March is Reading Month: Nature Theme

For Reading Month the Organic Gardner came to Onekama Elementary. The gardener's name was Craig Schaaf. He lives in Kaleva, Michigan. He said there are over 1,000 different kinds of lettuce. ...Danielle, grade 4

Mr. Schaaf talked about gardening, symbiosis, lettuce, tomatoes and other interesting things. He even grows plants during the winter. It was a lot of fun learning about plants. My dad likes gardening. I'll give him some pointers. ...Tucker, grade 4

Craig said he grew a tomato plant that was the height of the Media Center. He brought in some lettuce plants. Lettuce is the easiest to grow he said. Craig plants no matter what season it is. For the winter he would use a green house. Green houses have plastic over the house and the sun would warm the house. It was real interesting for Craig Schaaf to come in a talk to us about organic gardening. ...Devin T. grade 4

Today I learned that vegetables can grow 6 feet tall. Mr. Schaff's favorite vegetable is a tomato. He plants onions. He plants potatoes in his garden. ...Taya, grade 3 Salamanders like the coolness. They eat the worms in the soil. ...Logan, grade 3	You don't put chemicals on an organic garden. You have to use good rich soil and soil blocks. He uses compost to feed the soil. He keeps the greenhouse warm in the winter. Once he saw a salamander eating worms in his garden. ...Jon, grade 3	You should not put chemicals on your garden. You need rich soil. Mulch keeps the soil wet even in a drought. Salamanders like the coolness. They eat worms. Use compost to feed the soil. A greenhouse keeps the garden warm in the winter. ...Rhianan, grade 3
	You don't put chemicals on your plants You have to have good rich soil. Use compost to feed the soil. You can grow lettuce, tomatoes, onions, squash pumpkins, sweet potatoes, rosemary, peppers..... ...Brandin, grade 3 We learned a lot and I mean a lot! One neat thing is that if there is a drought or if it really hot, keep the soil from getting dried out by putting leaves on the soil. I would like to try some of their vegetables sometimes. ...Sierra, grade 4
I learned about gardening. I liked it. It is fun to garden. I like carrots. I have a garden too. ...Keith, grade 3 You can't use chemicals to grow plants. You can use soil blocks. You need really good soil to grow plants. The greehouse keeps them warm. ...Randy Grade 3	You need to have rich and black soil for your garden. You need to have compost to feed the soil. You can use a greenhouse. Don't use chemicals. Use soil blocks. Grow lettuce and onions. They need rich soil. You can use a greenhouse to plant sweet potatoes. ...Kyler, grade 3	No chemicals! This is how to plant. Use good rich soil. Use soil blocks. Grow lettuce, tomatoes, onions pumpkins, strawberries and spinach. Salamanders like the coolness. Mulch keeps the soil dry or wet even in a drought. Use compost to feed the garden. ...Trever, grade 3
Organic gardeners are not supposed to put chemicals on the plants. He showed us how to plant. You have to use rich soil. You should have bugs in your soil. ...Miah, grade 3 The man said he grows vegetables. He said he grows tomatoes. He said he grows spinach. He is going to try and grow strawberries. He can't use chemicals. I like vegetables. I hope I grow a garden. ...Spencer, grade 3	Other Reading Month Links: Mary Bradford: Bee Keeping Mrs. Venegas: A Walk in the Woods Penny Reid: Ground Water Reading Month Index Page	Do not use chemicals. Plant with rich soil. Use soil blocks. Dry leaves are the best mulch. Use compost to feed the soil. Green houses are always warm even in the winter. ...Hunter M. Today I learned that vegetables can grow 10 feet tall. His favorite vegetable is a tomato. He plants onions. He plants peppers. He plants all of them himself. ...Jesssica, grade 3