The Catawba River District and five partner organizations have coordinated the creation of the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden display at the Southern Spring Home and Garden Show, taking place last weekend and this coming weekend at the Park Expo Center on Independence Boulevard.
The Ultimate Schoolyard Garden features a whopping 18 separate displays within a single 30-by-30-foot exhibit space. Learn about:
Ozone gardens
International gardens
Aquaponics (where fish AND plants share nutrients and water)
Incorporating bees, goats and chickens into your school's natural area. Rain barrels
composting
Inviting wildlife into your outdoor garden area.
Henry Owen with Friendship Gardens put together this video tour of our exhibit. We hope you enjoy it.
Even better, we hope you go to the show, which runs Friday-Sunday at the Park Expo Center on Independence Boulevard. There's nothing like walking through the exhibit and seeing all of this in person!
Show details
See the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden Feb. 28-March 2 at the Southern Spring Home and Garden Show. CLICK for details of the show.
The Southern Spring Home and Garden Show opened on Frday, and visitors were soon streaming through our Ultimate Schoolyard Garden display – checking out the oak-pallet construction, talking with Mecklenburg Beekeeper Association members and watching the tilapia swimming in a tank next to several tiers of hydroponic plants.
We won 2 awards!
Judges at the show were equally impressed. Our display has won two awards!
The American Horticultural Society Environmental Award: for best demonstration of skillful design that incorporates Environmental Stewardship in the Garden.
The American Horticultural Society Award: for showng agricultural excellence and demonstrating the best example between horticulture and the environment.
"This is a tribute to our wonderful Southern Spring Show team and 9 months of hard work," said Edna Chirico, who led the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden effort. "Special appreciation to the LandDesign team for the wonderful design and CPCC Carpentry Teams for hours of hard work, our wonderful Horticulturalists and all the special partners involved in planning, building and now manning this display," she said.
See all of the great displays and enjoy the entire home and garden show, which runs today-Sunday (Feb. 23) and Feb. 28-March 2 at the Park Expo on Independence Boulevard at Briar Creek Road.
To
accommodate snow day make-up for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, the Green
Teacher Network has changed the date for the Teacher/Educator workshop from
Tuesday, February 18, to Saturday, February 15 – same time (9am to 1pm and same
place The Park Expo Center at 800 Briar Creek Road and East Independence Blvd. (next to Bojangles arena ). CLICK for map and directions.
About the workshop
Ferns for show, growing at CPCC
The program will include a presentation entitled Gardening 201, plus other information and time for everyone to network. We will still be able to accommodate a tour
of the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden (under construction).
Cost for the workshop of $10 includes lunch, summary garden guide, classroom tasting kit and
other surprises. Capacity for this hands-on workshop is 100 teachers/educators – so please sign up early.
How to register
To register
for this workshop (Continuing Education Credit) and learn more about Green Teacher Network, please to go www.GTNCharlotte.org. Be sure to both register AND pay online through Paypal (credit cards accepted). For additional
information contact Edna Chirico by EMAIL or at 704 562-8847.
By Erin Brighton Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council
This fall, thanks in part to a grant from the Burt’s Bees Greater Good Foundation, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council was able to add some new veggies to the tasting repertoires of students at schools around CMS. From sweet potatoes to kale and more, students met local chefs, learned new recipes, and, most importantly, tried new foods!
For the past few years, schools around Charlotte have been growing more school gardens, hanging out with more local chefs, and generally increasing their fruit and veggie consumption with innovative programs and projects. Pizza gardens and tasting carts have done a lot to get our kids thinking differently about eating more produce and this recent program, I TRIED IT!, joins the growing number of classroom projects intent on turning the junk food tide.
Have you had your favorite little people try new veggies lately? Get your kids some kale and have them make this amazing Massaged Greens Salad from local chef and culinary instructor Megan Lambert. If you want a taste of the finished product, grab a bite fast! I guarantee this salad won’t last long.
For more information about the Char-Meck Food Policy Council, visit our website at www.cmfpc.org and be sure to join the Charlotte School Garden Network on Facebook! Happy eating!
Erin
Massaged Greens Salad made with kale
Massaged Greens Salad
Recipe by Megan Lambert, RD, JWU Culinary Instructor
This salad sounds a little scary, even for veggie lovers. The dressing makes it really delicious, though, and kids love to help massage the greens!
Ingredients:
1-2 bunches fresh kale or mustard greens
1 lemon for juice and zest
1 clove garlic
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
3Tbsp olive oil
Method:
Thoroughly wash the greens in several changes of water.
Remove stems. Cut the greens into thin ribbons and place into a large bowl.
Zest the lemon, and squeeze juice into a small jar.
Mash the garlic and add it to the jar.
Add the cheese and olive oil to the jar. Place the lid on the jar, and shake to mix the dressing.
Pour the dressing over the greens in the bowl.
With very clean hands or wearing rubber gloves (over very clean hands), massage the dressing into the greens for a few minutes. Really squeeze and mix the greens!
Enjoy!
See Megan's Massaged Greens Salad video
Find this and other recipe videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/CatawbaRiverDistrict
Visitors who tour the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden next month at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show will find hundreds of vegetable and flower plants that look like we plucked them from the future.
We didn't, of course. We just fooled Mother Nature into thinking it's June instead of February. On Jan. 7, the day after record Arctic cold swept through Charlotte, we met horticulture instructor Annie West inside the greenhouse at CPCC's Cato Campus to learn how that's possible.
Annie and Kaiti O'Donnell, owner of Living Color landscaping, are overseeing the task of growing nearly 1,000 plants at three locations for the two-weekend garden show. LifeSpan and Holy Angels of Belmont are also growing plants in their greenhouses.
Annie gave us a tour of the Cato Campus green house and talked about process.
You can see the work for yourself by visiting the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden. It will be on display at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show, Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 28-March 2 at the Park Expo and Conference Center on Briar Creek Road near Independence Boulevard.
Green Teacher Network's Chefs in the Classroom now have four short classroom cooking videos available to view. Megan Lambert, a culinary instructor at Johnson & Wales University, and Sean Cosby, a personal chef, have created the four cooking demonstrations to help classroom teachers with schoolyard gardens incorporate fresh produce in their lessons.
Here are the four recipes. Click, view and enjoy!
The Green Teacher Network invites educators and volunteers working in schoolyard gardens to our winter workshop on Feb. 15. This is a great place to learn and network with people just like yourself.
We'll have several hands-on activities and a cooking cart presentation by Johnson & Wales culinary instructor Megan Lambert. We'll even send you home with materials for your garden!
Here are the details
Time: The Network will meet 9 am-1 pm Feb. 15.
Place: The Park Expo and Conference Center, 800 Briar Creek Road, Charlotte.
Cost: $10 to cover materials and lunch.
RSVP by Feb. 11: Please CLICK to complete our online reservation form.
The program
Gardening 201 – Additional information on launching and developing a successful schoolyard garden. The workshop will offer hands-on demonstrations on:
Composting at school
Planting raised-bed gardens
Using a tasting cart in the classroom, with taste-testing ideas
Gardening 201 builds on the Nov. 1 workshop program, Gardening 101. (CLICK to view several short videos of that presentation by Henry Owen of Friendship Gardens).
Ultimate Schoolyard Garden – You won't believe it until you see all of the ideas our team of experts have packed into the Ultimate School Yard garden. Get an overview of the exciting display we are helping create for the upcoming Southern Spring Home & Garden Show, Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 28-March 2 at The Park Expo and Conference Center. Sneak preview – Our event takes place in the same facility as the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show (no, not a coincidence!). Stay after the workshop for a quick visit to the display hall where our team is installing the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden. Tour starts at 1:15. Professional credit – We will record hours and provide a certificate of participation that can be used for professional credits.
Reservations and additional information
Reservations:CLICK to register for the workshop. Deadline is Feb. 11.
