We are seed-savers! (...and you can, too!)

Hi everyone,

So yesterday we had our second garden club meeting of the new (school) year. So far there are four new faces that might become committed members of our plant-growing, food-plucking enterprise: Mr. Heard, Ms. England, Mr. Savage and Mr. Noel. They are all freshman, and have been joining us twice weekly, wetting their feet in the world of homegrown food. At the first meeting, the kids went with me to the garden and plucked some ripe and overripe fruits, and then came back to the classroom to first taste them and then to harvest the seeds from them.

At the latest meeting, we were pulling the dried seeds off of napkins and out of bowls we had set aside, and packaging them up nicely inside special zip-lock bags:

These mylar bags are great for seed storage as they are 1) tough=very reusable, 2) waterproof, and 3) keep UV rays out. We are hauling in considerable seed to help start next year's garden, but I also want to encourage share members to try their hands at collecting seeds. The main rules of thumb are 1) to separate the seeds from the rest of the fruit, as best as possible and to 2) spread them out on a surface that is exposed to moving (but not too hot) air. Paper napkins work really well! Just make sure you label exactly what fruit it was (squash seeds as well as tomato seeds all look nearly alike) -- and then give them to me the next time you pick up your share.

Unfortunately, our core three club members from this past season -- Jasmine, Ousmane and Tina -- have not been regularly attending the club meetings and also have not been coming out for Sunday harvests. I believe each one of them is involved in a fall sport. Outside of the seniors that helped us get the garden started in the spring, they were the main students keeping the garden going through the summer! Thus, I am currently figuring out how to better advertise the club in the school. I also believe that, once my daytime gig at the school starts up, I will be in a better position to personally introduce the HOP! programs to other students.

Here's to one, two or maybe even three more veggie boxes! Oh and, keep an eye out for my email invite to a SPECIAL EVENT that we're combining with harvest this Sunday.

best,
Mr. Mikulski