FRESH Ideas

Apr 20, 2020

Video: Flower Dissection

Classroom lesson delivery is going virtual. In this first video in a new series dubbed STEM To-Go, Amy Bowman teaches flower parts through flower dissection. A lily or alstroemeria are ideal flowers for a simply dissection demonstration. We’ve created a YouTube Playlist on the Plants for Human Health Institute channel for all the “STEM To-Go”… 

Apr 17, 2020

SGSI 2020 Canceled

In light of the response to reducing the threat of COVID-19, the decision has been made to cancel the School Garden Summer Institute that was scheduled for June 24-25, 2020. Refunds will be issued to those who had registered. We are planning to target the same week in June next summer for SGSI 2021, if… 

Mar 6, 2020

Registration Opens for SGSI

Join the NC State Plants for Human Health Institute for the 3rd annual School Garden Summer Institute, a 2-day professional development workshop for teachers, administrators, volunteers or any other members of the “garden team.” REGISTER TODAY Event Date and Time: June 24-25, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm Early Bird Registration $40 (Until April 15th) General Registration… 

Mar 6, 2020

A Trio of Literary Connections

Making garden connections to subjects outside science and math is a big part of using the garden to its optimal potential. Here are three ideas that hone in on literature. 1. You may be familiar with Jan Brett’s book,The Turnip, a folktale that is also the basis for Irene Yates’ book, The Enormous Turnip, and… 

Feb 6, 2020

Sowing Parties

All six Kannapolis City Schools elementary schools recently had a seeding party at the NC State Plants for Human Health Institute (PHHI) greenhouses. Doug asked the KCS garden leaders to submit their spring garden plans in mid-December to earn an invite to the party. Plans included diagrams from Kitchen Garden planner (or another program) and a… 

Jan 6, 2020

Planting papertowels?

Pre-plant your garden squares with the Square Foot Seeds lesson. Glueing root crop seeds (turnip, radish, carrot, beet, etc) to a paper towel at teacher-directed spacing (depending on your folding, or your “more than/less than” objective) will make “planting” the first garden crop a breeze. The seeds won’t germinate until they are watered, so let… 

Dec 17, 2019

Mixed Berry Smoothie

Full of vitamins and minerals, this is a great year-round smoothie recipe since berries are always available in the frozen foods section. 

Nov 4, 2019

Blue Ribbon Harvest

Our inaugural Sweet Potato Competition had some great entries, but above all, we hope everyone enjoyed growing, harvesting, tasting and learning about sweet potatoes. (Side note: They worked great as a summer cover crop to suppress weeds; mark the calendar for May planting.) Ultimately, the PHHI contest pitted two local schools in a neck-and-neck competition.… 

Sep 11, 2019

Sweet Potato Competition

Kids love a healthy competition. We were so inspired by the blue ribbon-winning State Fair entry from Dixon Road Elementary last year, we thought we’d host our own sweet potato competition. Entry details are below. All entries must be received by Wednesday, October 4. Ribbons will be awarded to 1st and 2nd place for each category.…