• Tuesday, May 15, 2012 | Filed under Health and Nutrition , Smart Potatoes

    Chef Cassondra Armstrong is responsible for my first real taste of "greens." Cooked slowly with a smoked turkey leg and seasoned to perfection, Chef Cassondra had given traditional greens a make over by using healthier ingredients for flavor. I found myself literally slurping up bowl after bowl. I was 29.

     

     

    Few foods rival the nutrition profile of leafy greens. Lauded for their calcium, fiber, vitamin E, beta-carotene and ascorbic acid content, they also boast a low calorie, no cholesterol, no fat, saturated fat or trans fat profile! Would you believe that kale and its leafy siblings have an ...

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  • Wednesday, May 09, 2012 | Filed under Student Behavior , Science , Smart Potatoes

    On a warm May morning, Ms. Koop's kindergarten class at Bonnie Brae Elementary became an observation train and baby potatoes as we learned to observe potato plant parts and learn about what plants need to grow and thrive.

     

     

     The school garden potato bed at Bonnie Brae Elementary

    As we drove around the Brae Elementary garden, our train cars used their senses to observe the plants. "I see a potato leaf." "I hear the birds." "Choo choo! I feel the air on my face." Together under the arbor we pieced together the parts of a potato plant: the stem ...

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  • Tuesday, May 08, 2012 | Filed under Health and Nutrition , Smart Potatoes

    Childhood obesity has skyrocketed in the last few years. Most of these kids are woefully deficient in the nutrients their growing bodies need most. Most recent stats show that nearly 17% of school-age children are obese. Currently, the food they grow can't be used prepared in school cafeterias because of strict codes. Can you imagine if students were eating food that they grew in their school garden?  So what's the problem? Not enough kids are getting their hands dirty at school. Fortunately, organizations like REAL School Gardens provide children that opportunity every day at schools across North Texas:

      

     Kids getting dirty ...

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  • Friday, May 04, 2012 | Filed under Community , Family Activities , Fine Arts

    Would you care for some art in the garden?  If so, be sure to check out the award-winning exhibited artwork of Dale Chihuly inside the beautiful setting of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.      

     

     

    About Dale Chihuly

    Artist Dale Chihuly creates free-standing sculptures, large-scale artwork installations and drawings, which have been exhibited at museums, gardens, architectural environments and galleries throughout the world.  Ninety-seven exhibitions in seven countries have presented Chihuly’s artworks during the last decade, which have been enjoyed by more than 10 million visitors.  Chihuly’s lifelong affinity for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within a variety of botanical settings.  

     ...

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  • Thursday, May 03, 2012 | Filed under Family Activities , REAL Supporters

    Mother's Day is less than two weeks away - it's on Sunday, May 13th! We thought we would share some fun and creative ways to show love and gratitude this Mother's Day. Here are four ideas provided by REAL School Gardens or our supporters:  

     

    1) Local, Organic Honey from Cold Springs Farm

    Beverly Thomas, a talented farmer and generous supporter, owns and runs Cold Springs Farm, a certified organic farm that specializes in heirloom and rare varieties, as well as free range chickens and turkeys.  She produces delectable honey gift baskets perfect for mom that include an 8 oz. jar of ...

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  • Monday, April 30, 2012 | Filed under Environmental Stewardship , Science , Smart Potatoes

     Recipe for Garden Learning

    Fitzgerald Elementary School students have found a recipe to spark learning!  

    Ingredients:

    1 heaping helping of soil       A pinch of seeds      Rays of warm sun

    Rain shower(s)                    Flowers                 Butterflies

     

    Directions:

    Scoop up a heaping helping of soil, stir in a pinch of seeds, add a gentle rain shower, and bake in the rays of a warm spring sun until flowers bloom. Sprinkle with butterflies before serving. Serve generously to children with a side of humor and patience. Handle with care, a learning spark will yield enough teachable moments for everyone!

    Second graders at Fitzgerald Elementary School discovered ...

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  • Tuesday, April 17, 2012 | Filed under Student Behavior , Educators , Science , Smart Potatoes

    Our guest blogger, Angela Buffington, had the chance to spend part of a cloudy April morning with Ms. Porter's second graders at Fitzgerald Elementary School's learning garden in Arlington: 

     

     

    Holes in the potato plant leaves

    We observed potato plants and pieced together clues to solve a mystery. First, all the students' eyes surveyed the potato plants, quick to notice some stems were missing leaves! Students began to chatter as they noticed leaves with ragged edged holes. Several had figured out what must have happened and were eager to share. Hands shot up, and students exclaimed, "The leaves were ...

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  • Monday, April 16, 2012 | Filed under Community , Firestation Stories , REAL Supporters

    If you haven’t already heard it through the grapevine, a new “For Lease” sign at Old Firestation #5 has prompted us to make the news more official. In a few months, we are moving from one unique space which we have grown to love to another!

     

    This summer REAL School Gardens will re-locate to 1700 University Drive in Fort Worth, where we are looking forward to new offices and teacher training facilities provided to us by our friends at Botanical Research Institute of Texas.  We are excited that we will have space in the same building as the ...

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  • Thursday, April 12, 2012 | Filed under Environmental Stewardship , Health and Nutrition , Instructional Aids

    Most of us have caught wind of the "farm-to-table" concept.  Farmer's markets are abuzz with locavores, and many restaurants are now noting the noble, local origins of their ingredients with detailed menu descriptions.

    Withers Elementary Farmers Market

    Students at Harry C. Withers E.S. hold a farmer's market on campus with produce from the garden and the Dallas Farmer's Market.

    In North Texas, you can take advantage of farm-to-table opportunities by checking out any number of local markets like Cowtown Market, Dallas Farmer's Market, or White Rock Local Market and by visiting restaurants that source local food like Smoke, Blue Mesa ...

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  • Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | Filed under Environmental Stewardship , Educators , Community , Instructional Aids , Smart Potatoes

       "Ideas are not fixed and immutable elements of thought but are formed and re-formed through experiences...No two thoughts are ever the same, since experience always intervenes."

                                                                      -  D.A. Kolb

     

     Cradle to Cradle book

     

    At a recent BRIT Book Study an elementary school educator asked, "how do we talk to our students about the need for cradle to cradle products when their families can barely afford to purchase cradle to grave products? How do we talk about sustainable choices like this without making them feel hopeless?" I consider myself to be an avid and critical reader; however, I probably wouldn't ...

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