Category Archives: Uncategorized

Science opportunities in new look at old practice

Posted on February 9, 2016 | Comments Off

Cover crops are catching on in grain-growing regions. So considerable is the trend that the New York Times reported on it in a front-page story in Sunday’s business section. Kinda surprising that the article didn’t mention that we have been dabbling with cover crops at Myers Middle School and Albany High School. But it still serves as a helpful reminder that this is a subject worth considering for a moment.

So first, what the heck are cover crops? In short, cover crops are plants whose purpose on the farm has more to do with protecting Continue reading →

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Posted in School garden, Science, Soil, Teaching, Uncategorized

Growing healthy kids as a tax-exempt nonprofit

Posted on December 14, 2015 | 1 comment

We are pleased to note reaching a pair of milestones in the life of the Vegetable Project: We have incorporated, formally establishing our status under New York state law as a nonprofit organization. And the Internal Revenue Service has recognized our qualification for tax-exempt status.

In simplest terms, this means that you can now deduct contributions to the Vegetable Project from taxable income. Thus, we ask you to consider supporting our efforts financially. And we’re making it easy. Just click on the donate button at https://vegetableproject.org and put your contribution on your credit card.

Tax-exempt – or 501c3 – status should also make it easier to pursue grant Continue reading →

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Posted in School garden, Teaching, Uncategorized

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Many ways to participate and contribute

Raising a garden, preparing food with the plants that we grow and creating hands-on learning opportunities with gardens and the food that we grow are labor-intensive Watermelon activities. Thus, we are grateful for, and really depend on, all the participation in our efforts that we can muster.

Here are some of the many ways you can participate and contribute:

We invite you to join us on Saturday, Oct. 3, for Family Day in the Garden at Myers Middle School. We have much work to do cleaning beds and preparing for the colder months ahead. We’ll be there from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
You can beautify your garden and help us raise funds at the same time by buying flowers bulbs from the Flower Power Fundraiser campaign, now through Oct. 15.
We ask you to save Boxtops for Education, found on scores of national brand packaged products. Please drop them off at Myers or Albany High School or get in touch to arrange a pick up. We will be making our next submission in late October.
We ask you to collect those Boxtops all year long, year after year, and encouraging your friends, family and neighbors to do the same. It won’t cost a cent.
We would be grateful if you would consider helping in the gardens on your own schedule — watering; watering and weeding; or watering, weeding and additional tending to plants’ needs. Please get in touch if this might work for you.
And of course, we would welcome you to work with us with kids, during our weekly after-school Garden Club at Myers, for example.

Continue reading →

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Posted on September 16, 2015 in School garden, Teaching, Uncategorized

Giving kids an opportunity to live up to expectations

Posted on June 15, 2015 | Comments Off

The question that arises again and again as we build beds at Albany High School is roughly this: Aren’t you worried that disrespectful kids will trample whatever you try to grow?

The beds near the North Main Avenue entrance to the school grounds, across from the Albany Youth Soccer fields, are quite exposed. Beyond squirrels, however, they have drawn no unwanted attention in their first year. Now we are setting up closer to the building, by the phys ed parking lot. The shortest distance between two points that students could visit might be right through our cabbage.

So to address the recurring question: Without a doubt, something frustrating and annoying definitely could happen. Students or other kids can be disrespectful (same could be said for full-fledged adults). On the other hand, maybe we can foster respect for surroundings and care for a community by building something worthy of respect and care and then make every effort to tell all those suspicious youths under 90 or so that these garden beds belong to them. In other words, rather than conveying expectations that they’ll disappoint again, give our friends an opportunity to live up to the great things we expect of them.

Isn’t that what teaching is all about? Any harm in trying?

—Bill Stoneman

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Posted in School garden, Teaching, Uncategorized

Native plants triggers thoughts about ecosystem

Posted on April 28, 2015 | 1 comment

Look clo Native plants planted sely near our raised beds at Albany High and you will see a line of 11 small ornamentals. Students in one of Larry Bizzarro’s earth science classes planted them last week in a modest observation of the 45th annual Earth Day. And we would like you to know that these plants are native to the Northeast. Indeed, you might say we organized this planting to start a conversation about native plants.

Why?

They ought to be easier to care for than plants that evolved in a different environment and different climate. Also, they should attract the native insects that native birds depend on. “Many bird species Continue reading →

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Posted in School garden, Science, Teaching, Uncategorized

Preparing students for higher education

Posted on January 30, 2015 | Comments Off

Building a program to create plant-based teaching and learning opportunities has its discouraging moments, such as when we struggle to recruit folks to water garden beds day after day after day. It’s really encouraging, however, to come across others who are thinking along similar lines.

A great example is at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, which according to a New York Times account, is launching an interdisciplinary food studies program Much more than cooking and nutrition, food is the organizing thee for classes in subjects as diverse as English, biology and public policy.

It’s hard to imagine a single topic will more important real-world connections than food. And maybe we are preparing students for higher education more directly than we even realized.

–Bill Stoneman

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Posted in Teaching, Uncategorized

Buying flower bulbs supports school gardening

Posted on October 6, 2014 | Comments Off

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

Hope to see you at Myers garden on Oct. 11

Posted on September 21, 2014 | Comments Off

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

School leaders see students growing in garden

Posted on August 18, 2014 | Comments Off

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

Family Day in the Garden on Saturday

Posted on May 11, 2014 | Comments Off

We invite folks to Family Days in the Garden twice each spring and once each fall. And the second spring date is coming right up – Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please join us if you can and even for just a short while.