Month: July 2016

Growing Media Literacy with Garden Foods

Sarah

Subject Area: Language Arts Appropriate Grade Level: 3rd, 4th or 5th grade Ideal season for lesson: Late Summer, Early Fall Suggested materials: Magazine and newspaper ads (or access to the Internet) Magazine and newspaper articles Art materials An assortment of vegetables, at least some of them garden fresh. What you use will depend on availability and the preferences and needs of your group. Goal and outcomes: Alaska Anchor Standards For Reading, Grades K-12 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually Read More …

Adventure in Apartment Gardening: Containers for the Busy and Mildly Forgetful

sjump

What lead me to apartment gardening: I grew up having a garden, white picket fence and all. As I became an adult and ultimately ended up living in an apartment, I realized how much I missed having fresh fruits and vegetables at my fingertips. I also remembered how much better they tasted. Not just because they were fresh but because of the amount of pride I took in being able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Where the apartment gardening began: So at 18, living in a small apartment Read More …

Growing Garlic in Alaska

sjkesting

Growing beautiful and tasty garlic in Southcentral Alaska is easy and fun! I now grow so much that I have enjoyed giving it as gifts. The dried bunches are very cute tied with a bow.   The Alaska Botanical Garden performs a growing garlic class each fall. I thoroughly enjoyed this class. Much of the information in this post, I gleaned from that class and through my own experience. I also recommended the book Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers by Ron L. Engeland Read More …

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em Join ‘Em

kkneill

Our house was built in 1991. A cute little cottage on five beautifully wooded acres in the foothills of Lazy Mt. According to our neighbors, the original owners had landscaped the yard beautifully. I could see some of the remnants of flowers and berries mixed in with 10+ years of neglect. I have been battling weeds and tree shoots since we moved in! While doing research on how to naturally eradicate these weeds, I kept running across articles suggesting there are many of these weeds that can be used for Read More …

Friendly Composting Redworms

fwroberts

Lesson Objective — Students will learn what redworms utilized for vermiculture eat and the conditions necessary for their survival. Subject Area — Life Science Grade Level — Grade 6 through 12 Alaska Science Standard SC2.3 Season to be Best Complete Lesson — This lesson can be done anytime during the school year redworms are available. Time to Complete Lesson — It will take about 30 minutes to complete the lesson. Materials Needed The instrucor will need a Redworm compost box that been operative for several months. Paper Plates Damp Paper Read More …

Lessons in the garden for the teacher

ecalexander

After the hustle and bustle of a school year, I often find myself in the garden unwinding and thinking about all that happened and how to make things better for next year. Many times I’ve found myself framing gardening techniques within the context of teaching practices as a best method for positive outcomes both in the garden and the classroom. For context, my garden is located eight miles north of the Arctic Circle, in a fly-in only community which doubles the cost of any outside materials for production. The same Read More …

If gardening brings me a bushel of peace–I’ll take it!

nctruitt

An unknown author reportedly said, “Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.” I appreciate this because I am a psychologist, however, it is truly my goal to be a good gardener. I gardened with my father and mother when I was a child growing up in Colorado. We had a very large rose garden and I learned how to prune them and prepare the plants for the Colorado  winter. My father taught me the basics of gardening vegetables. As a side note, my father just turned 84 years Read More …

Greenhouse Tomatoes in Galena

Tim Kalke

Starting the Process… While being surrounded by family and friends that garden, this summer finds me having endeavored into the art of growing a small variety of tomatoes for the first time. There are so many lessons to absorb. In addition to wading through the learning curve of germinating seeds, transporting starts and watering appropriately, a quality location was needed to build a greenhouse.   Having constructed our family cabin on a small plot located on the north bank of the Yukon, the most logical place appeared to be down Read More …