Gardening Season Has Started

At Unity Gardens we mark the start of gardening season with the kick off of our classes . This year we are starting off with a 10 week series of gardening classes for adults. It started Saturday at 10am with a nice class on plant basics.

     At 12:30 we had our first Jr. Master Gardener class it was a great class, and I think everyone learned something including the adults , and teachers ! We also had a great time , These classes will continune every Saturday through March . At that time we will continue with another series , some in the Garden some inside . All the classes were held at the Food Bank of Northern Indiana , 702 S. Chapin . Check the tabs above for a full list of classes.

Welcome Myles our latest intern

Hello, my name is Myles Robertson and I am excited to be the new intern for Unity Gardens. I am a current student at IU South Bend studying sustainability. I will be graduating this May. I have been a part of several organizations working to make Michiana more sustainable throughout my college career and am still doing so. My most recent projects have included organizing, building, and leading the campus garden at IUSB’s student housing. Helping plan and build gardens at the Grill Dining Services on campus and at the Robinson Community Center. And I am currently the liaison between the Center for a Sustainable Future and student housing and as the Resident Assistant in sustainability. I enjoy gardening and always have thanks, in part, to my father’s obsession with growing hot peppers and my family’s enthusiasm for home grown vegetables. This, coupled with Unity Garden’s mission is what makes this internship mean so much to me. Thank you for this opportunity and I will be looking forward to working with all of you in the weeks to come!


Pura Vida,

-Myles Robertson

Windpower Class

The first thing many people ask when we decided to hold a wind power class was " what does this have to do with gardens ?" For us we hope to in the future harness wind power to supplement some of the power at our greenhouse and learning center. But also what better way to help young minds grow , and after all growing is what we do .

The Class was put on by Karana Olivier. Karana spends the bulk of his time in

post conflict countries in Africa exploring cheap accessible ways to restore balance to ravaged social and economic systems.



    So what a great opportunity to blend a science lesson with a social one . The class was broken up into 3 sections . First Theroy , Next a hands on building of a small windmill the , and it all concluded with a test of the windmills output . The kids and parents loved the class . We hope to put this class on again this spring.

New Jr. Master Gardeners Class

For 2012 the Unity Gardens is starting a Jr. Master Gardeners Program

The target age group for this club will be 3rd to 6th grade.
We invite anyone to join in . Its Free ! The goal will be to have fun and learn something.
We will be starting the program with a 10 week series of classes held at our office, and classroom located at the
Food Bank of Northern Indiana
702 S. Chapin St.
Each class will have a lesson and a fun hands on learning activity.
Classes will start on Jan 21st at 12:30 and run for 10 weeks . As the weather warms we will have classes in a outdoor garden setting.

Jan 21st Sat 12:30 – 2pm Plant Growth and Development
Jan 28th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Soil and Water
Feb 04 Sat 12:30 – 2pm Ecology and Horticulture
Feb 11th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Insects and Diseases
Feb 18th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Landscape Horticulture
Feb 25th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Fruits and Nuts
March 3rd Sat 12:30 – 2pm Vegetables and Herbs
March 10th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Veggie Tasting for Kids
March 17th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Seed Starting for Kids
March 24th Sat 12:30 – 2pm Life Skills and Career Explore

Hands on Learning

Sara explaining the Characteristics and
how to teach 9 to 11 year olds

Friday Sara and I attended a conference put on by Purdue , and the Lily foundation. What I thought was going to be a somewhat dry presentation was nothing of the sort. The goal was to teach the us how to teach youths. The day started early with sessions on Experimental Learning , and Characteristics of youth ages 6 to 18 . They were 2 great learning exercises.

Working on a seed germination project

After lunch I went to the plant sciences where we learned the basics of the Junior Master Gardener program. Unity Gardens will be hosting a Master Gardener Club with classes starting on Sat Jan 21st . The class was awesome we did 3 different learning exercises designed to get kids involved in plant sciences.



While I was in the Plant Sciences Class Sara was in a nnatural resources class learning the basics of wind power, soil , and water management.
     All in all it was an awesome day Thanks Purdue University for facilitating this day , and the Lily Foundation for funding this great day of learning.

Workshop

Unity Gardens Presents

Teaching Wind Power For Kids
Wed Jan 11th 5:30 to 7:30
At the Food Bank of Northern Indiana
702 South Chapin St
South Bend IN

Class is free , but space is limited so please call or e-mail
Sara Stewart @ 574-315-4361
growunitygardens@yahoo.com

Wind is one of the most poorly understood sources of power

This ia a hands on workshop designed to give you the necessary tools to teach youths about windpower

Come participate in this intro-ductory workshop to wind po-wer, where you will learn the basic concepts of wind power and how to design and build the wind power machines from broken down spare machine parts, and how to make them from scratch.

We will even see which design produces the most power and pumps the most water

We will use props and models to explain the properties of the wind and how it is used to calculate the design and power generation capacity of a windmill. All explanations are age appropriate for children 8 and above.

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.

ABOUT THE TRAINER
KARANA OLIVIER

Peace studies, M.A
Anthropology, M.A.
Interpreter, French
Received training in building 1 KW wind-mills from car parts from Homebrew in Buckhorn, Colorado
www.otherpower.com/

Karana spends the bulk of his time in post conflit countries in Africa explo-ring cheap accessible ways to restore balance to ravaged social and econo-mic systems.
He will only be in South Bend for a limited time

Something to Think About

Nature provides our gardens with birds, bees, and all sorts of insects that are needed to pollinate our gardens. But in this day and age with urban sprawl. pesticides , herbicides , and mono crops we are having a serious impact on the very things that make our gardens thrive. When I grow my garden I always think of it as taking as opposed to giving. I turn the soil I plant the seeds , and then I reap the benefits of the harvest . If I am not careful I slowly strip the soil of nutrients. So of course I try to return as much as I can to the soil . Leaves , Clippings , and composted food waste , and to that end my soil is rich with dark brown loose soil.

JFNew in Walkerton

     But lets not forget our pollinators . We mow our lawns and pull our weeds , and kill our dandelions . So this year think about leaving the dandelions , and maybe leave a few weeds in the garden . Some milk weeds , some Poke weed , and anything that flowers . Did you know the Monarch Butterfly only feeds on milkweed, and birds will feed on Poke weed berries. If you grow a flower garden try to go native.Native plants draw in native butterfly's, and bees.  Herbs Basil, Lemon Balm, Cilantro , all bring in bees . One step further is to plan out a special garden just to attract these pollinators. There are many books you can buy on plants that draw in beneficial insects . Butterfly Gardens , Pollination stations , Bee Gardens , whatever you want to call it , its all about bringing  home the good guys . Unity Gardens will have at least one class on this on April 21st , and I am sure the Master Gardeners will also have a class .
Some Good Resources
JFNew   http://www.cardnojfnew.com/
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/gardening/greening