JOY OF LEARNING GRANT PROJECTS SPRING 2025 by Sara Gardner

ivalentin21 — 2025-04-07 11:57:25 UTC

ivalentin21 — 2025-04-07 11:58:16 UTC

sgill35 — 2025-04-07 14:03:43 UTC

We germinated our seeds and planted our first of the year crop in our hydroponic units. So exciting to see them growing.

sgill35 — 2025-04-07 14:04:32 UTC

Harvesting day! Students were excited to harvest and make kits.

sgill35 — 2025-04-07 14:05:53 UTC

Lots of help needed to harvest the whole system. We had teams of students harvesting the lettuce, drying it, and assembling salad kits to go home.

sgill35 — 2025-04-07 14:06:31 UTC

sgill35 — 2025-04-07 14:07:27 UTC

sgill35 — 2025-04-07 14:08:39 UTC

Finished kits that were distributed to students and staff at the end of the day.

sralph1 — 2025-04-08 14:38:12 UTC

sralph1 — 2025-04-08 14:39:21 UTC

sralph1 — 2025-04-08 14:58:45 UTC

After winter had its way, the Frederick front entryway garden looked a little… unbeleafable. The weeds were thriving like they’d won the lottery, last year’s mulch had leafed behind only memories, and the whole space had settled into a full-blown resting plant face. Let’s say it was giving compost chic.

But even in its tangled, wild state, something special is germinating. The garden wasn’t a mess—it was a story still in the weeds. Plans have begun to sprout, and the LGF community is ready to dig in and give it a glow-up worthy of spring.

sralph1 — 2025-04-09 16:48:03 UTC

Coming soon!

dwolf50 — 2025-04-17 13:42:58 UTC

dwolf50 — 2025-04-17 13:43:39 UTC

dwolf50 — 2025-04-17 13:46:45 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-05-07 13:04:32 UTC

Our first activity was creating soil / compost from trash. This was a whole school activity that had our older students working with our younger students.

fscotthiser — 2025-05-07 13:06:37 UTC

janderson549 — 2025-05-07 13:49:47 UTC

Group photo of the class preparing the beds and picking up trash.

janderson549 — 2025-05-07 14:08:43 UTC

ivalentin21 — 2025-05-11 20:35:29 UTC

ivalentin21 — 2025-05-11 20:36:01 UTC

sralph1 — 2025-05-11 20:50:40 UTC

New plants going in. Thank you Friends of The Boston Schoolyards 😁

ivalentin21 — 2025-05-12 15:11:13 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-13 12:07:47 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-13 12:09:01 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-13 12:10:26 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-13 12:11:19 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-13 12:12:15 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-13 12:13:18 UTC

sralph1 — 2025-05-13 17:15:24 UTC

Today, we were harvesting in the garden.

sralph1 — 2025-05-13 17:17:03 UTC

sgill35 — 2025-05-13 21:28:39 UTC

Our rain barrel arrived and we assembled it. While the plan was to place it in our outdoor garden, we might use it as part of a filtration system in our school to supply water for our hydroponic units since we are not allowed to use the tap water.

sgill35 — 2025-05-13 21:57:27 UTC

Building it...

sgill35 — 2025-05-14 18:06:16 UTC

We just completed our final harvest for the year from our hydroponic units. This time we grew mainly butter lettuce. Time to do a deep clean and store them for next year.

sgill35 — 2025-05-14 18:07:19 UTC

Final harvest

jparry6 — 2025-05-19 20:35:07 UTC

Prepping a long empty piece of land that gets lots of Sunlight.

jparry6 — 2025-05-19 20:36:29 UTC

The beginning of our second area established for Milkweed. There are Sunflowers and Marigolds as well.

jparry6 — 2025-05-19 20:37:40 UTC

Only Native Milkweed plants for our gardens.

jparry6 — 2025-05-20 12:08:13 UTC

Welcome Summer!

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-20 12:36:59 UTC

Building new top frames

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-20 12:37:38 UTC

Transferring soil from raised bed that was pushed into the next one by a snow plough

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-20 12:38:08 UTC

Adding topsoil and compost to transplant existing perennials

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-20 12:38:53 UTC

Adding straw for mulch

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-20 12:40:40 UTC

Consolidated existing perennial herbs into one bed, transferred strawberries and walking onions, added mulch

fscotthiser — 2025-05-20 13:05:48 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-05-20 13:08:46 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-05-20 13:10:12 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-05-20 13:11:49 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-05-20 13:14:19 UTC

Our second all school event was preparing decorations for our soon to be planted garden beds. As we wait for our soil to finish composting, this was a fun way to keep our students engaged with our soon to be perennial gardens.

ivalentin21 — 2025-05-20 14:47:12 UTC

jfrazier22 — 2025-05-20 14:56:19 UTC

jfrazier22 — 2025-05-20 14:58:31 UTC

jparry6 — 2025-05-21 17:47:56 UTC

Preparing the land for the autumn. One layer of Cardboard for the worms, one layer of black plastic to block the sun.

tjackson237 — 2025-05-23 16:09:20 UTC

Our service learning team proposed creating milk crate gardens to beautify our outdoor space and to be "adopted" by individual students who do not have a yard of their own. The project is aimed at helping our homeless and housing insecure students feel connected to school. The project is just one part of a larger initiative to create a more environmentally healthy and welcoming space in the empty area on the west and south side of the school.

tjackson237 — 2025-05-23 16:11:25 UTC

We decided to use makeshift olla pots to retain moisture in the soil.

tjackson237 — 2025-05-23 16:36:52 UTC

tjackson237 — 2025-05-23 16:41:36 UTC

tjackson237 — 2025-05-23 17:16:13 UTC

tjackson237 — 2025-05-23 17:17:22 UTC

jparry6 — 2025-05-27 21:36:27 UTC

jparry6 — 2025-05-27 21:37:32 UTC

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-29 12:53:37 UTC

Adding more topsoil and compost

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-29 12:54:06 UTC

Transplanting the final perennial herbs, flowers, and watermelon

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-29 12:55:06 UTC

This week, we harvested and tasted strawberries, green onions, lemon balm and sage.

jburrowsvache — 2025-05-29 12:57:32 UTC

No more weeds or broken beds -- everything is reinforced, planted, and mulched. Can't wait to watch it grow! Thank you!! 💚

jfrazier22 — 2025-05-29 15:58:30 UTC

jfrazier22 — 2025-05-29 16:00:02 UTC

jfrazier22 — 2025-05-29 16:02:16 UTC

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:20:31 UTC

Scenes from our big planting day - restoring the Peace and Forgiveness Gardens that had been lost to draught and to neighborhood construction.

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:21:51 UTC

Stage 2: Parents and children came back to pour rocks into the "stream bed" of the Forgiveness Garden.

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:22:32 UTC

Students have been a critical part of getting the gardens established.

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:22:56 UTC

More scenes from our big planting day :)

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:23:11 UTC

Scenes from our planting day :)

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:23:37 UTC

Parents and students all helped out!

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:23:59 UTC

It took a village!

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:25:12 UTC

The last stage of the garden renovation was installing the fencing, which will protect the gardens from soccer balls and dogs! This time around it was all students from our lower elementary school who installed the fence.

mgodino2 — 2025-05-31 02:33:53 UTC

This was our flier that went out to all school families inviting them to the Garden Party :)

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-04 15:41:12 UTC

The painted ladies are here!

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-04 15:41:58 UTC

Getting ready to release them...but first we observed them!

fscotthiser — 2025-06-13 16:46:24 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-06-13 16:47:01 UTC

fscotthiser — 2025-06-13 16:47:54 UTC

Planting.

fscotthiser — 2025-06-13 16:48:52 UTC

Building the Beds.

fscotthiser — 2025-06-13 16:49:41 UTC

Marigolds going home with our 8th grade graduates.

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-16 15:29:52 UTC

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-25 14:35:07 UTC

Chanelle posing with milkweed

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-25 14:37:29 UTC

monarch butterfly habitat diorama

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-25 14:38:26 UTC

inviting guests to our monarch butterfly celebration-students displayed and shared their learning

ivalentin21 — 2025-06-25 14:40:37 UTC

we found milkweed in our school neighborhood!

ivalentin21 — 2025-07-06 17:26:48 UTC

garden beauties

ivalentin21 — 2025-07-06 17:27:35 UTC

more garden beauties with the student's herb rock identification

jparry6 — 2025-07-23 19:19:38 UTC

July 23, 2025

The Bus Stop Garden -

Summer 1 -

Milkweed, Sedum, Marigolds, Nasturtium and Sunflowers

jparry6 — 2025-07-23 19:20:03 UTC

jparry6 — 2025-10-02 15:17:30 UTC

SO MANY 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

New England Aster

🩷🩷🩷🩷