Pittsburgh Dilworth

Photo by James Souder

   The 2^nd graders at Dilworth have wrapped up the Winter Cooking Program! We had a blast learning about different food histories, cultures and growing strategies, but we especially loved cooking together and tasting the fruits of our labor. Your second grader has a "Food Journal" with all of our recipes - try to cook them at home, and let me know which you like best! The kids also loved sampling pumpkin butter, strawberry jam, sunflower seed butter and whole wheat bread. Try making these delicious snacks at home too!

   Things are gearing up in the garden!  We are crossing our fingers that this crazy winter weather is behind us, and that the 1^st grade classes will be spending lots of time in the garden together soon. They have already been out to examine the ingredients in soil, as we focused on a perfect soil "recipe" in one of our lessons. They learned about germination and plant needs by examining broccoli seedlings, reinforcing their knowledge of plants and Brassicas in their first grade science curriculum. In the upcoming weeks, the students will be tilling our soil (hopefully finding lots of earthworms) and planting a wide variety of spring crops, including sugar snap peas, turnips, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and arugula. We are hoping to have lots of produce ready for our Spring Garden Night on Thursday, May 15 from 6-8pm. Mark your calendars and be on the look out for posters with more information!

  Spring has finally arrived, and we couldn't be happier at ULGPCS! The third and fourth grade classes are preparing our garden for a great growing season. We began by focusing on germination and plant needs in the classroom. We even created our own plants, detailing our botanical drawings by labeling all the plant parts. Be sure to ask your student what the 5 main parts of a plant are, and what their unique plant was! (for example, money, ice cream, pizza, and even video games sprouted from the fruits of the plants we created).  We also learned about vermicomposting, or composting with worms, and examined red wrigglers doing their work! The students drew their own "worm houses" to synthesize their experience.

With the arrival of warmer weather, the kids have finally joined me in the garden! We have already tilled most of our beds, to ensure that our plant roots have enough air. Together we planted a wide variety of spring veggies, including sugar snap peas, turnips, radishes, spinach, lettuce, and arugula. We are SO excited to be eating spring salads before the end of the school year! Finally, we have our Earth Day Event coming up on Friday, April 25! This event will take place throughout the school day, and every grade will be coming outdoors for a different project related to the garden. If you are interested in joining us, please email me at molly@growpittsburgh.org or call 412-443-9654.