Programs at Perryman continue through the heat of the summer with veggie harvests, pollinator spotting, and healthy eating!
Week of 7/15
An educator from Maine EFNEP joined us for a cooking activity during lunch, where kids got to make their own ranch dip and try it out on fresh veggies. Afterward, we made Seed Buddies, which will grow right on the kiddos’ windowsills while growing a mop of grassy hair. We checked on the gardens when our Seed Buddies were finished, and spotted lots of pollinators including mason bees and monarchs – both caterpillars and butterflies! We’ve also been keeping a close eye on our play garden, where we’ve created tiny wooden garden people and are building them a village in which to live.
Week of 7/22
With EFNEP, we made fresh fruit salad with yogurt topping – yum! Then, we learned that carrots will grow greens even after they’ve been picked and most of their root has been removed! Sliced carrot tops in tiny containers will be growing green quite soon. In the garden, we harvested LOADS of lettuce and shared it with neighbors. We checked on our zucchini, tomatoes, and green peppers, too – they’re almost ready! We removed flowers from basil plants to keep them growing, and cut and carved saplings to make tomato cages for our smaller plants.
Later in the week, we collaborated with ArtVan to make garden markers to identify what we’ve planted. We painted rocks removed from a local construction site to make brightly decorated and expertly labeled markers and finished up by placing them in the garden where they belong!
