OC Organic Garden Blog

BEHR Process Corporation in Santa Ana, CA (the makers of BEHR Paint), and their eco-driven volunteer group, The Green Team, have generously partnered with TMA in support of our Worm Composting (2nd grade) and Hot Composting (4th grade) programs.

In 2010, BEHR Process Corporation donated their annual recycling program proceeds to the Organic Gardening Program ($800 value). Plus, The Green Team members volunteered their hard work and time at our gardening preparation day on May 14, 2011. The cheerful Green Team members helped us do everything from tilling the soil to planting and composting.

The Green Team’s goals are to:

Join us for a spring work day in the TMA Garden on Saturday, May 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Soak up some sun while earning your volunteer hours. We’ll be preparing the garden beds for students to begin planting pumpkin seeds, which will be ready to harvest in the fall.

Please remember to bring gloves, a hat, sunscreen and plenty of drinking water. R.S.V.P. to garden@mytma.com.

All moms deserve a TMA Flower Pot and much more. Order a cute, 4-inch flower pot for $5 each. All proceeds go to our garden.

Here’s how to order:

1. Download, print and complete order form Download file

The TMA Garden would still be a pile of dirt if it weren’t for the help of our community of parents, teachers and local businesses.

To show our gratitude for those who support our community, we’re going to spotlight a very special TMA garden contributor-David Spinoglio. He’s a dedicated parent volunteer who works for a well know local business that supports our garden, Irvine Company.

In the early stages of our garden, David and Irvine Company Office Properties landscape vendors contributed to our project in many ways. With his help, the Irvine Company provided all the irrigation materials for the TMA Garden, including an automated weather satellite irrigation control device. The Irvine Co. picks up the monthly subscription charges for the device.

TMA kindergarteners (a.k.a. Kinder Gardeners) discovered that growing your own veggies makes them taste a heck of a lot better. Last week the kids harvested their own lettuce and made it into a yummy salad. Then they replanted yellow chard for their next nutritious recipe.

“The kids loved the salad so much I took the rest of the lettuce back to my house and packaged a baggie full for each kid to take home,” says Jennifer Goodwin, parent volunteer.

The Kinder Gardeners don’t believe in all work and no play when they’re spending time in the TMA Garden. After the harvesting was done, they played pin the bee on the flower and water relay races to incorporate fun with things that help our garden grow.

We all know that the TMA Garden is great place for our kids to get a hands-on learning experience but who knew that it could help contribute much-needed funds to our school programs and services.

Last Friday Naomi Dei Rossi, a TMA Garden volunteer, set up shop in the Star Terrace. She sold produce harvested from our garden as well as fruit locally grown by TMA families. Over the last few months the produce sales have earned $180 for TMA PTO.

“So far this school year, we’ve made $1654.30 in produce sales from our garden…thank you to our incredible Garden Masters, teachers, kids and Naomi DeRossi.” Angie Heaton, PTO Treasurer.

When you walk through our garden, on the surface you’ll see colorful, fragrant flowers and growing plants and vegetables but to our kids, teachers and parent Garden Master volunteers, it’s so much more. It’s a living, interactive classroom where they learn math, chemistry, biology and ecology.

In June 2010, we submitted a grant to help fund our second and fourth grade Composting and Soil Building Project. And we’re happy to announce that last November, the California Fertilizer Foundation rewarded the TMA Garden $1,200. Additionally, BEHR Paint donated $800 towards the programs. Thank you to both organizations.

With the money, 288 second and fourth graders will participate in our Composting and Soil Building Project, which provides a unique, hands-on learning experience. Each week, second grade students collect lunch food scraps to feed to the red-wiggler worms in the vermicompost bins.

Weekly, the fourth graders collect and sort green and brown organic materials from around the school campus and their homes for their hot composting bins. Based upon the temperature of the compost, the fourth graders will decide whether to turn and water the compost piles.

All grades will benefit from the composting accomplished by the second and fourth grade students. They’ll use worm castings, worm tea, finished compost, mulch, fertilizer and other soil amendments to build nutrient fortified soil in their garden plant beds.
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