BLS Garden

 

Click here for the BLS Garden pictures.


THANKS FOR JOINING US FOR BLS Youth CAN’s 10/10/10 Global Work Party Event (www.350.org)

 

Planting A Student Garden

The BLS Go Green Grow Green Student Garden

 

BLS Youth Can’s long-range vision for a Sustainable Roofscape and Learning Center includes a greenhouse and cafeteria garden.  While we raise the funds to be able to complete our sustainable roofscape ad rooftop gardens, students and teachers are eager to start growing and demonstrating sustainable changes NOW, especially when it comes to our plans to grow some of our own food for the school cafeteria.

 

Garden Overview PowerPointBLS_Garden_files/LexusFinal%20Challenge%20Digester%20Powerpoint.ppt
That’s why Youth CAN students launched a Go Green Grow Green Student Garden at BLS for our part in the 10/10/10 Global Work Party.  It’s a way of demonstrating our commitment to going green from the ground up, and a way to generate some excitement about going green at BLS.  40 people joined us from 12-5 on Sunday October 10th at Boston Latin School and helped us plant a garden!

 

The excitement about the garden is already taking effect.  Several BLS teachers who attended Youth CAN’ Summer Institute on Sustainability Education have just made plans to use garden spaces as part of their teaching.  For example, chemistry and environmental science students will study the soil in the raised beds and compare it to soil in the surrounding ground.  Bio classes will have students focus on the seeds and plants, and health classes are going to help promote the nutritional benefits of the food we grow, and that's just for starters.

 

Help Us Film a Video Invitation for the First Lady: 
Youth CAN’s theme this year is sustainability and food, and it will also be the focus for BLS Youth CAN’s 2011 Annual Climate Summit at MIT.  We are inviting First Lady Michelle Obama to come and speak to us as our special guest.  As part of our invitation to the First Lady, we filmed as we planted the garden on 10/10/10. Many were part of adding an exciting & progressive new learning opportunity to an historic institution and helped us tell the First Lady why she should come to our 5th Annual Climate Summit and support a student network that is working to educate for sustainability in Massachusetts and beyond. Click here for the Video.

 

Proposed Construction:

The initial three raised beds are 8’L x 4’W x 17”H, constructed of  “SmartTimbers” landscape timbers made of recycled resins.  The beds are fitted with PVC hoops to accommodate greenhouse and overwintering film, extending the growing season through
December and providing cold frames for starting plants in early spring. The entire plot is 44’ x 14’ and was being constructed in the front yard at BLS, right along Avenue Louis Pasteur. 
 
See our video invitation to the 
First Lady. http://becrollins.com/2010/11/first-lady-invite/


December Garden Harvest and Salad Day


We harvested our garden in December, see pictures here. And served salad and kale chips a few days later.

































Promoting Student Gardens Poster Contest: 


To help promote the garden and label what we’re doing for people in the Fenway area, Youth CAN held a poster contest to help generate creative ideas to promote the importance of school food gardens.  Attendees at the 10/10/10 Work Party at BLS were able to pick up guidelines for the contest (great prizes). Winners were announced at the Youth CAN Fall Sustainability Food Fair on November 13th at BLS. They were L. Tang and S. To.

 

Download the above flyer here.

First place winning posters above and below.

Photos - Click Here!Planting_the_Spring_Garden_2011.html
More photos here! http://trworkbench.com/jbautista/blsgarden/