Our garden initiative is built to a significant extent on the idea that some of the most important teaching and learning occurs rather casually, when we make connections and then build on those connections. That’s a big reason we placed a grow light and a tray of plants in the library at Albany High School.
With scores of students and staff members passing the display all day long, we Continue reading
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Posted in School garden, Teaching
Thinking about sprucing up your home with spring flowers from fall-planted bulbs? We have just what you are looking for with our Flower Power Fundraising bulb sale. And when you make a purchase, the Vegetable Project receives half of the sales price, which supports our effort to put more grow lights in classrooms and build more hoop houses and generally create more hands-on learning opportunities for Albany students. Please take a look at the offering.
—Bill Stoneman
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Posted in School garden, Uncategorized
Hey, mark your calendars and try to join us, if you can, for a Family Day in the Garden at Myers Middle School on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
That’s Columbus Day weekend. We do this once in the fall and twice in the spring. It’s a great opportunity to meet other members of the Myers community. It’s a huge help when we can get adults working on a couple of projects that are a bit much for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. And it helps us focus on growing plants when we are with students, rather than construction or lugging heavy materials.
We would like to get some heavy lifting done that will prepare our garden for the winter and ensure that we continue growing well into the cold months. Most importantly, we want to sheath our greenhouse with plastic wrap and button it up tightly. But we have a host of other plans to draw on your carpentry skills, muscles and elbow grease. The whole family is welcome. And we’ll surely have some plans for younger folks.
—Bill Stoneman
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Posted in Uncategorized
The school leaders at Saint Anne Institute have kindly offered use of a beautiful heated greenhouse on its campus to Albany High School and Abrookin Career and Technical Center. And as slightly captured in the accompanying photo, we have begun exploring how to put this great opportunity to use.
With as much as 1,000 square feet of heated and sun-lit space about 10 minutes Continue reading
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Posted in Four-season growing, Greenhouses, Planting, School garden, Teaching
Carrot seedlings at Albany High started 13 days ago. Not bad considering carrot seeds are notoriously slow to germinate.
I mentioned a patch of ground near Albany High to an administrator there the other day. I said that I hoped we could throw some compost there and drop some seeds in.
“Now?”
More than ask a question, this individual betrayed substantial surprise that we would still be putting seeds in the ground in late August. So, for the record, yes, now. Indeed, we put lettuce, spinach, arugula and radish seed in over Continue reading
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Posted in Four-season growing, Planting, Teaching
A big thanks to our friend, retired Albany school district teacher George Benson, for a link to a television report about a school garden initiative in Kansas City, Mo. Please take a look.
Quite hearteningly, educators talk about many of the same reasons that we offer for growing plants, and especially edible plants. It can foster eating healthier Continue reading
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Posted in School garden, Teaching, Uncategorized
Our garden at Myers Middle School is fairly hidden behind the school building. The new garden at Albany High School, however, is about as visible as can be. It’s just inside the school property from North Main Avenue. It’s just across the interior road from soccer fields, where hundreds and hundreds of families gather Saturday mornings in the spring and fall. We’re in full view of passers-by on Main. And most of the high school faculty and staff drive right by the six raised Continue reading
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Posted in School garden, Teaching
Jahiaire Byrd digs into salad greens grown in the garden at Myers Middle School.
Fresh greens went quickly on Friday.
We hit an important milestone on Friday: The school lunch program served our produce in the cafeteria. We harvested quite a load of leafy greens and radishes on Thursday afternoon. The food services folks made a salad with it. And the students at Myers Middle School scarfed it up!
We will definitely do this again. In Continue reading
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Posted in School garden, Soil, Teaching
The school calendar does not synch up well with the growing season around these parts. So that is a challenge for project that seeks to create learning opportunities with plants. We address the challenge in a couple of ways.
We start seeds and grow plants under lights indoors. We equip one classroom at Continue reading
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Posted in Four-season growing, School garden, Teaching
As we continue to expand our garden, learn more 
about nurturing plants through the cold months, reach out to classroom teachers and reach out to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, I want to note how much your support means to our effort and suggest a couple of specific says that you can help.
First, would you consider joining our summer garden watering crew? In the best of possible worlds, friends of the Vegetable Project will commit to watering the Continue reading
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Posted in Four-season growing, School garden, Teaching
Strut your stuff in a stylish Vegetable Project T-shirt for $15. It's a great way to show you support creating hands-on learning opportunities for Albany kids.