Fernbank Farm to School

Lettuce Try It!

2013-11-14T20:15:00.001-08:00

Today... 650 elementary school students, dressed in green, ate lettuce and turnips that they grew in their own school garden, that cafeteria staff washed and prepped and served in the cafeteria during lunch. Wow! What an accomplishment!!

Students, cafeteria staff, parents and teachers ate salad with their lunch today! The tasting left students asking for more. More salad, more turnips please!

Harvest Time!

2013-11-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

Lettuce and Turnips are bursting from the garden beds!

Fernbank students harvested lettuce and giant turnips from the school garden Wednesday. Unfortunately the night before harvest day the temperature was expected to plummet. So… our garden beds were put to sleep with warm blankets and then harvested first thing in the morning.

Wellness Committee needs students!

2012-12-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

Attention 4^th & 5^th Graders!

Do you want to work with teachers and parents to help our school become a healthier place?

Are you interested in being a student representative on the Fernbank

WELLNESS COMMITTEE?

Are you able to attend monthly meetings on Wednesday after school until 3:30 (first meeting will be in late January)?

Then you will want to submit an ESSAY for consideration by the staff and parents on the Wellness Committee!

Fernbank has joined the ranks of schools across the nation that are using the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy Schools Program framework to create a school culture that encourages physical activity and healthy eating.

The Fernbank Elementary Wellness Committee (Healthier Generation's Healthier Schools Program) will be selecting 8 students from 4th and 5th grade based on submitted essays.

Essay rules:

--4^th and 5^th graders only

--Write no more than one page on ONE of the following topics
1st choice: What does wellness mean to you? Give three (3) examples.
2nd choice: Describe your vision of a healthier school. Use three (3) examples.

--Handwritten OR typed double-spaced

-- Include your name, teacher's name, and the words "Student Wellness Essay" at the top of the page

--turn in by putting in Ms.Beckwith's teacher box Monday, December 17

Selected students will be notified by Jan. 10!

Questions? Please contact the parent coordinators of the Wellness Committee,
Lee Ann Else ( leeann.else@healthiergeneration.org) and Delilah Wynn-Brown ( delilah@wynnbrown.com )

Happy Harvest!

2012-11-26T21:06:00.004-08:00

Just before Thanksgiving break, it was harvest and tasting day at Fernbank Elementary! 700 students tasted greens harvested from their own school garden.

As usual, thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers, PE coaches, cafeteria staff and sponsors, we were able to pull off another successful school-wide tasting. Parent volunteers joined forces with the school cafeteria staff to wash, dry and cut the greens in preparation for the tasting. Whole Foods, Briarcliff donated lettuce, shredded carrot, cranberries and ingredients to make our fabulous salad dressing. Mix it all together and what do you get? Kids eating salad!

Science In the Garden

2012-10-24T19:21:00.001-07:00

Wondering what goes on in the garden while our fall crops grow? Second grade science class visited the garden to draw what they saw – and what they learned about that was going on behind the scenes. Students drew their own plant diagrams of what they observed which included leaf drawings, and how the sun, water, pollen, bees, butterflies, roots, stems, flowers, seeds all worked together in the garden. Some students noticed decaying plant parts like “dead leaves” or “old turnips.” The old plants were weeded and mulched during our fall planting earlier this month and now we get to watch our garden grow!

We look forward to our fall harvest and school-wide tasting November 15^th.

DeKalb County School Garden Tour

2012-10-24T19:20:00.001-07:00

Fernbank Elementary School participated in a DeKalb County school garden tour earlier this month along with Henderson Mill Elementary and Chestnut Elementary. Hosted by Georgia Organics, the garden tour showcased three flourishing organic school gardens in DeKalb county. The tour was followed by a presentation and lunch at Henderson Mill Elementary School organic garden. Invited participants heard about how DeKalb County School District is bringing fresh, local food to school meals, and how teachers and parents are connecting these foods with curriculum and edible gardens. We heard stories from leaders across the district about how farm to school is taking root and changing the lives of DeKalb students.

The DeKalb Board of Health, school board members, area superintendants, state level politicians, Atlanta Magazine, the DeKalb County School Nutrition director as well as parents, teachers and students were among the participants.

Thank you Georgia Organics!

Dr. Joyce Wimberly presenting DeKalb Farm to School program.

Student-lead garden tour

Engineer-designed water collection system.

Fernbank has a new Wellness Council!

2012-10-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Fernbank has taken the challenge! We are pursuing bronze level recognition from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The Healthy Schools Program provides a framework for schools to assess and improve the wellness of their school culture. It helps schools create an environment where physical activity and healthy eating are accessible and encouraged. The program is an obesity prevention program that was started by the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.

With a childhood obesity rate of 37.3%, our state ranks of 49th in the nation for overweight or obese children. Lt. Governor Casey Cagle has challenged all schools to use the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy School Program to improve in the areas of nutrition, physical activity and staff wellness. By transforming our schools, we will shape the lifelong health and well-being of children and adolescents.

In order to begin the Healthy Schools Program, Fernbank Farm To School approached our faculty about creating a School Wellness Council. We were surprised by a very positive response from our teachers. Nine teachers signed up to serve on our School Wellness Council, as well as Ms. Satterfield, our Assistant Principal. In addition to our faculty, four parents will be on the Wellness Council. The Wellness Council will be lead by parents Delilah Wynn Brown and Lee Ann Else. We are thrilled to have two Fernbank parents, Anne Dunlop and Jean Welsh that specialize in obesity prevention on our Wellness Council.

Wellness Council

Faculty

Elisabeth Beckwith

JJ Carroll

Alicia Jacobs

Laura Mantrone

Meredith Mourdock

April Poindexter

Debbie Satterfield

kathy Shaw

Peggy Sutton

Lara Thompson

Parents

Delilah Wynn Brown

Anne Dunlop MD, MPH

Lee Ann Else

Jean Welsh PhD, MPH, RN

Our first meeting will be November 14th, at 2:30 in Ms. Beckwith's classroom. We will discuss the nomination process for Student Wellness Council members and review the process the Healthy Schools Program will follow.

Celebrate Apples!

2012-10-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

Look at the delicious apples served in the cafeteria today as part of DeKalb county’s local produce of the month farm to school program.

Planting in the Garden!

2012-09-26T19:20:00.001-07:00

Our fall crop of lettuce, carrots, and radish has been expertly planted by Fernbank students this week and last. But before we could plant our new plugs and seeds, there was much work to be done to prepare our garden beds. Fernbank students also expertly pulled up dead plants and fed them to our composters. The students added nutrient-rich soil from last season’s composter to the garden beds as well as organic fertilizer. The lesson in the garden was What Goes In Your Compost Pile…

WHAT’S IN!!!!! J

Greens (high in nitrogen):

Grass clippings, prunings, fruits and vegetables, houseplants, manure (e.g., cow, horse, pig, chicken or rabbit), kitchen scraps (e.g., stale bread, egg shells, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, citrus rinds, fruit and vegetable peels)

Browns (high in carbon):

Leaves, bark, straw, woodchips, sawdust, newspaper (shredded), brush (chopped), corn stalks

WHAT’S OUT!!!! L

Do not use:

Dog or cat feces, oil, grease, fat, wood ash, meat or fish scraps, dairy products, weed seeds, diseased plants

Thank you to our teachers and parent volunteers!

CSA - What's cooking?

2012-09-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

The first CSA boxes have arrived! This week you will find in your box: apples, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, okra, green beans, and potatoes. Thank you Riverview Farms for the delicious organic produce!

How do you like to cook okra? Here’s CSA okra, tomatoes and garlic, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted.

Check out Riverview Farms recipe box!

Okra Recipe

Farm To Street

2012-08-27T18:57:00.001-07:00

Healthy food rolls into the Fernbank Back-To School Picnic!

Hundreds of people enjoyed everything from grass fed burgers to locally grown kale salad. The natural BGE beef hotdogs were a hit with the kids! Thank you to the hospitality committee for making this back to school picnic a health community event.

Fernbank/Riverview Farms CSA, sign up now!

2012-08-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Fernbank Elementary is partnering with Riverview Farms once again to bring you our third CSA season. Now you can bring fresh organic produce into your home for your family to enjoy AND support Fernbank Farm to School! Riverview Farms will donate $1 per CSA box to Fernbank Elementary. Fernbank Farm to School PTA uses this money to fund Farm to School activities such as planting in the school garden and organizing school-wide produce tastings.

Session 1: 7 weeks @ $175

September 5^th to October 17

Session 2: 8 weeks @$200

October 24 to December 12

To sign up, and for pick-up location address, email Rosalie@eparchitects.com

Checks for session 1 are due by Friday, August 17.

About Riverview Farms:

Riverview Farms is a certified organic family farm on 200 acres in the beautiful foothills of the Appalachians in Northwest Georgia. In the fertile bottomlands of the Coosawattee River west of Carter’s Lake, we gently cultivate certified organic vegetables. We also raise Berkshire pork, and grass-fed beef on certified organic pastures.
One of the oldest, and largest, certified organic farms in the state, our goal is to work with the environment to enliven the farm through the mutually supported functions of soil, grasses, and animals. With detailed attention to soil quality, animal husbandry, grass production, and crop diversity, our methods are good for the land, good for the animals, and good for people too.
www.grassfedcow.com

Fernbank Wins DeKalb County Farm to School Mini-Grant

2012-04-11T20:09:00.002-07:00

Fernbank Elementary won a grant from DeKalb County and Georgia Organics this winter. Here is how the funds were used:

MATH CLASS IN THE GARDEN
Third graders learned about square foot gardening and measured out the school garden beds in 12”x12” squares.

LETTUCE PLANTING

Classes of all grades planted 200 lettuce plugs in the school garden. Students also tended to our composter and learned about organic fertilizer.

SCHOOL-WIDE GARDEN TASTING

Lettuce and strawberries were harvested from the school garden. With some supplements from Whole Foods, parents prepared a school-wide lettuce and strawberry tasting. 700 students at Fernbank Elementary ate organic salad that they grew!

Try this salad at home! The kids loved it.

Scrumptious Strawberry Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
-9 cups mixed greens
-1 cup fresh strawberries

Dressing
-4 TBS Canola Oil
-2 TBS Sugar
-3 TBS cider vinegar
-1 TBS Orange juice
-1/2 tsp ground mustard
-1/4 tsp salt

Fernbank Farm to School Spring CSA

2012-03-08T07:02:00.002-08:00

This Spring we are going to once again offer a Fernbank CSA. This time we have partnered with Oakleaf Mennonite Farm, who is excited to grow great veggies for us! People had commented that they would like to see more diversity in the CSA box from week to week. Oakleaf met with us, listened to our feedback, and is planting a nice diversity for Spring!

Cost: $25 per week (One dollar goes back to Fernbank Farm To School.) for 10 weeks = $250 (This also represents a discount from their $300 subscription fee.)

Session: May 4 - July 6

New: Each week the boxes will include a loaf of Holeman & Finch bread! The farm is partnering with other local farms to bring us fruit in addition to the vegetables they are growing. This CSA subscription should include strawberries, apples, blueberries, watermelon and peaches.

Planting: Fennel, Chard, Speckled Lettuce, Red Leaf Lettuce, Arugula, Butter Crunch Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Endive, Broccoli, Napa Cabbage, Savoy Cabbage, Turnips, Radishes, Kohlrabi, Garlic, Starwberries, Cilantro, Spinach June - Carrots, Squash, Cucumbers

Can you split a subscription? Yes, we will take two checks from you and a friend. However, we expect these boxes to have more variety and includes a loaf of amazing bread, which could be a little more challenging to split.

E-mail your RSVP to beckyrhall@comcast.net

What is a CSA?

In basic terms, CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or “share-holders” of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer’s salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.

What is Oakleaf Mennonite Farm?

An urban farm in East Atlanta, that is a ministry of the Berrea Mennonite Church. They sell at East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, East Lake Farmers Market, and Peidmont Park Farmers Market. The church is lead by a Fernbank dad, and the farmers used to be at Farmer D. They installed our garden boxes and gave us a training session last year. This year they are growing lettuce plugs for our late winter planting. We hope this partnership is beneficial to both Oakleaf and Fernbank!

http://oakleafmennonitefarm.wordpress.com/

Science Fair Project: The Hygiene Hypothesis

2012-03-08T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Hygiene Hypothesis suggests that kids that are not exposed to microbes during early childhood are more likely to get diseases because these kids have suppressed the natural development of their immune systems. Do Organic food have more microbes on them than non-organic food?

Celebrate National Food Day

2011-10-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

We are celebrating national Food Day at Farmburger with a Spirit Night!

http://foodday.org/

October 24th 5-8pm Enjoy a family dinner out with other Farm To School loving people and 10% of proceeds will be donated to our Farm To School Program!

What is Food Day? Food Day's goal is nothing less than to transform the American diet-to inspire a broad movement involving people from every corner of our land who want healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. In other words, we want America to eat real. We want to get Americans cooking real food for their families again. We want fewer people at drive-throughs and bigger crowds at farmers markets. We want to celebrate fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole grains-and to support the local farms and farmers that produce them.

Fernbank Fall Festival

2011-10-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks for stopping by the Fernbank Farm to School booth at the Fernbank Fall Festival last Saturday.

Ms. Ryan, our fabulous science teacher, had a table of parsley plants for kids to plant in pots and bring home to start their own parsley garden.

We sold farm fresh, organic produce from Riverview Farms.

We even had our very own tractor!

Our new Fernbank Farm to School T-shirts went on sale.

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers to help make the day a success!

Garden Grant Awarded to Fernbank

2011-10-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

Fernbank has been awarded the National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat/Pollinator Garden Grant. This $500 grant will pay for a new water supply to the vegetable and butterfly garden, making it easier for the children to water both gardens. Three plants will be added to the butterfly garden, which will allow our 5th grade Girl Scouts to apply for Monarchs of Georgia certification, and NWF Schoolyard Habitat certification. Thank you to the Girl Scouts that have worked so hard on this garden!

Healthy Snack Guide

2011-09-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

Fernbank Elementary has taken on the challenge! We are enrolled in the Healthy

Schools Program which is an initiative of the Alliance For A Healthier Generation.

Our Wellness Council is assessing our health and wellness programs, and using the Healthy Schools framework to promote a healthy school environment. These snack recommendations are based on the snack guideline in the Healthy Schools Program.

Eat an Apple, Give an Apple

2011-09-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, September 21, Fernbank students ate locally grown apples in the school cafeteria as part of the new DeKalb County Farm to School program. But that’s not all.

Students also brought an apple from home, and gave it to their PE coaches that day. Over 700 apples were collected for children in need. Three hundred apples were donated to children at Cook Elementary School, through Glenn Memorial Church's "Snack in a Backpack" program. The apples were packed into 150 backpacks for children at Cook by 24 Fernbank Cub Scouts. Great job boys! The remaining 400 apples were donated to My Sister’s House, a women and children’s shelter in Stone Mountain.

Thank you to Fernbank families for encouraging our children to eat an apple as well as give an apple.

School Garden Fall Planting

2011-09-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Last week 20 classes participated in a fall planting marathon in the Fernbank school garden. Over the course of two days, about 450 students planted kale, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, radishes, beets, red leaf lettuce, chard, herbs and Asian greens. Our garden beds are ready to be watered and watched as our fall crop begins to grow!

Thank you to our wonderful teachers for their enthusiasm and our fantastic parent volunteers for their time and energy. The kids are very excited to learn that THIS is how our garden grows.

Let's Move tour stop at McNair High School

2011-09-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Fernbank School Garden was invited to participate in a Let’s Move pep rally held at McNair high school last Friday, September 2. The rally, sponsored by the Georgia School Nutrition Association, was part of a state-wide effort to embrace Michelle Obama’s national Let’s Move campaign. http://www.gsfsa.com/

Press Release before the event:

'Let's Move' tour to stop at McNair High School

Sports celebrities, cheerleaders and U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson will join students at McNair High School for the “Let’s Move Fit and Fun Tour” on Sept. 2.
The 2:15 p.m. rally, which is hosted by the Georgia School Nutrition Association, will expose students to healthy food and beverage options, show them simple exercises that can be incorporated in their daily activity, and introduce them to school gardens and how to implement their own.

More pep rally photos:http://tinyurl.com/3dpql6d

As a representative of a school garden in DeKalb County, Fernbank Farm to School served an herb/goat cheese dip and a tomato salad to over 100 participants. All the herbs and tomatoes used in the tasting were grown in our school garden by Fernbank students. All of the rest of the ingredients were donated by Whole Foods Briarcliff.

The two delicious tasting dishes were prepared by Fernbank’s new Chef Partner, Megan McCarthy. You might recognize Megan if you’ve participated in any of the Edible Garden Chef events at the Botanical Gardens. In addition to her help with the Let’s Move garden tasting last week, Megan will be leading a 5^th grade Chef to School program at Fernbank this fall. To learn more about Megan, visit www.healthyeating101.com

Congratulations to Fernbank Farm to School for spotlighting how a school garden can positively influence an elementary school to the whole county. Thanks again to our partners, Whole Foods Briarcliff and Chef Megan McCarthy. Thanks also to the Georgia School Nutrition Association for your interest and commitment to Farm to School.

Elementary Herb Spread

1 garlic clove

10 basil leaves

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced

4 oz goat cheese

2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt

Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Blend ingredients together in food processor until desired consistency. Serve on crackers or plain pita chips.

Watermelon Day

2011-09-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

The first DeKalb County local produce of the month took place on Friday, August 26^th. All DeKalb County students were served watermelon fresh from a local Georgia Farm. At Fernbank, we declared a Watermelon Day where the PE coaches encouraged the students to wear red for watermelon. Better yet, wear red on top and green on the bottom to look like a slice of watermelon!

Students who bought lunch, chose the watermelon side. Some lunchbox kids brought their own watermelon from home and others bought a side of watermelon for 75cents in the lunch line. Everyone received a “Fernbank Farm to School” tractor stamp on their hand for participating in Watermelon Day. The stamp was red, of course! Don’t forget to stop by the library and take a look at the slide show of Watermelon Day. Thanks to all who helped make it a success!

Teacher / Staff Garden Tasting

2011-08-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 24, the Fernbank Farm to School PTA provided a lunch-time tasting for the teachers and staff at Fernbank Elementary. We served pasta with pesto sauce and a tomato-basil salad. The basil and tomatoes were provided by the school garden beds. One of the pastas we served was a gluten-free product made from quinoa.

Try it at home!

Pesto (From Ina Garte, Barefoot Contessa)

¼ cup walnuts

¼ cup pignolis

3 tbsp garlic, diced (9 cloves)

5 cups basil leaves, packed

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

1 ½ cup olive oil

1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Place the walnuts, pignolis and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil, salt and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the parmesan cheese and puree for a minute. Serve on warm pasta or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Let's Move and Fernbank School Garden

2011-08-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

Fernbank’s School Garden will be spotlighted in a pep rally for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative on September 2 at McNair high school. Sponsored by the Georgia School Nutrition Association, this event makes up one of ten stops throughout Georgia as part of a Fun and Fit Tour. Participants will learn about Fernbank’s farm to school efforts as well as taste produce grown by students in our school garden.

Thank you to Georgia Nutrition Association for this opportunity and for taking on the Let’s Move challenge.

http://gsfsa.com/default.aspx?id=1795