 pounds of CO2 emissions annually.

So try leaving the car in the garage and breaking out the 10-speeds. “As a family, discuss some nearby destinations that you’re willing to bike to as a group,” says Trask. Try riding to an outdoor picnic or to do some errands. Trask suggests using Google Maps to find safe and direct bike routes.

LESSON THREE: SAVE WATER

  • Tear out Some Lawn: “Most homes have more water-needy grass than is necessary,” says Trask. “It’s reasonable to have a small area of grass for pets and small children to enjoy. The idea is to limit grass — which is a water-needy species compared to most plants — and also practice water conservation when maintaining the grass you have.”

Removing patches of unnecessary grass is easy with a sod cutter. Let the kids roll the sod, which is a simple and fun job. Trask suggests leaving the sod rolls where they sit and placing a “Free sod” ad online, with an estimate of how many square feet you have. “In most cases, the sod will be gone within a day,” she says.

  • Nursery School: Of course, now that you have less grass, you’ll want to put something in its place to keep your lawn looking great. Take a family trip to a local nursery that specializes in native plants. Because native plants are well-adapted to the conditions in your region, they’ll need less water.

“Using the plant information cards, let kids pick out the plants that are suited for the exposure and rain they will receive,” suggests Trask. Bonus: This is an easy lesson in your local environmental conditions, and it will create a lawn that will reinforce the beauty of your natural landscape.

Rachel Bertsche is a Web producer, blogger and journalist who lives in Chicago. She’s written for O, The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Every Day With Rachael Ray, Outside and Fitness. Her first book, MWF Seeking BFF, will be out next year.
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Green Goes Simple: Family Footprints

Spring Fling: Helping Kids Go Green This Season

By Amy Levin-Epstein for Green Goes Simple


Did you become greener after becoming a parent? Then you joined a conscientious club of moms and dads who increased their eco-efforts as their family grew.

“To me, there are two aspects to being green: The first is about how you and your family affect the environment, and the second is about how you let the environment affect your family,” says Dr. Jenn Berman, mother of 4-year-old twin girls, and author of the eco-friendly book SuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First 3 Years. Plus, “compassion for the earth inspires compassion for other people and animals,” she says. Try these six tips from Berman and other eco-experts to help your kids live greener lives this spring.

Make Composting a Family Affair
For Mary Talalay, an eco-friendly writer and mother of one in Maryland, composting is a huge part of her family’s green efforts. “We started a simple compost pile by fencing off a small section of our yard — away from the dogs’ prying noses — and now we literally never throw kitchen scraps anywhere but the compost pile,” says Talalay. “I weighed one of our daily tubs of scraps, and it was about a pound of carrot peels, orange peels and the like. That’s 365 pounds of waste that makes worms happy and stays out of the landfill!”

Go Meatless on Mondays
Switching the whole family over to vegetarianism might be too big of an undertaking for your family plan, but just one meat-free day a week can have a positive effect on your family — and the earth. “Research has shown that animal agriculture is the single largest source of methane, which is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide,” says Berman.

Lead by Example
If you forget to recycle those empty plastic bottles or turn off the lights when you leave the house, your kids will too. “How we act is so important,” says Bruce Harley, author of Cut Your Energy Bills Now: 150 Smart Ways to Save Money and Make Your Home More Comfortable and Green. “The lesson of bringing cloth grocery bags to the store is lost if it takes a 6,000-pound SUV to bring two of us to the store in the first place.”

Rack up Environmental Goodwill at Goodwill
Secondhand stores save gently worn clothes from ending up in landfills, which makes them a great — and wallet-friendly — way to green your family’s wardrobe. “We bring clothes to Goodwill and we also shop there,” says Talalay. “Sometimes I feel like I am renting clothes because we buy things there, my daughter wears them until they’re too small, and back to Goodwill they go if they’re still in good condition.”

Make Showering a Water-saving Game
Kids like to compete, so the most fun way to make bath time green is by making it a game. “Shower timers in the bathroom are an easy and fun way for kids to get used to using less water and taking shorter showers,” says Caroline Howell, founder of Green Beanie.  “No one wants to be a ‘water waster,’ as we call it at my house.”

Watch Your Garden Grow — Together
Have a picky eater? Green gardening is a great way to make sure your family is eating more wholesome veggies, says Talalay. Kids who help dig in the dirt will be excited to see — and eat! — the fruits of their labor. And you’ll rest easy knowing that the food you grew flourished naturally.

Photo Credit: Andy Cawood

Amy Levin-Epstein is a freelance writer who’s been published in magazines like Glamour, Self and Prevention, on websites like AOL, Babble and Details.com and in newspapers like the New York Post and the Boston Globe. You can read more of her writing at AmyLevinEpstein.com.

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How’s does your garden grow?

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Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home

How Does Your Garden Grow?

By Elizabeth Barker for Green Goes Simple


Planting and cultivating a garden with your family can offer a bounty of benefits to you and your kids. Along with fostering your kids’ fondness for fresh fruits and veggies, gardening with your children can enhance their eco-consciousness.

“It’s so valuable for kids to see the direct effect of their taking care of the earth,” says Rose Judd-Murray, education specialist for the National Gardening Association. What’s more, working in the garden gives kids hands-on learning about hard-to-grasp concepts, like reducing pesticide use and preventing soil erosion.

Even if you’ve never picked up a trowel, starting a garden can be a snap! Here, four easy ways to build a kid-friendly plot that thrives:

1. Get Prepped
First, size up the soil quality and sunlight availability in your backyard. Choose a space that sees about six hours or more of sunshine each day. To prepare soil for planting, you can add composted matter (a great way to use the contents of your kitchen compost can, if you have one). Then, loosen the soil to give roots a place to grow, and remove any visible weeds. For more tips on prepping soil, visit Garden.org. Don’t be afraid to start small, says Judd-Murray. “You don’t need to dig up your entire lawn,” she says. “You can just begin with a couple of containers, or go to a garden center and pick up some transplants that pop right out of the plastic and into the ground.”

2. Choose Your Crops
When gardening with little ones, keep short attention spans in mind and include a few seeds that won’t take too long to sprout — think carrots and radishes for vegetable gardens, sunflowers and zinnias for flower plots. And while inspiring kids to try new veggies is a great gardening perk, focusing on foods they already love is also essential. “Children might like to plant raspberries to make their own jam, for instance, or grow the ingredients for homemade pizza sauce — such as tomatoes, peppers, onions, marjoram, garlic and basil,” says Elizabeth McCorquodale, author of Kids in the Garden.

3. Add an Eco-element
To teach your kids that plants can flourish naturally, look to eco-options for pest control. “Keeping plants healthy so they can defend themselves is key, so make sure to nourish them with homemade compost and use mulch to seal in moisture,” says McCorquodale. Building barriers from ground eggshells can also shield your plants from attack, she notes. And introducing beneficial bugs like ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies can provide natural defense against the bad bugs and stop them from chowing down on your crops.

4. Cultivate Your Kid’s Green Thumbs
As your children get gardening, take note of the tasks they most enjoy. “Some kids will love the digging and weeding and organizing, while others will get a thrill from the competition of growing the fattest, sweetest or shiniest plants,” says McCorquodale. To keep that enthusiasm from waning, she recommends dividing the more tedious gardening duties into brief blocks of time.

Setting your kids up for gardening success is also a smart move, according to McCorquodale. “Give the children their own sunny corner and fill it with the best weed-free soil,” she suggests. “When it comes to nurturing their love for gardening, remember that a little success can go a long way.”
Elizabeth Barker is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and executive editor of fashion blog NoGoodForMe.com. Her work has appeared in Body + Soul, Natural Health, Vegetarian Times, Variety and Kiwi.
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How to Conserve Water Every Day

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Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home

Water Wisdom: How to Conserve Water Every Day

By Cynthia Ramnarace for Green Goes Simple

If there is a sound that immediately drives me insane, it’s that of a running tap. And because you have to tell kids the same thing 5,000 times before they get it — “You don’t need the water on when you brush your teeth!” — I hear a lot of water waste as I go through my day.

It drives me nuts not only because it’s money down the drain, but also because water is such a precious resource. I was fortunate enough to see this firsthand during a trip to Kenya several years ago. When you’re living in a drought-prone region and the only water you have comes from collected rain water, conservation is how you survive.

I returned from Africa a water-use zealot, but that was a long time ago. My commitment to the cause has waned over the years. I realized telling my kids not to waste water wasn’t enough: I had to lead by example. So I did some research and came up with some easy water-saving solutions that any parent can easily use in their own homes.

In the Kitchen

· When you wash dishes by hand, collect the dirty water in a plastic container. Then use it to water your houseplants. “Food products in the water enrich the soil and nourish plants,” says landscape architect Shelley Sparks. “They have never looked better.”

· Switch to a self-foaming dish soap, which will allow you to wash more dishes with less water.

· Use water left in drinking glasses to give your houseplants a drink. Either pour them directly from the cup into the plant, or put watering cans in convenient places so you can fill them with each unfinished cup. “Throwing away water that remains in a drinking glass is really a waste, especially when it can be used to water houseplants or plants in the garden,” says Kimberly Button, a green-living consultant.

In the Bathroom

· Check your toilet for leaks by placing a drop of food coloring in the tank. If after 15 minutes your toilet bowl water takes on a new hue, you can be pretty sure you have a leak, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Most water loss can be easily stopped by replacing a worn-out toilet flapper (the rubber valve that flops up and down each time you flush).

· Filling the bathtub uses about 70 gallons of water! Encourage everyone in your family, kids included, to take showers. You’ll save 45 to 60 gallons per wash — not to mention serious money.

· When it’s time to get a new toilet, upgrade to a dual-flush version, which lets you choose a light flush or a heavier flush. The light-usage option uses less than a gallon of water with each use. For times when the toilet needs to work a bit harder, the heavier 1.6-gallon flush will do the trick.

· Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators, which add air to the stream, automatically using less water without sacrificing a bit of performance. A family of four that makes these changes will save about 4,500 gallons of water per year, according to the EPA.

In the Garden

· “Install a rain barrel on your downspout to collect water,” suggests Christian Rogers, a landscape architect with Blackmon Rogers Architects. You can easily use the rainwater, instead of your garden hose, to water your plants.

· Kids love to water plants! But remind them that their green buddies need just a sip, not a deluge.

· If you’re thinking of adding new plants to your landscape, consider ones that don’t need much water to thrive. Sparks recommends planting ivy geraniums, bottle brush, lavender, yarrow and wild lilac.

Cynthia Ramnarace is a freelance writer in Queens, N.Y. She is a regular contributor to iVillage.com and AARP Bulletin. Her work also appears frequently in American Baby and Kiwi magazines.
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How Does Your Garden Grow?

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Green Goes Simple: Family Footprints

How Does Your Garden Grow?

By Rachel Bertsche for Green Goes Simple

If you’re a gardener looking to go green, start by giving yourself a pat on the back: You’ve already taken the first step. The single act of growing food and flowers is a nod to the environment. “What could be simpler and more earth-friendly than putting a seed in the ground and watching its progress? It’s an amazing miracle,” says Sharon Lovejoy, author of Trowel and Error: Over 700 Tips, Remedies and Shortcuts for the Gardener.

If you really want to amp up your green thumb — and thumbprint — all you need to do is roll up your sleeves and dig in. Make it more fun by involving the whole family. “Kids can be involved in all parts of gardening,” says Lovejoy. “Just don’t ever say ‘Let’s go work in the garden.’ It’s ‘Let’s go play in the garden.’”

To keep your garden healthy and safe for the family and the earth, Lovejoy suggests following these easy steps:

1. Use natural pesticides and fertilizers.

It’s hard to imagine that gardening could be bad for the earth, but plenty of pesticides and fertilizers do more harm than good. “The great thing about natural fertilizers is that they replenish the soil without filling it with all sorts of chemicals that can run off into our waterways,” says Lovejoy. “Also, many of the harsh chemical fertilizers kill beneficial insects and active microbes in the soil. People hate to hear this, but spiders do 80 percent of the pest control in your garden, so it’s good to have them.”

2. Skip the hose, opt for rainwater.

Set out rain barrels — or any kind of bucket — to collect rainwater from your roof, then use it to water your garden. “You can cover it with a little bit of screen if you’re worried about mosquitoes laying eggs,” says Lovejoy. “It will save money on your water bill too.”

3. Water your plants early in the day.

A typical household uses more water outside than in, so conservation is key. Lovejoy suggests doing all your watering in the morning. “In the middle of the day, you lose so much to evaporation. You don’t want to give everything up to the air,” she says. Instead of watering multiple times a week, Lovejoy encourages gardeners to water only once but deeply. “One inch of water should soak to a depth of 4 to 12 inches on your lawn. I do a 6- to 8-inch soaking each week to develop long, healthy roots and grass.” Early morning watering is more family-friendly too, since putting everyone to work outside in the high midday heat is a sure recipe for grumpy kids.

4. Buy recycled equipment — or make your own.

If you’re going to use a rubber hose or plastic hand tools, opt for those made from recycled materials. Making garden equipment can double as a great DIY project for the whole family, too. “They sell things to go around trees so you don’t hit them with a weed wacker. Instead, you can just take a plastic milk jug, cut off the top and bottom, and make a slit down the side to concoct your own tree collar,” says Lovejoy.  “[You can also] start plants in old milk containers or make cloches for stuff you want to protect out of the tops of plastic water bottles.”

5. Go native.

Gardeners often opt for exotic plants rather than what comes naturally to the environment. It may look fancy, but it’s not so eco-savvy. Growing plants that are native to your region provides food and shelter for wildlife like butterflies and hummingbirds, and requires fewer pesticides and fertilizers since the plants are already adjusted to the soil. “Natives are perfectly designed with your area so they’ll fit in with all the weather in your state,” says Lovejoy. If you don’t know which plants are native to your region, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Wildflower.org/plants) lists them all by state.

Rachel Bertsche is a Web producer and journalist in Chicago. She’s written for publications including O: The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Outside and Fitness. She’s currently working on her first book, MWF Seeking BFF, which will be out in 2012. If you can’t wait, check out her blog of the same name.

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Green Goes Simple: The Green Scoop

Green Your Kid: Gardening

By Lynda Fassa for Green Goes Simple

There are many fun things to do in the backyard with the kids: picnicking, jumping through the sprinkler and playing catch-and-release firefly competitions, to name a few. But the most memorable — and possibly the best brain-builder — is gardening.

Scientists and pediatricians have learned that kids who garden do better in school. There’s something magical about planting a seed, nurturing it and watching it grow. The biggest bonus comes when the flower blooms or the fruits (and veggies) of their labor end up on the kitchen table. For my family, the experience of planting one seed that turned into a huge pumpkin — about 6 pounds! — was a thrill.

Try these easy tips to give your kids a positive “growth” experience.

1. Find the right spot.
Choose a small, sunny area of your yard — or consider using a window box or joining a community garden.

2. Pick your plants.
If you’re new to this, you’ll probably want to stay away from hard-to-care-for beauties, like roses. The biggest, easiest wow-factor plants are sunflowers, butterfly bushes and mint (which is delicious in herbal tea or salads).

3. Cultivate a stress-free green thumb.
Gardening with kids should be easy and enjoyable, with minimal planning the first season. If you’re too late in the season to start from seeds, check out your local nursery and let the kids pick a couple of starter plants. Even the youngest children can turn a small plot of soil, dig a hole and replant. It’s a joyous responsibility and a great lesson in stewardship for the kids to take turns pulling weeds and watering every day.

Working in the garden reminds adults and children how connected we all are. When the earthworms, the sun’s warming rays and generous summer rains work together, small and fragile plants can grow to become big, strong and vital — just like your kids. Can you dig it?

Lynda Fassa is the founder of Green Babies, an organic-cotton baby clothing company, and the author of two books (Green Babies, Sage Moms and Green Kids, Sage Families). She is a frequent blogger for sites like Grist.org, ParentsConnect.com, Treehugger.com and PlanetGreen.com. Lynda has also appeared in People, The New York Times, Parents and Parenting, and on the “Today” show, “Planet Green,” “Fox News Happy Hour,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” “ABC News” and more.

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