- Note: Please see the 'volunteer' page for current AFG and Friends School information
Volunteer Web Page
Alternatives for Girls: Rise and Shine Program
This summer the Detroit Garden Center took part in Alternatives for Girls' (AFG) six week Rise and Shine Summer Program, with first and second graders. The Wednesday sessions were held at AFG headquarters, 903 W. Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
Susan Stellar, who teaches her neighborhood kids about gardening, helped introduce the girls to their first gardening experiences.
This summer's heat wave made it a challenge to be out in the garden, but the plants did well. Program activities centered around the two 4' x 6' raised bed gardens.The beds were planted with vegetables in square foot gardening style, and six large pots were filled with herbs. These gardens were the hands-on lab the girls used to learn about what they might expect to see in a garden. Watching first time gardeners discover what vegetable plant matched what vegetable, where the fruit is produced, and what it looks like ripe (green tomatoes seemed as logical to pick as red) were some of the teacher's rewards.
In the first sessions, early spring vegetables, such as radishes and lettuce, were munched on. The girls took home turnips, mustard greens, beets, collards, spinach and kale for their moms to cook.
Lavender, mint, rosemary, calendula, and rose petals were dried and combined in tulle wraps to make fragrant potpourri.
The girls learned about pollination and insects, with real butterflies and fireflies to examine.
As green beans ripened, they were cooked. Sliced cucumbers were found to make excellent eye refreshers, Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli, and peppers seemed to taste especially good.
Girls in the After School Program,beginning in October, will still be able to pick tomatoes, greens, dig potatoes, onions, and still more carrots. The four melons finally ripened, and were snacks for the parents' program, and the Shelter girls, along with tomatoesand a gigantic cucumber. The herb pots remain to be harvested for more projects later in the year. What can be grown in 64 square feet of space and six pots? Sixteen different vegetables in the garden, and in the pots, fifteen varieties of herbs we found.
The best reward, on the last day, were the hugs and "this was my favorite program. Can we have a garden again next year?" from some of the girls.
Thanks to the Herb Society of America, Grosse Pointe Unit for supplying herb plants, and the Detroit Agricultural Network's Urban Roots rogram for plants and seeds.
Friends School Partnership: A Garden by Kids, For Kids !
Friends School, a small private school, located two blocks down St. Aubin from the DGC offices,
educates preschool through eighth grade students according to Quaker philosophy. Dean of students,
Elissa Firestone, and parent Kristin Kendall- Holliday of Master Gardeners of Greater Detroit
wanted to expose the children to the pleasures of growing things, and the rich educational
opportunities we all know come from our own gardening experiences. This led to a partnership,
begun last winter, with the Detroit Garden Center, Master Gardeners of Greater Detroit, and the
Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) to begin the job of putting together a hands-on school
gardening curriculum.
During the winter, the steering committee met to help formulate goals that would steer the work of the partners toward meeting the educational goals of the school. Learning ecology of plants and insects, understanding good nutrition, developing teamwork and environmental stewardship while employing mathskills, will be incorporated into the program. DGC member Royanne Johnson put together a written plan that will guide the project over the next several years making sure that everything gets done and that the program stays on track. It is the intent of the steering group that this program grow over the next several years, building a teacher and volunteer base and acquiring resources to augment those of the school. The plan will also identify how the children will measure progress in increasing skills and knowledge about gardening, nutrition, and working together.
This spring and summer a small but dedicated band of volunteers weeded and mulched perennial beds, as well as the garden beds already planted with vegetables such as kale, broccoli, and collards, which taste sweeter in the fall, after the children return. Not only will the children find vegetables ready to pick, they will have beds ready for fall and spring planting.
A curriculum that integrates plants into other subject areas, such as math and social studies, is being formulated by Elissa to bring gardening into a year round activity at the school. This is a new program and offers an exciting range of volunteer activities. If you, as a DGC member or Master Gardener, have the skills in gardening, design, or working with children, and time to offer this fledgling program, please contact our organizations at the phone numbers listed below on this page. Meetings are held from 5 to approximately 6:30 p.m. weekdays.
We received a wonderful letter from Elissa Firestone, Dean of Students and teacher, that is summarized as follows:.
See How We Grow
Perhaps you have seen the majestic sunflowers overlooking the Friends School playground. They are the most eye-catching members of the Friends School Garden. Last spring, last year's kindergarten, first and second graders planted vegetable gardens as part of their hands-on science education. The students enjoyed planting the vegetable seedlings and seeds and observing worms and insects in the soil and of course, eating a spring harvest. Now that it is fall, our sunflowers are nodding their heads, broccoli is flowering and kale, collard greens, lettuce, basil and carrots are almost ready to be harvested. What a treat for our children who have just returned to school!
Our work in the garden does not end with the harvest. This fall we will be building a compost bin, and over the winter we will be planning for the spring. We hope that even more of our Friends School community, along with our friends from the Detroit Garden Center and Master Gardeners of Greater Detroit will join us in supporting our school gardens and beautifying our grounds. We will continue to grow with your support.
The Detroit Garden Center
1900 E. Jefferson,
Suite 227
Detroit, MI 48207
313-259-6363
Master Gardeners of Greater Detroit
640 Temple, 6th Floor
Detroit, MI 48201-2558
313-438-6079
Friends School in Detroit
1100 St Aubin Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48207
313-259-6722