Dig In
OUSD The Center Environment, Food & Garden (EFG) Programs
April 2024
In this Dig In:
- Harvest of the Month: SNAP PEAS!
- EFG Champion Updates & Reminders
- April Garden Maintenance Notes
- OUSD Waste Prevention & Sustainability
- Highlights, Stories & Photos
- Apply ~ Participate ~ Read ~ Watch ~ Listen
📸: Orange you glad there's so many oranges at Claremont?!
And remember... you can always check out the Dig In newsletter archive!
- Promote the snap peas being served on OUSD produce bars during lunch and in the meal program overall!
- If your site requested an April Snap Pea taste test box in February via the Seed & Start form, use the snap peas in a timely manner and host a taste test! Check here for your school site's designation as an A school or B school to determine your delivery date, and read the reminder emails from Kat Romo.
- Set up a beautiful snap pea bulletin board in your cafeteria (required for all EFG Champion sites!).
- Highlight local snap pea farms - World's Finest Farms and Tutti Fruiti - and yummy peas- in morning announcements, on the bulletin boards, and everywhere in between! EFG Champion sites will receive a copy in their school mail and all Nutrition Services kitchen sites will receive a copy with the April menus. Anyone can download and print a copy of the farmer poster.
- Educate with this slide deck about snap peas - Learn about the history of snap peas, nutrition facts, activities, recipes and farmer highlight!
- Distribute Educator Newsletters to staff at your site (distributed at the start of the year) and USE THEM IN YOUR CLASSROOM.
- Try out an activity sheet and newsletters on the HOTM website, or try a snap pea recipe from the new 2024 HOTM calendar or slide deck, and encourage staff to use the materials and share back with you!
- Don't forget to check out the "Apply ~ Participate ~ Read ~ Watch ~ Listen" section of this Dig In to find more fun resources!
Piedmont Avenue student's HOTM stickers: Gotta collect them all!
Hoover Lettuce Taste Test
Lovely HOTM Bulletin Board at Urban Promise Academy
Check out this lovely shoutout from Claremont Middle School!
Find the hub for Harvest of the Month in OUSD on The Center Programming Website and follow along on TikTok and Instagram @OUSDHOTM. Read highlights from past months here.
Harvest of the Month encourages students and school communities to eat a variety of nutritious produce, and celebrates the bounty and diversity of fruits and vegetables grown in California.
Up next for May: Strawberries!
- 💻 March 28: EFG Champion Bi-Monthly Log for February & March were due for all EFG Champions (including FoodCorps service members). PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR LOG NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!
For the December/January log, we had a 90% submission rate on the Main Log, and 85% submission rate on the Supplemental Log - lets get that to 100% for February/March! - ⚒️ If you ordered Winter or Spring supplies, they are ready for you and against the chain link fence behind the greenhouse. Find your school sign. Find the order form. Take the items that are indicated on the form. Reference Friday reminder emails from Kat from March 23 for the school list OR the Supply Email sent April 8th. Also 🌳 Fruit trees are ready to be picked up. Check your April 8th email. We will be adding more trees to the Seed and Start Order Form.
- 🫛 April 8: HOTM Bulletin Boards for April Snap Peas posted.
- 👩🌾 Farmer Posters about the farm providing the snap peas in April will be delivered to all EFG Champions and to all Nutrition Services kitchen sites by approximately April 8 or sooner.
- ☀️ Mid/Late April: Summer Garden Steward Applications Open. Application forthcoming.
- 🫛 Week of April 8: Snap Pea HOTM Taste Test Produce Boxes go out to “A” School Sites who ordered via Seed and Start.
- 🫛 Week of April 15: Snap Pea HOTM Taste Test Produce Boxes go out to “B” School Sites who ordered via Seed and Start.
- 🍓 April 18-23: Window for Seed & Start for requesting May Strawberry HOTM Taste Test Boxes via Seed and Start.
Ongoing:
- Share photos via the EFG Champion photo album.
- Work towards EFG Champion SMARTE goals!
- April 23, 4:00-5:00 pm: Remote Support Meeting [optional, via zoom] RSVP via Google Calendar. Program check-in, technical support, resources sharing, requirement question and answer (log in if you have questions).
- May 9, 4:00-6:00 pm, EFG Champion Workshop + Celebration: End of year planning, Celebration, Tentative Summer Garden Steward Orientation (Paid for 1.5 hours, in person)
- RSVP will be released via google form in Friday email reminders.
See Friday Reminder emails from Kat.Romo@ousd.org for more reminders.
The EFG Champion website is the hub for key information from workshops, resources including the OUSD Garden Toolkit, which has links to all relevant forms embedded throughout and in the appendix, page 61, and EFG Champion Calendar 2023-2024: Workshops, Key Dates.
April in our School Gardens
Garden Maintenance
It is a good time to do a soil investigation- look at texture, hardness, ability to clump, color, and odor. Amend with compost or fertilizer prior to planting warm-season starts. Get to Know Your Soil is a good educational resource from the UC Master Gardeners. Try to control weeds when they are small and before they flower. Continue to mulch around perennials and water as needed to supplement irrigation and rain. Check the compost pile to make sure it’s not too wet from recent rains- it should be moist, but not soaking. Alternate 6 inch layers of both brown and green materials to achieve a balance.
Planting Guide
If you have a summer program at your school and plan to participate in the Summer Garden Stewardship Program, plant warm season crops mid-month when the soil temperature should be above 45-50 degrees. Seeds that have been direct-sown into the garden last month can be thinned once they have formed two or more true leaves.
- Seeds: Beans, corn, cucumber, melon, and squash, can be direct-seeded in the garden late this month.
- Plants/Starts: Set out tomato, pepper, and eggplant starts in mid-April.
Pest and Disease Alert
Continue to be vigilant for eggs, insects, and damage, especially on tender young plants. The earlier you can detect and manage, the better chances for plant survival. Eliminate mosquito breeding sites by draining any standing water in buckets, planters, pipes, or gutters that might have collected water from the rain.
Check out the OUSD Planting Calendar for recommendations for the whole year.
EFG Champions & site Corps members can request seasonally appropriate seeds and plant starts via the OUSD Seed & Start Program.
Street Academy March Harvest
Hoover garden care
Greens in the garden at Highland Academy
Read more on the Master Gardeners of Alameda County website and learn about the whole year here and in the OUSD School Garden Toolkit on The Center Programming Website.
OUSD Earth Month Art Contest is Live!
OUSD students Pre K - 12th grade may submit artwork in any medium around the Theme: Fighting Food Waste! Here is the submission form. We are excited to see your ideas around this theme. Here are some prompts to get started;
- Show ways you fight food waste at home, at school or in your
- community.
- Demonstrate what you do with your food scraps.
- Share what fighting food waste means to you and why you find it
- important.
Want to be an art judge?? We are seeking volunteers to help with judging the art submissions.
For support with the Earth Month Art Contest, or to sign up to be an art contest judge, email Benner Mullin: benner.mullin@ousd.org
Let’s Reuse!
It is getting close to the end of the school year when suddenly the hallways might fill up with unwanted items. Let’s see about options for reuse and how we can support!
Does your school have a reuse space or a system to handle items that staff no longer want or can use? We would love to hear your setup for others to learn from!
Please reach out to Benner Mullin: benner.mullin@ousd.org to share what your staff and school have going on.
We have a chart of best options for reuse to consider, please check our OUSD Unwanted Procedure Guide and let us know how we can assist!
Let’s prioritize reusing and donating those unwanted items!
Two Additional ways to be engaged for Earth Month!
Microplastic Madness Free Screening through April 30:
K-12 educators and staff may request a link to screen Microplastic Madness by Cafeteria Culture. Microplastic Madness is a citizen science and activism story following 5th grade students who learn about the impacts of plastics, microplastics and community organizing.
Mr. Eco Earth Week Free Live Stream:
Join our friend, YouTuber, and eco rap superhero Mr. Eco for live stream concerts with students celebrating from around the world during Earth Week. This is a free event for schools or classes to join. Empower your students while also letting them follow along to fun, dance moves. Go to www.LetsGoEco.Live to sign up!
Direct School Support: Our District Waste Reduction Team is here to support you!
Schedule a site visit or walkthrough and we can order supplies and help you create a plan. We can also give virtual or in person assemblies and presentations to teach students and staff about why and how to sort waste! We are here to be of service, just let us know how we can support! Contact us directly at Nancy Deming (nancy.deming@ousd.org)
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 Keep reading for more great resources 💡🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
Including great stories from across OUSD, grants, events, articles, and more. You will see our contact information at the end of this newsletter! We recommend clicking "View it in your browser" at the top of this email, if you're reading this in email.
Young Adult Program Students Learn at The Center
At the start of this semester, OUSD’s Young Adult Program (YAP) started back up at The Center. The goal of the program is to teach young adults with disabilities workplace and independent life skills to prepare them for adulthood. The Center’s specific programming takes place every Friday, where 3-4 learners come and take part in either garden or culinary-based learning activities. On the gardening side, learners engage in several different activities including packaging and saving seeds and repotting starts to be used either onsite in the instructional garden or sent to OUSD school gardens through the Seed and Start Program. On their culinary days, the learners harvest different things from The Center’s garden, practice their knife skills, and prepare different food items ranging from salads to spring rolls. Throughout the rest of the semester, the YAP learners will continue to learn valuable life and job readiness skills before they begin the next chapter of their lives!
YAP students prepare seeds for OUSD gardens
YAP students prepare a meal
Students use the bike blender to make smoothies
Creature Feature: Soldier Beetles
Who’s that insect on The Center’s scabiosa plant? It’s a Soldier Beetle! These beetles belong to the family Cantharidae and can be found all over the world. California is home to 11 different species of soldier beetles. All soldier beetles in California have red and black coloring. This is important because it tells predators that these beetles taste bad. (Click on the photo to make it larger!)
You can find soldier beetles on your plants throughout the Spring and early Summer. When the weather starts to warm up, the beetle larvae leave their cozy homes in the ground and start to explore the above ground world as adults.
Adult beetles love to eat pollen and nectar (especially if it’s from yellow flowers). This makes them important pollinators. As the beetles travel from flower to flower to eat, they end up spreading the pollen all around. Soldier beetles also love snacking on aphids. This makes them a great form of natural pest control.
Tips for finding soldier beetles in your garden (TRY THIS WITH YOUR STUDENTS!):
- Look for small bugs with red heads and black bodies.
- Start your search by looking at plants with yellow flowers.
- If you can’t find any beetles on yellow flowers, then expand your search to all different colors.
- Search plants that have lots of aphids on them
- What other things did you find along the way?
EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES
- OUSD Earth Month Art Contest - See more details above in the Sustainability Section of this "Dig In" Newsletter.
- International Earth Day, April 22, United Nations
- Energize Schools Earth Day Challenge. Take direct action with your students this Earth Day! The Earth Day Challenge guides students through a 3-part curriculum where they learn about and use tools to discover how sustainability issues impact the environment in their communities. In Part 3 students utilize that information to choose a sustainability issue that is meaningful to them and create a campaign. REGISTER TODAY to receive FREE ready-to-use activities and access to our Earth Day Challenge Portal! The Earth Day Challenge will run March 12 - May 3. Registration closes April 5th
GENERAL
- HOTM April Snap Peas Activities - Try Them!
- OUSD Employee Health Fair - Wednesday, April 17, 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm, Oakland Convention Center East Hall, 550 10th St., Oakland, CA
- Share the word about SUN Bucks summer EBT program (information in English, Spanish)
- Cooking Matters at The Store, El Cerrito, 18 Reasons, April 13
- Black Women's Health Forum, April 18, Oakland
- Action for Happiness Happier April calendar
- Happiness calendar for educators - April 2024
READ
- Snap Peas Slide Deck and Newsletters, OUSD HOTM
- The Center at OUSD Connects Environment, Food, and Garden Education for Students, Staff – and the Community, The Oakland Ed Fund
- Meet Michelle Oppen: An Oakland Class Act, The Oakland Ed Fund
- Trends and emerging ideas influencing the children and nature movement, Children & Nature Network
- Gaps in California's School Nutrition Services Staffing, California School Nutrition Association
WATCH
- How Does Our Food Grow? (readaloud), Storytime with Mr. Limata
- Vegetables in Underwear (readaloud), OUSD Health & Wellness
- So You Want to Grow a Salad (readaloud), OUSD Health & Wellness
LISTEN
- Gobe: A Pea Leaf Flour Used as Tea | Our Food Stories Ep. 25, A Kitchen in Uganda
COOK
- Snap pea recipe archive, CalFresh Healthy Living
- Rice (pea) Salad, 2024 HOTM Calendar
- 2024-25 FoodCorps Program: Title 1 Elementary Schools are invited to apply to be a FoodCorps School for the 2024-25 School Year. Learn more and apply here. Click the link to learn more!
- Seedball Grant, Planet Bee
- OUSD Staff: Request an ergonomics evaluation here
- Unsolicited grant proposals are open, due 5 pm Pacific Time on Friday, April 30, 2024, The Campbell Foundation
The Dig In newsletter is a monthly newsletter with resources & reminders, stories & celebrations.
Let us know if there is content you want to see in this newsletter!
You are receiving this as a valued partner of this programming. Please reach out to Lydia.Yamaguchi@ousd.org or Kat.Romo@ousd.org with any questions.
The Center Education Programming - Environment, Food, Gardens
Website: The Center Education and Community Programming Website
OUSD Health & Wellness YouTube Channel
Follow HOTM on Instagram & TikTok: @OUSDHOTM and #OUSDHOTM
Email: Kat.Romo@ousd.org
Location: 2850 West Street, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: 510-872-2401
What is The Center?
According to one 6th grade OUSD student: "The Center is fun and informational and there is a lot of nature a lot of agriculture, history. They prepare and make food for OUSD food."