Indoor plants for the winter

In science class, the 6th graders are learning about autotrophs and heterotrophs.  Almost all plants are autotrophs, which means they can make their own food.  They make their own food from sunlight, which they turn into glucose.  Plants also need water, carbon dioxide, soil.

We are keeping plants in the windowsills of the library.  Ms. Lucy taught us about them.  Even though they are inside, houseplants still need sunlight, carbon dioxide, soil, and water.  Different plants have different adaptations that make them good inside plants.

Some of the plants are desert plants.  There is not much water where these plants are originally from, and the soil cannot hold much water.  So they need to be able to store water in their leaves.  The leaves of these plants feel fat compared to other plants.

Other houseplants are subtropical.  In their natural environment, these plants don't get much sunlight because the trees shade them.  That's why it's ok to have these plants inside where there is less sunlight.  Since it's rainy in their natural environment, we need to give them more water.

This plant's leaves feel hard.  Kalanchoe is the name of the plant. It grows in a dessert-like place.  We only have to water it once a month

This is a burro's tail.  The leaves have water inside them. It has to store water inside its leaves to save water because it comes from a dry place.  We only have to water maybe once a month.  If you put a leaf on soil it will grow roots and make another plant.

This is an aloe vera, or medicine plant. You can can use it to help sickness.  The plant will get nice and green if you give it just a little water, since it stores water in the leaves.

This is a hibiscus. It's a flowering pant which grows in the South.  It will need water once a week, and since it produces flowers we will need to give it fertilizer every once in a while.

Peperomia is a vine plant.

This is Sansevieria trifasciata, also called snake plant or mother-in-law's tongue.

Planting Bulbs

Bulbs need to be planted in the fall in order for them to grow in the spring.  They come back year after year.  They are often the first plants to show any green in the spring, and many bulbs have very beautiful flowers.  It's almost winter, so we're running out of time to plant.

Ruler, Terrence, and Cecil planted daffodils, allium, crocus, spanish bluebells, and bearded iris.  Below are bearded irises.

This is what the bearded irises will look like in the spring (we hope).  This is the picture from their package.

Mr. Dwyer is showing us how to prepare the soil by digging a hole to the right depth and adding our compost.

This is what spanish bluebell bulbs look like.  Ms. Lucy gave us these bulbs from her garden.  There are bluebells that are actually blue, but these will come up pink.

Once we've planted, Casimir and Ms. Lucy cover the ground with a layer of mulch.

Casimir learns about bulbs.

Sweet potato harvest

Sweet potatoes can look like ornamental plants but they are also food crops.  The plant above the ground is a vine with heart-shaped leaves.

Here's what the vine looks like in summer (this picture is from someone else's garden)

Here's what our vines looked like today.  The cold weather killed the vine, and the root is ready to eat.

Sweet potatoes and regular potatoes both grow underground and can look alike, but potatoes come from a modified stem and sweet potatoes come from the root.  When it gets cold, we can dig up the sweet potatoes.

This is the group digging up the sweet potatoes.

Milaun (grade 6) got a big one!

Javion's (grade 6) pride shows.

Look at the size of Toby's (grade 6) find!

Alzario (grade 8) can hardly believe how much we harvested.

We found some grubs in the soil, which can harm the sweet potatoes.  We fed them to the chickens.

The dead vines go to the compost.

The group shows off the harvest.

Toby likes to eat sweet potato pie.  Lorne likes sweet potato fries.  Jamari likes mashed sweet potatoes.  Milaun likes chopped sweet potatoes.  Alzario likes them in soup.  We'll sell our harvest at Friday's farm stand at 2:20pm dismissal.

(All photos taken by Jamari, grade 7)

Why we are smarter than Mr. Dwyer

While out doing our weekly agriculture work, we were adding chicken wire to the fence.  We started trying to attach it by twisting the chicken wire around the chainlink fence that was already there in order to cover the gaps in the fence.  We had to twist the wire all the way around and with the needlenose pliers, we couldn't get it to wrap around very easily.  Some of us were using our fingers, and that was painful.

Our (self-described) briliant strategist, Casimir, thought of a different type of wire that was easier to wind around the fence.  He knew about this from his dad's job.  Luckily, Mr. Dwyer had some on hand, and we used it to continue closing gaps in the fence.

Moving the chickens to their new area

The chickens are going to have a new space to run around.  It's right outside the windows to the lunch room so we'll be able to watch the chickens while we eat.  There is a lot of grass in the new area, and the chickens love to eat grass.  The compost will be inside their new area so they will be able to eat worms that come from the compost bin.

This is a picture of the students running around like the chickens.

There is a lot more space, and the new coop is very luxurious.  It's like a coop-mansion.  It will be very relaxing for the chickens.

Students pose in front of the new coop.

Today, we put final touches to the fences around the chicken run.  We need fences so the chickens won't get out and predators won't get in.

Milaun cut the chicken wire to size.

Javion works to secure one of the last gaps in the fence.

It was cold outside, and our hands were frozen!

Mulch and Compost

Today we moved compost from one bin to another.  We did this because we have a new area and the old compost bin was being decomposed by the compost.  The new area has more sun so it will decompose faster.

We gather fruits and vegetables that students don't eat and put them in the compost bin.  The bacteria break them down and we use it for soil.  Composting is a really good thing because we are reusing things that other people are throwing away like apple cores and eggs and other resources.

Ruler noticed a few living things that make their home in the compost bin like spiders, roly-polies and worms.  These help break down the compost.

We also spread mulch so that we can help the soil that is on the ground.  It helps keep the soil wet by holding rain like a sponge when it rains.  As it breaks down it gives nutrients to the soil.  It also prevents weeds from growing by blocking the sunlight.  It also makes the garden look nicer.