Garden Club (when not in quarantine)
Garden club meets Tuesdays from 2:45-4pm during the school year and is open to students of all grades.
Students should wear or bring clothes that can get dirty. The club meets inside when weather requires.
Questions? Contact Emily, eslambert@gmail.com for more information.
Adults also have a garden club! We meet Mondays at 4pm—during fall, spring, and summer—to beautify the grounds. Join us!
The Kellogg Garden has won Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards in 2018 and 2019. We have vegetable gardens, a peace garden, a strawberry patch, and a pollinator garden, among other beds. Students help maintain our park-like grounds. We weed by hand, use organic materials, remove invasive plants, and plant perennials and native plants. Thank you to our partners Big Green, University of Illinois Extension, Openlands, the Chicago Community Gardeners Association, and Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.
Garden club meets Tuesdays from 2:45-4pm during the school year and is open to students of all grades.
Students should wear or bring clothes that can get dirty. The club meets inside when weather requires.
Questions? Contact Emily, eslambert@gmail.com for more information.
Adults also have a garden club! We meet Mondays at 4pm—during fall, spring, and summer—to beautify the grounds. Join us!
The Kellogg Garden has won Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards in 2018 and 2019. We have vegetable gardens, a peace garden, a strawberry patch, and a pollinator garden, among other beds. Students help maintain our park-like grounds. We weed by hand, use organic materials, remove invasive plants, and plant perennials and native plants. Thank you to our partners Big Green, University of Illinois Extension, Openlands, the Chicago Community Gardeners Association, and Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.
The Kellogg Bees
Kellogg has two beehives, thanks to a grant from the Whole Kids Foundation. The beehives are located in a pollinator garden on the south side of the school and are maintained by a beekeeper from The Hive. The Kellogg bees are thriving and producing honey. We sold out of our first batch, so "bee" on the lookout for more coming soon. If you have any questions about the bees or are interested in beekeeping, contact Principal Overstreet at cwoverstreet@cps.edu .
Growing Now at Kellogg
Even though we're all at home, we do have a spring garden planted in the Learning Garden. We have lettuce, spinach, garlic, and radishes. We also have some perennials, which are plants that come back every year, including sage, oregano, and chives.
Kellogg has two beehives, thanks to a grant from the Whole Kids Foundation. The beehives are located in a pollinator garden on the south side of the school and are maintained by a beekeeper from The Hive. The Kellogg bees are thriving and producing honey. We sold out of our first batch, so "bee" on the lookout for more coming soon. If you have any questions about the bees or are interested in beekeeping, contact Principal Overstreet at cwoverstreet@cps.edu .
Growing Now at Kellogg
Even though we're all at home, we do have a spring garden planted in the Learning Garden. We have lettuce, spinach, garlic, and radishes. We also have some perennials, which are plants that come back every year, including sage, oregano, and chives.
Vegetable Gardening Basics (Quarantine Edition)
A lot of people are taking up gardening while stuck at home. That's awesome, it's fun! Here are some tips:
WHEN DO I PLANT?
Some plants like cold weather -- lettuce, broccoli, radishes, peas, and spinach. You can plant these outside in the spring, or start them indoors. When it gets hot, many of those plants will be done and ready to take out of your garden. Then you can plant another crop in the fall.
Some plants like warm weather -- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, basil. You can start these seeds inside, then move the seedlings outside when it's warmer. It's realllllly tempting to move them outside on the first nice day we have, but it's a good idea to wait until Mother's Day or so.
Some of these warm-weather plants (like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil) are ideally started in March, six to eight weeks before the last frost. You can still start them in late spring, but it might make sense to buy seedlings to get your garden going. But some (like cucumbers, squash, beans, and chard) are easy to grow from seed, even in late spring and early summer.
When in doubt, read the seed packet. It has all the information you need.
Remember to keep your seeds watered. Rain will take care of some of the watering, you are in charge of the rest.
HOW DO I PLANT?
For big seeds like radishes, beans, cucumbers, and chard, just poke them into the ground.
For little seeds like carrots and lettuce, you can sprinkle them into the soil.
When the plants come up, make sure they have room to grow. If radish seeds are too close to each other, for example, they won't have room to develop into radishes. The same is true for carrots. In that case, pull out some of the little plants to make room for the others.
If you have any questions about how to plant, Big Green has instructions and even videos: https://biggreen.org/teaching-in-your-garden/garden-skills-lessons/
TIPS
Remember to water!! That's really it. Also, don't sweat it if seeds don't come up, or if they die. We have killed LOTS of plants in garden club. That's how it goes.
You can plant flowers, too! Some nice easy flowers to plant are zinnias or nasturtiums. And bonus for nasturtiums: they are flowers that you can EAT. They taste peppery and are pretty in a salad.
Activity Ideas
Hey, did you know you can garden from your kitchen? Here are some activities and tips from our gardeners and volunteers, no green thumb or special equipment required:
1. PLANT SEEDS. Some easy seeds to grow include beans, peas, radishes, and cucumbers. If you don't have any seeds, try planting a dried bean from the pantry. Or if you're cutting up a pepper or tomatoes for dinner, save some seeds from those.
You can plant seeds in almost anything, including egg cartons, toilet paper tubes, and paper cups. If you don't have soil, you can even use a Ziplock bag: Soak a cotton ball or paper towel in water and put some seeds on it, then put everything in a plastic bag and see what happens.
Once you have seeds in a container, water them, and cover them with some saran wrap to make a little greenhouse. Keep them watered until they grow. When they shoot up, you can remove the saran wrap.
2. GROW A SWEET POTATO. Poke toothpicks in a sweet potato. Put it in an old jar with the bottom of the potato in water. Once it starts to sprout, measure how much it grows every day. (If it’s in sunlight with enough water, it should grow like a weed.) Transplant it into dirt once it is established if you choose.
3. GROW AN AVOCADO. Clean off an avocado pit. Poke toothpicks in it, then position it in a cup or jar so that the bottom part of it is in water. Garden club did that ... and we're getting roots and a stem! Note: this doesn't grow as fast as a sweet potato.
4. DO SOME 'GARBAGE GARDENING.' Cut the tops off of carrots or radishes, put them in a plate of water, and see if they grow roots. Make sure to keep water in the plate, don't let it dry out.
5. MAKE A SEED POTATO. If you have a potato that is starting to sprout, cut the potato in half and let the cut side "cure." Now you have a seed potato, and you can plant it in the ground with the sprouting side up. It will grow all summer, and pile up soil around it as it grows. In the fall, when the plant dies back, dig around, and you may find some potatoes.
6. GROW SOME GARLIC. Usually garlic is planted in the fall, but if you have some garlic sprouting in your kitchen, stick it in the ground. If you keep it watered, you might get a small head of garlic in the summer. Plant just ONE clove at a time, not the whole head, and position it so that the green shoot grows up towards the sun.
A lot of people are taking up gardening while stuck at home. That's awesome, it's fun! Here are some tips:
WHEN DO I PLANT?
Some plants like cold weather -- lettuce, broccoli, radishes, peas, and spinach. You can plant these outside in the spring, or start them indoors. When it gets hot, many of those plants will be done and ready to take out of your garden. Then you can plant another crop in the fall.
Some plants like warm weather -- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, basil. You can start these seeds inside, then move the seedlings outside when it's warmer. It's realllllly tempting to move them outside on the first nice day we have, but it's a good idea to wait until Mother's Day or so.
Some of these warm-weather plants (like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil) are ideally started in March, six to eight weeks before the last frost. You can still start them in late spring, but it might make sense to buy seedlings to get your garden going. But some (like cucumbers, squash, beans, and chard) are easy to grow from seed, even in late spring and early summer.
When in doubt, read the seed packet. It has all the information you need.
Remember to keep your seeds watered. Rain will take care of some of the watering, you are in charge of the rest.
HOW DO I PLANT?
For big seeds like radishes, beans, cucumbers, and chard, just poke them into the ground.
For little seeds like carrots and lettuce, you can sprinkle them into the soil.
When the plants come up, make sure they have room to grow. If radish seeds are too close to each other, for example, they won't have room to develop into radishes. The same is true for carrots. In that case, pull out some of the little plants to make room for the others.
If you have any questions about how to plant, Big Green has instructions and even videos: https://biggreen.org/teaching-in-your-garden/garden-skills-lessons/
TIPS
Remember to water!! That's really it. Also, don't sweat it if seeds don't come up, or if they die. We have killed LOTS of plants in garden club. That's how it goes.
You can plant flowers, too! Some nice easy flowers to plant are zinnias or nasturtiums. And bonus for nasturtiums: they are flowers that you can EAT. They taste peppery and are pretty in a salad.
Activity Ideas
Hey, did you know you can garden from your kitchen? Here are some activities and tips from our gardeners and volunteers, no green thumb or special equipment required:
1. PLANT SEEDS. Some easy seeds to grow include beans, peas, radishes, and cucumbers. If you don't have any seeds, try planting a dried bean from the pantry. Or if you're cutting up a pepper or tomatoes for dinner, save some seeds from those.
You can plant seeds in almost anything, including egg cartons, toilet paper tubes, and paper cups. If you don't have soil, you can even use a Ziplock bag: Soak a cotton ball or paper towel in water and put some seeds on it, then put everything in a plastic bag and see what happens.
Once you have seeds in a container, water them, and cover them with some saran wrap to make a little greenhouse. Keep them watered until they grow. When they shoot up, you can remove the saran wrap.
2. GROW A SWEET POTATO. Poke toothpicks in a sweet potato. Put it in an old jar with the bottom of the potato in water. Once it starts to sprout, measure how much it grows every day. (If it’s in sunlight with enough water, it should grow like a weed.) Transplant it into dirt once it is established if you choose.
3. GROW AN AVOCADO. Clean off an avocado pit. Poke toothpicks in it, then position it in a cup or jar so that the bottom part of it is in water. Garden club did that ... and we're getting roots and a stem! Note: this doesn't grow as fast as a sweet potato.
4. DO SOME 'GARBAGE GARDENING.' Cut the tops off of carrots or radishes, put them in a plate of water, and see if they grow roots. Make sure to keep water in the plate, don't let it dry out.
5. MAKE A SEED POTATO. If you have a potato that is starting to sprout, cut the potato in half and let the cut side "cure." Now you have a seed potato, and you can plant it in the ground with the sprouting side up. It will grow all summer, and pile up soil around it as it grows. In the fall, when the plant dies back, dig around, and you may find some potatoes.
6. GROW SOME GARLIC. Usually garlic is planted in the fall, but if you have some garlic sprouting in your kitchen, stick it in the ground. If you keep it watered, you might get a small head of garlic in the summer. Plant just ONE clove at a time, not the whole head, and position it so that the green shoot grows up towards the sun.
