What’s Happening in the CFS Garden
Creekside Forest School students and teachers, in collaboration with Etzel Sugar Grove Farm and The Iowa Farm to Schools and Early Care Coalition, have planted their own garden. Updates about what’s growing and other fun posts about the garden and farm can be found at this page. Keep checking back for the latest fun!
June 27, 2024
Whoa! Where did the month of June go? Luckily our preschool garden is thriving with all of the rain we’ve been getting!
Our potatoes are doing well, as well as our asparagus. We are hopeful the tomatoes and ground cherries will take off.
Our pumpkins are doing well and one plant is really spreading out wide!
Sadly, our sunflowers did not like their location in the garden. There is a volunteer along the hoop house, however, that makes me so happy–milkweed!
In a few days, I’ll be sharing some photos from a recent visit to Etzel Sugar Grove Farm!
May 21, 2024
We have some new young farmers at Indian Creek Nature Center this spring! Creekside Forest School students have planted their first ever garden with the support of a grant from the Iowa Farm to Schools and Early Care Coalition, and members of the land team at ICNC.
Interim Creekside Forest School Director Marcy Fratzke has been participating in a learning collaborative through the Iowa Farm to Schools and Early Care Coalition this spring to learn more about ways to teach kids about local food sources.
The Creekside Forest School garden is located just east of the butterfly hoop house. To prepare the garden bed, a parent volunteer came and tilled the land and delivered a large load of compost. Preschool students enjoyed spreading the compost (and climbing the compost mountain) to ready the garden for planting. After spreading the compost, landscaping fabric and a fence were added. The fence was an old fence from the farm, which allowed for a great learning opportunity in reusing old materials for the preschool!
Farm Manager, Jared Schulz, is providing the preschoolers with plants that he has nurtured at Etzel Sugar Grove Farm. The first round of planting included potatoes and asparagus. Coming soon, sunflowers!
Be sure to check back weekly for updates on what’s growing and for other fun posts!
