It's always hard to decide when a particular crop is "finished".
You crave that last cucumber, or tomato, or pepper or eggplant.
But at some point you realize that the fruit is not as good, it has gone off a bit ... it's time!

My neighbor Stella, 90+ years, has lots of experience growing things. In mid-summer I noted that her tomatoes needed water and she said "No, dey don't need water no more."!!

For years at Waters our best efforts at tomatoes peaked in July and began to shrivel by the end of August, too late to have the kids harvest and taste when they returned to school. 
Then one year I visited City Farm, Ken Dunne's place at Division and Clybourn, 
in late September, 
and their rows of tomatoes were heavy with ripe, beautiful fruit. 
I asked him how this was so, 
and he showed me the drip irrigation, 
and they told me that they heaped compost on the base of the plants, the entire row, 
2-3 times during the season, 
providing a fresh burst of nutrient. 

Well! Good idea.

Anyway, at some point even those tomatoes give out,
and the cukes, and zukes, and peppers, 
and beans and all.
Most of them fall prey to one or another disease, fungus, blight, insect invasion. 
Pull them out. 
Make the decision and pull them out. 
Add compost and start something new.
And for our garden, 
we ask that you either burn the spent stems and leaves in the campfire,
 or bring them to the commercial compost bin near the school garbage area. 
Commercial compost will render thses diseased plants and kill off the pathogens because of the high temperatures they attain through shredding, mixing and turning. 
Don't put those plants in our compost, 
as those pathogens will survive and be spread around next cycle. 

It's hot! Don't forget to water your gardens.
Maybe plant some lettuce, kale, or other Fall veggies.
It's a glorious time to appreciate the Fall blooms, asters, goldenrod, and sunflowers. Give yourself a minute to pause and take it all in. 

Waters Ecology note:
If anyone has time this afternoon or tomorrow morning to tape the blank tree list to the leaf collecting envelope for 80 first graders, I have tape and space in the Conference room. 

Many Thanks, 
Pete
petelekisan@gmail.com

Yow, 
It got so hot the tiny leaflets are falling from the Locust trees.
I wish we could collect them all for the compost bins.
We will be doing our 1st grade leaf collections.
Here is the schedule, same as yesterday's that was cancelled for rain. 
We could use 30 volunteers for each class (joke!)

Thursday, September 21
Room 211 11:35-12:15
Room 210  1:20-2:05
Room 208  2:15-3:00

Hope to see you there, 
Mr. leki

We're back! 
And the spirit around the school seems high.
Our field ecology schedule kicks off at the end of this month and there are tons of things to prepare at every grade level.

Some of the ways that the ecology program carries on the legacy of progressive education, 
is by asking parents to help me prepare for our trips, 
by asking parents to attend the trips, 
and by inviting parents to participate in the trip activities and learning.
I learn new stuff every time I teach, from K-8. 
As a school we learn, 
we grow, 
we become more interwoven as a community. 
If you stay at the school K-8, 
and participate in the Ecology program, 
I hope that you will come away a little more grounded in this place we live in,
a little more knowledgeable about the lake,
 the River, 
the natural areas 
and the consequences of bad land use choices. 
I hope that we will all become stronger voices for  a restored, 
healthy, 
just,
and peaceful world.

Here are some of the things that I need help with right away:
Some one to help oversee the sorting line at lunch time, 
even for a half hour. 
This accomplishes a number of things: 
1) it helps the youngest kids and new children to learn the ropes with a friendly hand;
2) it shows the custodians that we care, and understand the added burden that is placed on them;
3) we get to see our little community in action,
their courage and enthusiasm.
(Just watch!)
Lunch sorting goes from 11:15 until 12:30 or so. 
Let me know if you can do a shift.

More stuff!

1st Grade: we will soon be doing our leaf collection,
 an activity that begs for many helping hands,
 including afterwards to sort and press the leaves;

2nd Grade; River trips begin in October, on Tuesdays. 
We need to prepare trip journals. 
This just means folding 100 card stock sheets;

3rd Grade: first Mighty Acorn year. 
We need to prepare their 3-year hard cover journal books. 
This means collecting and taping oak leaves and spine labels, 
and pasting in maps, songs, and non-fiction pieces for 70 kids;

4-5th Grades:  I need to re-sort through the journals for any changes in the classrooms, 
or new comers;

6th grade: I need to prepare year-long field journals for River studies. 
This means, 
folding card stock covers and 8 sheets of paper for the inside,
including benthic organism 
and chemical test sheets, for 100 kids;

7th grade: 
similar to above, 
except, for Lake Studies. 
for 70 kids;

8th grade: 
garden maintenance, 
harvest activities 
and special projects supervision very helpful.

Monday mornings, after drop off, 
is a good one if you would like to work together with others in the Conference room. 
But, if you would like to set your own time, 
or take stuff home, let me know. 
Yeah team! 
We are on our way!

Mr. Leki