We finally have some plants in the ground!  Check out our slideshow of students planting in our new garden.

garden 2013 - slideshow

Seed Planting- Spring 2013

garden planting 2013 - slideshow
The 4th graders at Lincoln really enjoyed planting seeds today for the garden.  We hope they begin to sprout and we will transplant them in the garden boxes soon.

Planting Bulbs

The Lincoln Garden Club met yesterday to plant some fall bulbs.  Check out our slideshow below.

garden - slideshows

Why do you want to be a Lincoln Community Garden Club member?

We asked students to tell us why they would make great garden club members...and this is what they had to say.

I would make a great garden club member because...

I don’t get to do much gardening at home and I’d love to do some at school.

I love gardening!

I have a garden at home and I like weeding and watering the plants.

I like to harvest and plant.

I have a little garden at my house and I take care of it every day.  I love to get my hands dirty to help the Earth.

I think it would be FUN and educational!

I love gardening and I think it would be fun.  I also want people that come to Lincoln to see what we did.

I love gardening and I was a BIG part in getting the garden going at Lincoln.

I have a green thumb!  I would like to help support the community garden and do good for the school and keep the world healthy.

I have a garden at home and I think gardening is COOL!

I have LOTS of experience with gardening because my grandma has a BIG garden and I help her take care of it.

I love teamwork and I want to make a garden at my house.

I think it would be fun and I like helping my community by providing food for people that need it.

I like helping and working with my classmates (and I like to play in the dirt!).

I want to learn A LOT about plants!

Filling the Garden Boxes!

Enjoy the slideshow!

lincoln garden project - photo slideshow

The day is here! Soil delivered!

The soil for the Lincoln Garden was delivered this morning!  Check out the pics!

Garden Update!

Hello from the Garden Committee,
Just a little note to guide your attention to our new Lincoln Garden Boxes being built and installed behind the swings on the Lincoln Playground. This project started like most plants do, as a 'seed,' an idea. That 'seed' was that Lincoln should have a garden and so the Garden Initiative was born.It was last school year's third graders who took this project from an idea to a reality. The third graders were inspired through the science of growing seeds and the many books that we read with them about gardens as well as our conversations about how to be a healthy population. They thought that it was time to have a vegetable garden.

The children chose a spot on the playground that receives nearly full day sun and then they measured the area and designed and drew six garden boxes, one for each grade level. Some of the students worked on the math trying to figure out how much this endeavor would cost. The third grade students wrote persuasive letters to promote the garden idea and presented these and their drawings to Ms. Hamilton. Ms. Hamilton asked the students to present their findings to the PTO to gain approval and support for the Lincoln School Garden.

After some grant writing, Mr. Kuntz and the third grade team were interviewed by some very lovely students from the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation of Young Philanthropist Program and were awarded $1000.00 to get the garden underway.
The garden has been supported through the Girl Scouts as well, who bestowed $650.00 for supplies for the garden. The Wellness Committee has also generously supported these efforts with a donation of $400.00.  . We have been given a donation of funds to purchase the soil and a donation of time by the person building our garden beds. We are grateful for all of the help. We will be looking for volunteers to help keep the garden strong over the summer months so that when we all come back to school for the 2013-14 school year, it will be to a bountiful garden.

Now 4th graders, these students are the Garden Club, and it is through them that this project moves forward. The 33 students who have signed on as Club members (and we suspect that even more will join)  will meet monthly and more often later on in the year. They will be working to fill the new boxes with soil during the week of October10th.

 In the early spring the Garden Club and student ambassadors will help the grade levels select what they would like to plant.  Each grade level will  be able to research the nutritional benefits of possible crops, taste them and cook with them. those plants will be started indoors with our new equipment.Once warm enough, we will plant outdoors.  The opportunities for education in nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are endless.  The Garden Club will provide the structure to make sure this is happening in all classrooms so that all children feel connected to the garden.   

We are very excited to introduce our garden to the students and to our Lincoln Community. It is in this kind of initiative that we believe we are supporting our students to be actively involved and to be the positive force in change.