With fresh energy in the gardens of the Port Angeles School District from WSU Extension’s new full-time Farm to School coordinator, Amelia Depue, things are a buzz.
As the spring weather warms up, students from all over Port Angeles School District have been working and learning about seed germination, soil and plant health, composting and all the creatures that help in creating healthy soil!
Farm to School has partnered with Creative Start which incorporates science and art into their garden based curriculum. This week Creative Start students became plant scientists to measure and collect data about their soil at school and used instruments like thermometers and moisture meters to detect soil moisture. They then created artwork that will be displayed in the gardens to show which plants are being grown.
Farm to School also celebrated Waste Prevention Week! Farm to School got the chance to visit many classes at Franklin Elementary to talk all things compost and investigate soil that had been composted over time. They even met a worm or two!
In school garden news, students at Crescent School kicked off the spring season with their garden club and worked hard mulching, seeding, watering and maintaining their beautiful garden space. Port Angeles High School continues to prepare for their plant sale on May 20th. They have been seeding, dividing, propagating and maintaining a variety of plants in their greenhouse while working hard to prep their ground for the planting season.
Lincoln High School is starting the work to develop a school garden this year. They removed sod this week to make space for 4 large production garden beds and students broke a sweat moving the heavy pieces of sod. They are planning to start building a fence and planting will soon begin.