November 2015
Two Everett families joined Ms. Gardner & Ms. Zipp on Saturday the 21st to work on the schoolyard and put it to bed for the upcoming winter season.
Everett alum and former Environmental Club member Cora McAllister took many photos and reported on the event. Our heartfelt thanks to all the participants!! |
Projects included sealing the new garden shed against water, pulling out invasive stands of locust and covering the raised garden beds with blankets of leaf mulch.
Everyone here is working hard to keep the schoolyard gardens nice and clean. Some people are raking leaves and putting them on the flower beds, which act as mulch. The mulch keeps other plants from growing in that territory and the leaves also decay over time, making compost Cora
We looked in the flower bed and saw a single carrot. After it was pulled out, Ms. Zipp cut off the dirty parts and some people ate it Cora
For the last couple of years, the area above the play equipment has been clear cut in the fall which, while appearing to rid the area of invasives, has actually made the problem worse by masking their existence.
In particular, the locust tree, located at one end of the playing field in the back of the school, has spread around the corner and created a thorny mess. Cora interviewed Ms. Gardner about the problem.
In particular, the locust tree, located at one end of the playing field in the back of the school, has spread around the corner and created a thorny mess. Cora interviewed Ms. Gardner about the problem.
The thornless honey locust in front (has) no thorns ... Someone cut down the thorny locust but didn't get rid of the roots which made more trees, these spring up from the roots to spread. Ms. Gardner and Jeff Folino worked hard to get rid of most of them (using the weed wrench), but someone will have to come back in the spring. We don't want kids getting hurt by the thorny locust! Cora
Some of our volunteers under the dawn redwood tree, a deciduous conifer whose needles turn orange in the fall and eventually drop off the tree for the winter. The dawn redwood species dates back to the Jurassic period. Thought to have been extinct, all of the trees in the U.S. descend from trees which were brought to the Arnold Arboretum in the 1940's from China.
Schoolyard Discovery: Harvesting potatoes and corn
Both 4th grade classes came outside with their teachers to harvest the potatoes planted by the 3rd grade environmental club students last spring.
This is what they found ...
This is what they found ...
Several students from Ms. Gardner's K1 class find the single baby corn, open it up and a few lucky ones get a bite
Mmm Mmmm good
Mmm Mmmm good
August 2015
The Peart family at the last summer workday
Students from Tech Boston Academy with their headmaster Keith Love lend a hand at the Everett
A mid July work day with help from Everett teacher Sara Gardner, alum parent & student Dianna Wilson and Henry Anderson, and current parent Azure Mauche
MORE FLOWERS
Butterfly bush ....... anyone?
Wildflowers fill the beds above the play equipment
Photos and captions courtesy of Alicia Zipp, Everett Environmental educator