Posts Tagged ‘education’

Today I learned about some course offerings at Prince George’s Community College which will be of interest to many of the DC-area readers.  The school is partnering with Engaged Community Offshoots, which has an urban farm in Edmonston , Maryland (through a great program called ECO City Farms), and Healthy Solutions, a produce co-op based in Washington, DC to offer the following courses this spring AGR-301 Urban Agriculture: The New Frontier in the Green Economy AGR-320 Composting for Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Landscaping Summer courses will include: AGR-301 Urban Agriculture: The New Frontier in the Green Economy AGR-320 Composting for Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Landscaping AGR-330 High Tunnel Construction I&II AGR-315 Distribution: Getting Food from Farm to Table In the fall, they will be expanding the urban agriculture offerings, including a partnership with DC Honeybees for an introductory beekeeping course.  Thanks to Helen McClure for the info!

As you know, I am a big proponent of Sustainable Schoolyards (such as the projects my organization, APA, installed in Washington DC and New Orleans), gardening as economic development and community building, and gardens as an educational tool.  I received this notice from University of Maryland’s Grow it Eat it Network, for those teachers that are looking for tips on which plants will do well in container gardens – it’s always good to pick something easy to give the students some confidence! UME Master Gardeners from Montgomery Co. have been working with Montgomery Co. Public Schools to develop guidelines and materials to help teachers start container vegetable gardens at their schools. As a result, we’ve added two new resources to the Youth Gardening section that will be useful to all Maryland teachers: GE 133 -  20 Recommended Vegetable Crops for School Container Gardens: Classification and Characteristics; and a video- Starting a School Garden,

Earlier, I posted about the Baltimore CIty Hall Garden.  I really believe this is a model that can be employed in more places – if not to feel large groups of people, then to educate city dwellers about where food comes from.  I certainly learned a thing or two about how broccoli and cauliflower grow! Big heads of broccoli. There are even more pics to come.

This morning, I posted about my employer (the American Planning Association’s) Sustainable Schoolyard initiative.  Recognizing the ability to impart knowledge to the next generation, my colleagues designed and constructed a fun exhibit that is also educational.  Covering everything from squarefoot gardening, to composting, to Louisiana’s relationship with water and the Mississippi river delta, the exhibit connects children with the natural environment.  Time will tell if the exhibit is adopted by the community, but I applaud Rich and Ryan’s work! Sometime in the future, I’ll post about the programming opportunities built into the schoolyard. For more pictures, click here.

As you know, I’m a big fan of gardening as a tool of youth engagement and education.  That’s why I was so proud of the work of two of my colleagues – Rich Lukas and Ryan Scherzinger, who installed a sustainable schoolyard exhibit in New Orleans’ City Park this past April.  The sustainable schoolyard is based on a model that began at Brent Elementary School in Washington, DC.    The New Orleans exhibit, which had a kickoff on April 9, will remain as one of the park’s  permanent installations for the foreseeable future. The schoolyard, which was sponsored by APA and the National Association of Realtors, has several different “teaching moments” throughout the space.  These include an exhibit on edible gardens, a demonstration of square foot gardening (sponsored by LSU Extension), a functioning compost pile, and exhibits on water storage and recycling.  There are also what I like to refer

The following post is part of a “Grown in Louisiana” series on urban gardening initiatives in the state of Louisiana. Part 1: Grown in Louisiana: Donaldsonville, LA freedom garden teaches kids about their roots Part 2: Grown in Louisiana: What’s Growing in the Freedom Garden? Part 3: Grown in Louisiana: How Signage Enhances the Garden Part 4: Grown in Louisiana: Lessons Learned from the Donaldsonville Freedom Garden Walking through the warehouse district in New Orleans is a joy on its own – beautiful old buildings restored with new uses, and some of the best restaurants (in a city with many great restaurants.)  One of the best parts of this neighborhood is finding little surprises around every corner – which is why I was so thrilled to see this storefront exhibit from the Tulane City Center.  It is a rotating exhibit that, back in April, was dedicated to urban agriculture –