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Yaffa's Yard

Co-Founder | Director

Back to School Gardening Tips:

Cultivating Young Minds and Green Spaces

As the summer draws to a close and the school year begins, it's the perfect time to incorporate gardening into your back-to-school routine. Gardening offers a hands-on way to teach children about nature, responsibility, and the joys of growing their own food. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or community leader, these tips will help you integrate gardening into your everyday activities this school year.

For Parents and Home Gardens:

1. Start a Simple Container Garden: Begin with a container garden featuring easy-to-grow plants like herbs, cherry tomatoes, or lettuce. These can be placed on patios or windowsills, making them accessible and manageable for busy families.

2. Create a Homework Garden Corner: Designate a small, peaceful garden area where kids can do their homework or read. Being surrounded by plants can enhance concentration and provide a soothing environment.

3. Plant Fast-Growing Vegetables: Choose vegetables that grow quickly, such as radishes, spinach, or beans. The rapid results will keep kids engaged and excited about gardening.

4. Incorporate Gardening into Daily Routines: Assign small daily tasks to children, like watering plants or checking for pests. This teaches responsibility and offers a healthy break from screen time.

5. Garden-Themed Crafts and Projects: Engage children with garden-related crafts, such as making plant markers, decorating pots, or creating bird feeders. These activities are both fun and educational.

For Schools and Community Gardens:

1. Create a School Garden Club: Start a gardening club where students can participate in planting, maintaining, and harvesting a school garden. This fosters teamwork and a sense of community.

2. Integrate Gardening into the Curriculum: Use the garden as a living classroom to teach subjects like science (plant biology, ecosystems), math (measuring plant growth, calculating garden areas), and health (nutrition, benefits of fresh produce).

3. Plant an Edible Schoolyard: Grow vegetables and fruits that can be used in school cafeterias or cooking classes. This teaches students about the farm-to-table concept and healthy eating habits.

4. Seasonal Garden Planning: Plan the garden according to the school year calendar, focusing on crops that will be ready to harvest during the school year. This ensures that students can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

5. Involve the Community: Invite local gardeners, farmers, or horticulturists to give talks or workshops at the school. This can provide valuable knowledge and inspire students.

6. Create Sensory Gardens: Develop gardens that stimulate all five senses with colorful flowers, fragrant herbs, textured plants, and edible crops. Sensory gardens can be especially beneficial for special needs students.

Gardening is more than just growing plants—it's about cultivating a sense of responsibility, creativity, and connection to nature. By integrating these gardening tips into the back-to-school season, you can help nurture young minds and green spaces, enriching the educational experience for all. Happy gardening!

If you missed our Facebook live ask and answer video with our Master Gardener Emiliano,

you can watch it here!

Live Video!

Michelle Card

Executive Director

Summer Smoothie Delight:

A 5-Ingredient Recipe

Savor the taste of summer with this simple 5-ingredient smoothie! Fresh raspberries, a frozen banana, two pure fruit juices, and creamy almond milk blend together to create the healthiest tart-sweet treat. Enjoy the vibrant flavors in every sip!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup frozen raspberries

1 large ripe, sliced and frozen banana (1 banana yields ~1 cup)

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

3/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup Plain unsweetened almond milk

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until creamy and smooth, scraping down sides as needed.

Taste and adjust flavor as needed. Add more milk or fruit juice if too thick. Add more frozen banana if not sweet enough. Serve immediately. Freezes well (or make into Popsicles).

Emiliano Camargo

Master Gardener

Cooked Veggies Vs. Raw

The Battle of the Nutrients!

There are ongoing debates about whether we should eat only raw vegetables since cooking can destroy some nutrients. The truth is a bit more complex, but we can find a balanced approach! First, let's understand the basics. Some vegetables, like broccoli and eggplants, need to be cooked to make them easier to digest. For those that can be eaten raw or cooked, such as tomatoes, carrots, onions, or celery, cooking can cause some nutrient loss, but it can also make other nutrients more accessible. So, the best approach is to enjoy vegetables both raw and cooked—no need for a debate.

Vegetables contain four basic types of micronutrients: vitamins, phytochemicals, enzymes, and minerals. Vitamins, phytochemicals, and enzymes are sensitive to heat, so cooking can reduce their levels. However, cooking also makes fibers more digestible and minerals more accessible. For instance, soups are excellent for mineral intake as the nutrients from vegetables infuse into the broth. I love adding moringa leaves or powder to my soups for its high mineral content, as well as edible seaweeds for their mineralizing effect.

Eating raw vegetables provides the benefits of vitamins, phytochemicals, and enzymes, which are essential tools for our cells. Minerals act as raw materials, while vitamins and enzymes are basic tools like screwdrivers and saws. Phytochemicals, on the other hand, are like specialized tools that help with specific tasks, such as cleaning heavy metals from the blood or maintaining eye health. For example, the phytochemicals in carrots aid in eye health along with vitamin A. It's all about supplying the body with the right tools and materials from healthy foods and minimizing harmful elements like artificial flavors and preservatives.

Fermented vegetables, like sauerkraut, offer the best of both raw and cooked vegetables. Fermentation makes vegetables easier to digest while preserving vitamins and phytochemicals. It also enhances mineral accessibility and increases enzyme content, along with providing beneficial lactic acid bacteria for gut health. Just ensure your sauerkraut is made with a salt-based brine and not vinegar. You can easily learn to make it at home with various online resources.

While many perennials are tropical and subtropical, there are also perennial edibles in northern regions, such as asparagus, artichokes, and horseradish. You don't have to choose between annuals and perennials exclusively. Grow your favorite annuals like lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes, but complement them with perennials. A diverse garden supports a better diet and a healthier ecosystem. Pests will have a harder time finding your cucumbers if your garden is biodiverse. Plus, that longevity spinach will always be there when you run out of lettuce, and chives can substitute for garlic.

In conclusion, diversity is key—eat a variety of vegetables in all forms. Pay attention to your body and find what works best for you. Gardening and healthy eating connect us to the environment and our inner selves. Seasonal changes can also influence our preferences; we may crave cooked vegetables and soups in winter and fresh fruits and vegetables in summer. Vegetables are nutrient-dense foods, so consume them as fresh, organic, and local as possible. Remember, it's better to pay the farmer than the doctor, but even better to grow your own food and enrich your life with joy and abundance. It might be hard to get rich with money, but you can always be nutrient-rich!