I’m a huge advocate of sheet mulching everywhere from my backyard to school gardens. Lasagna gardening, or sheet mulching, is the act of adding materials layer by layer to increase organic matter.  Materials I would recommend layering are newspaper (no wax paper or images), cardboard, aged and turned manure or compost, and straw. After every layer, make sure to water thoroughly.

Over a short matter of time, if properly built and maintained, you’re layers will turn into healthy, fertile soil. Benefits of sheet mulching include: weed surpression, soil preservation, non-till soil preparation, and much more.

This past week at a school garden in town we sheet mulched a garden bed.

Together we will explore how to make the most common vegetables tasty and exciting for the whole family while learning to cook together. On the menu we have a sweet and savory vegetable stir-fry, a satisfying smoothie, a choice chef’s salad and delicious snacks. During our time together, we’ll visit an active demonstration beehive and see honey in the making. We’ll then learn ways to add it to some of our favorite dishes and snacks. As the class comes to an end we’ll plant a few vegetables of our own so each child has something special to take home! We invite you to bring your children and share the experience of eating healthy and colorful produce fresh from the Chatfield CSA. We can’t wait to have a rainbow on our plate to share with you!

75 to 100 percent Georgia-grown meals will be in school lunches one week next spring because of the The Feed My School for a Week grant. Hall County’s Wauka Mountain Multiple Intelligences Academy was chosen for a pilot program, along with a school in both Bleckley and Colquitt counties.

The goal of this project is to try it for a week and see how it can be multiplied to serve schools for up to 36 weeks.

The grant is part of Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black’s farm-to-school campaign.

“This is a great leap forward to help show young Georgians where the food they eat is grown,” Black said in a news release. “Through this program, students will learn about the processes taken to bring their school meals from a local Georgia farm to the cafeteria table while simultaneously receiving a healthy, delicious meal.”

Cookie Palmer, Hall County Schools’ nutrition program director says,

“The reality of food is that it doesn’t grow in a store, it grows from a farm. That’s the connection we’re all trying to make.”

Although Georgia is a great pilot state because they rank fourth in fruit and vegetable production in the U.S., there is hope for the rest of the United States.  In conjunction with education about local agriculture, small business practices and nutritional education children will learn most importantly where their food comes from.

More and more schools are becoming involved in school meal reform and are learning the importance a well balanced diet has on school performance. During Food Day we will be teaching healthy affordable cooking methods, harvesting vegetables, sampling fresh vegetables from the garden and learning where our food comes from. Take part in your area and get involved with national Food Day!

Brought to you by MAT@USC Masters in Teaching

Although the plan sounds great many of us have been wondering if it really is being put into action. In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released recommended nutrition guidelines. If school cafeterias don’t meet USDA-established guidelines they can’t receive federal reimbursements for school meals. The new guidelines call for more fruit and vegetables along with less sodium. Although these changes may seem small, they are absolutely imperative. Almost one in three kids and teens, which adds up to about 23 million youngsters, weigh in as obese or overweight.

If you are in support of these new USDA guidelines, PlantingProgress encourages you to sign the petition to support USDA efforts to ensure healthy school meals. We have until April 13th to make a difference.

These underserved urban and rural areas are called ‘food deserts’. USDA recently launched a Food Environment Atlas (www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/) where food deserts can be identified.

“Encouraging people to choose fresh, nutritious food is important,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “But to achieve that goal that kind of food must be available, and in far too many parts of our country — both urban and rural communities — that’s not the case.

-Communityofgardeners.com