FRESH Ideas

Dec 9, 2020

Soils Virtual Lesson

Soils: Let’s Dig In! is an interactive Google Slides presentation with video messages from Amy and Doug, drag and drop slides to reinforce vocabulary, and instructions for an at-home lab experiment to discover soil composition and texture. This lesson is designed to deliver 3rd grade NC standards. For our virtual lessons, you will be prompted to… 

Nov 17, 2020

Finding Safe Solutions

If you haven’t seen an episode of WGRO News, you are missing out. The weekly news broadcast was Janet Childress’s solution to making sure her remote learning students were kept up-to-date on the happenings in the gardens at A.T. Allen Elementary in Concord. Her tagline was “Bringing the gardens to you, when you can’t come… 

Nov 17, 2020

Kale Kits for Virtual Students

The Plants for Human Health Institute worked with Cabarrus County Schools to gather supplies and develop educational resources for every 2nd grader to plant, grow, harvest and prepare kale. The “Kale Kit” included a nursery pot, a 1-gallon bag of soil, an envelope with 5 seeds, an instruction sheet (with a supplemental video) and recipe.​Nothing… 

Sep 16, 2020

“Go Bags” Ease Transition Outside

Do you want to utilize outdoor space for teaching, but do not have a designated outdoor classroom? Consider creating “Go Bags.” Each student has their own bag, eliminating the need for teachers to disinfect items between groups of students. Each tote bag or reusable grocery bag would contain the following items, many of which can be brought… 

Sep 14, 2020

Video: Harvesting Sweet Potatoes

It’s time to don your eyepatch and your best pirate accent to dig for buried treasure in the garden! The sweet potatoes arrrrrgh ready (or almost ready) to harvest, matey. Doug has some tips and tricks for harvesting your sweet potatoes. Don’t miss the special appearances by some of our local elementary school students as they… 

Aug 25, 2020

Thrive Outside

There has never been a better time to consider teaching outside. With the need for social distancing and many schools utilizing a hybrid teaching model, outdoor spaces can offer peace of mind as well as numerous learning benefits. However, teaching outside can also present some challenges.Here are just a few tips: Most of students’ time… 

Jun 16, 2020

Video: Planting Sweet Potatoes

Sowing seeds or digging a hole to bury the rootball of a transplant are the most common means of starting a garden crop, but there are some plants, like sweet potatoes, where a cutting is essentially directly rooted in the ground. These cuttings are called slips and the time to plant sweet potatoes is late… 

May 19, 2020

Video: Bolting Kale

Kale is a cool season vegetable. The leaves are harvested for use in salads, smoothies, baked as chips or even added to soup. It’s packed with nutrients and considered a “superfood.” As the temperatures get warmer in late spring, harvesting comes to a halt when the kale bolts (lettuce does the same). Learn about this… 

May 18, 2020

Video: Pollination

The signs of spring include flowers blooming and birds chirping…and that yellow dust covering our cars. While it may be a nuisance to those who suffer from allergies, it serves an important role in plant reproduction. PHHI STEM educator, Doug Vernon, is in his element in his yard sharing a quick overview of pollen and…