A Little Rain Never Stopped Late Spring Programming

April garden programming came and went in the blink of an eye. Somehow we are already two weeks in to what we refer to as our late spring programming! Due to CMAS, Colorado's standardized test, some schools did not participate in early spring programming. In other words, our May programming calendar is booked and busy with as many as four elementary schools receiving garden programming in the morning and two middle school enrichments in the afternoon!

Spirits are high as students rejoin staff back in their garden about a month after we last saw each other. Many schools have been doing a great job nurturing their seeds into seedlings which they get to plant in their school garden. For many of our students this is the first seed they have sprouted and they are elated to contribute their own seedling into the school garden. SustainEd is also well aware that not all seeds will germinate, and students will show up to the garden without a seedling, for one reason or another. In order to make sure that everyone can participate in the pride of contributing to their garden SEF brings seedlings, donated by City Floral.

In the second activity students are making spinach smoothies. Pulling from what they learned in April, SEF along side students are modeling that you can consume more vegetables, like spinach, in a wide variety of ways. Mixing the smoothie with simple ingredients such as spinach, frozen fruit, water and garden mint students have been raving about it and leave asking for more! Staff have been enjoying conversations with older students about ways to incorporate and "hide" vegetables in their everyday diet while still gleaning the nutritional value. Allowing students to take creative ownership of what they are eating is a fun way to cultivate a positive relationship with food that is based in curiosity while also deepening their relationship to gardens and outdoor spaces as generative, fulfilling and inviting spaces.

We have had a fun time learning what ingredients are in students favorite smoothies. Many have excited noted things from pineapple and mango to peanut butter and chocolate! Allowing students to get excited about the food we are creating together will hopefully empower them to go home and experiment with healthy foods when they get home.