Welcome to KIPP Central City Academy's Garden Blog
Located at the Woodson School in Central City, we seek to share the process of starting our school garden and how our 5th-8th grade middle school students have helped develop connections across all grade-levels, classes and with our neighboring community.
Come grow with us and see how we commit to becoming the healthiest school in New Orleans!
If you have any questions or would like to help volunteer,
please contact Ms. Turner at 651-353-8672 or [email protected]
Located at the Woodson School in Central City, we seek to share the process of starting our school garden and how our 5th-8th grade middle school students have helped develop connections across all grade-levels, classes and with our neighboring community.
Come grow with us and see how we commit to becoming the healthiest school in New Orleans!
If you have any questions or would like to help volunteer,
please contact Ms. Turner at 651-353-8672 or [email protected]
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In preparation for students to come back from Mardi Gras break, our dedicated Garden Club students came to school early on Sunday to check on and water our new plants. Unfortunately, with the flux of cold weather, the oak red lettuce plants weren't looking so lively (although the green varieties of lettuce were strong!) After watering and weeding in teams, we wanted to start mulching our garden. To Ms. Turner's surprise, our students couldn't stop smiling because they loved using the pitchforks, shovels and wheelbarrows to see the garden transform. Even though Garden Club ends at 4, one dedicated Garden Club family voted to work for over 2 hours to see our goal finished! Our principal, Mr. Jarrell, came out to support the Garden Club and was impressed with the grit our students showed. Shout out to our dedicated Garden Club families, who always support their students to get their hands dirty in the garden, work hard and come to school on the weekend! With such a positive work day, we are feeling ready to rock school tomorrow!
(Sunday, February 22th, 2015)
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Even with Mardi Gras break, our Garden Club came to KCCA to plant our next stage of greens. The brother/sister duo team was excited to plant 6 different varieties of lettuce (Red and Green Butter, Oak and Incised Lettuce!), Vine Beans, Sunflowers and Nasturtium (edible flowers!). Macon, "The Garden Guy" showed his dedication to KCCA's garden mentorship program by donating all the plants from his Gathering Tree Garden and teaching our team how to properly plant starter plants. We had an excellent day and students worked from noon to 2pm! Their hard work will certainly pay off for our whole school when students come back on Monday to see our garden green and growing!
(Thursday, February 19th, 2015)
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With Macon's mentorship, KCCA's Garden Club was inspired to plant red rustic potatoes in our garden! Garden club continues to do the important work of sifting our soil to make sure its ready for growing. Students were all smiles as they worked in teams and practiced our "Turnip-Turn it Up" safety rules.
(February 16th, 2015)
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With the support of Parkway Partners, KCCA's garden has connected with incredible mentorship opportunity from Macon Fry, "The Garden Guy" who currently leads the "Gathering Tree" Community Garden. He helped teach Ms. Turner tricks for sifting soil, planting starts and strategizing the spring planting plan. We are thrilled to welcome Macon to our Garden Team and look forward to growing into a flourishing garden by March!
(February 1st, 2015)
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Stage 3: Project 3, Thursday Garden Club student volunteers helped sift soil and supplement Eco Urban soil with the current soil mixture. We are sifting the soil in order to remove wood chips that add to much nitrogen to the soil. Garden Club volunteers are learning proper garden tool safety care and real-world problem solving.
(January 29th, 2015)
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Stage 3: Project 2, Sunday Garden Club student volunteers helped add soil after a heavy rainfall compacted the soil. We are sifting the soil in order to remove wood chips that add to much nitrogen to the soil. Garden Club volunteers are learning proper garden tool safety care and real-world problem solving.
(January 25th, 2015)
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Stage 3; Project 1, On January 19th, 45 College students came from Xavier, Tulane, Loyola and UNO to volunteer for MLK Day of Service. We had 6 different projects going at the same time in order to restore our school garden after the frost. Thanks to Mr. Holzbauer, Ms. Morrisson and our 10 KCCA students who contributed to building the garden legacy!
(Saturday, January 19th, 2015)
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On January 13, 2015, we purchased Eco Urban Soil in order to restore the soil that needs to be added to the compost and Home Depot soil. Our hopes that this rich coffee ground integrated soil will help us launch all of our 6 beds that have not produced healthy plants since September.
(January 13, 2015)
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Garden Review for December 2014 with roses and plants donated from Harold's Plant Nursery, students enjoy the flowers in bloom, working with our new compost from Our School of Blair Grocery and finding helpful garden insects in the soil.
(December 1-25th, 2014)
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Garden Club Member tries out our new Donor's Chose Ipad to document and research the new plants donated from Harold's Plant Nursery. We use all our resources for students to learn how to share the gardening steps they have taken to help grow our garden.
(December 1st, 2014)
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__________________________________________________________________________________It's a family matter with Ms. Turner's mother, Diana, and brother, Forrest, all dedicated to help finish the orchard so students can play during recess and others can enjoy the tranquility of the protected orchard space. Families of teachers and students have come out on Sundays to volunteer and help the garden grow!
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