Happy belated Earth Day!  I feel like we've been celebrating Earth Day for many years, but just how many, I wasn't sure.  Well, it's been 44 years.  First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day has become a day of action in most communities.  Many schools and corporations celebrate by getting outside and working to make a difference.  Each year, more and more people are pitching in and we all benefit this collective effort to make this a better place to live.  Interested in reading more about Earth Day's evolution, here's a National Geographic summary.

Working with Kids:  School gardens are becoming more and more popular in the Montco/Phila areas.
I work with a few programs and this was a very busy week at 2 in particular.  At Groveland Elementary School, I had the pleasure of working with almost 300 kids!  Each student planted a seedling donated by a local farm - we planted sunflowers, kale, cabbage, cauliflower and kohlrabi.  The peas, planted a few weeks earlier, are already a few inches high!  In addition to the work at Groveland, kids at Buckingham Elementary planted seedlings and peas and their garden.  The garlic we planted last fall looks great, and we may be able to harvest some scapes before they head off for summer vacation.

In our Edible Classroom, our weekly kids' class was all about compost!  We raided the farmers' compost bin for some scraps and then each child made a Rotbot and will track the composting process at home.  The kids also helped to initiate our new 2- (soon to be 3-) bin composting station!

Cob Oven Update:  I've had to change the workshop dates in order to avoid possible conflict with events at The Highlands.  The new dates are July 8 & 9.  Sigi Koko will lead the 2-day workshop and website registration will open in a few weeks.  Prior to the workshop, we will need to build a base and I need some help with this task.  If you have masonary/building experience and are up for lending a hand, please email me, education@pennypackfarm.org.  For more info on building the cob oven, please check out this link to Sigi's website/blog.

Looking for Clay Pots:  A few years ago, we received a large batch of donated clay pots.  The kids paint the pots, fill them with sifted compost and then plant either a seed or a seedling.  It's a terrific take-home remembrance of their trip to the farm.  Well, many kids have left with pot in hand, and we need more.  If you have clay pots and would like to donate them to a worthy cause, please let me know.  Thanks and have a good week.