The late-November weather continues to be beautiful with daytime highs in the 50's and nighttime lows in the 30's. Fr. Skip did a beautiful job with the box covers, which are made with chicken wire, plastic, and hinged with painted boards that match the boxes of the raised beds. These mini "greenhouses" have allowed our Fall plantings to sprout, and the radishes are several inches high! The lettuce is also starting to come up... our garden continues to come to life!!

Fall Planting

The Fall planting took place in early November that included radishes and lettuce. A small group participated on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and the children had a chance once again to get their hands dirty and plant a few seeds!

The Mom's that got involved are pictured below, and they each monitored the activity in one of the 3 raised beds. (Ginny McGovern (left), Christine Peterson (center), Deirdre Tokar (right).

Pumpkin Harvest!!

The day finally came when the 2nd Grade students had the chance to pick their pumpkins!

We had a little help from the Great Pumpkin, and the garden

"yielded" a crop that allowed each child to select a pumpkin.

The day was beautiful, and the children took turns going into the garden to select their pumpkin.

There were even a few stray peppers that were also picked!!

Given the smiles on the kid's faces, I think they had a great time!

Salsa Day!!!

Fresh Tomato Salsa Recipe for Kids...

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped tomato (2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes finely chopped)

1 tablespoon yellow onion, finely diced

1 pinch jalapeno pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced

1 pinch garlic

1/4 cup colored pepper

1-2 teaspoons lime juice

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

dash of salt

dash of pepper

Instructions:

Add each ingredient in order. Stir all ingredients together.

Grab some chips & enjoy!!

Each child had a chance to measure out the ingredients and stir the salsa. Fr. Skip conducted a lesson on the benefits of each of the veggies added to the salsa. It was a fun (and yummy!) way to eat the vegetables we grew in our garden!!

Thanks to all of the parents who volunteered, a special thanks to all of our little gardeners!!

Where Has The Summer Gone???

By early September the fruits of our labor were ready for picking! The nasturtiums were in full bloom, and the tomatoes, peppers, green beans, onions and cucumbers were ready for the table. Maureen Minnick did a great job teaching the children the proper way to pick the vegetables, and we had a beautiful afternoon for harvesting.

All of the vegetables were going into a homemade salsa, which each child will get the chance to make.

Even the smallest of pumpkins were starting to turn yellow and orange...

Salad Day!!!

The children got the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labor! Salad Day took place during lunch, and the students enjoyed a delicious salad made from their freshly picked lettuce...

Pumpkin Planting

Ginny McGovern and Carolyn Scali led the pumpkin planting efforts of the St. Jude School First Graders. Little hands were certainly busy!! Thanks Ginny and Carolyn!