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Click here to see Evanston/Skokie School Gardens website. Kingsley Elementary School To volunteer or for more information, contact Kingsley's Farmer-in-Residence: Lauren at
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| June 2010 Kingsley Green Acres is getting off to a running start this growing season with its 3,000-square foot edible garden plot at Twiggs Park. The PTA of Kingsley Elementary in Evanston began the project last year in partnership with The Talking Farm. Already this June, the KGA team has harvested and donated 60 bags of home-grown produce to Hillside Free Methodist Church Food Pantry in Evanston. The produce was planted by students and parents of Kingsley this spring, under the supervision of Lauren Spain Bondi, farmer in residence, and consisted entirely of organically grown mixed lettuces, Swiss chard, kale, radishes, and a variety of fresh herbs. KGA also donated several large bags of kale, lettuce and Swiss chard to the Rice Child and Family Center in Evanston as part of a new healthy food and cooking initiative at the center.
Kingsley Green Acres is also the proud and just-announced recipient of a $250 community grant from the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club to help fund supplies for successive plantings in a bed that we’ve dubbed, “Kingsley Shares.” The Kingsley Shares bed has been designated exclusively to grow produce for Evanston-based food pantries, soup kitchens, or other related programs serving people in need of food.
April 2010 There's a bit of green on the ground at Kingsley Green Acres. Right now most of it is, of course, creeping Charlie. But our strawberries, raspberries, and perennial herbs are budding out in the sunshine. It's promising to be a busy and inspiring season!
April is the big month for soil building and planting our cool-season crops. Fortunately, our beds are in pretty good shape, just needing a bit of weeding, compost and organic fertilizer. We also need more dirt to top off the blue half-barrel containers. Once our seedlings are ready, they will have to harden off in their flats while beds are prepped.
We want to get seeds of sugar snap peas, radishes, spinach, lettuce, and early carrots into the beds as soon as possible, in hopes of harvesting treats for Kingsley's "Taste it Fridays" program. Each Friday, students can taste a new healthy food, provided by the PTA and Green Bag Lunch. This year, we want to provide a snack from our own garden before school's out! Let's hope Mother Nature cooperates.
This month we'll inaugurate the Kingsley Gardening Club, welcome first-grade Brownies to plant, and celebrate Earth Day with a family picnic at the garden. And we will set aside two beds to grow food specifically for donation to food pantries and homeless shelters in Evanston.
Thank you Talking Farm, and congratulations on your new office space! |  
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2009 Archives
Kingsley Green Acres was officially launched on Earth Day 2009. Since that day, more than 300 Kingsley Elementary students have visited with their classrooms, with after-school groups, and with their families. Planting, watering, weeding and harvesting were all done by students and volunteers. College students from Northwestern University and middle school students from Evanston Youth Organization Umbrella also pitched in, making this a true community garden.
 The third graders planted a Three Sisters bed (corn, beans, and squash) as part of their study of Native American history. A Girl Scout troop earned an earth badge by planting a butterfly/pollinator garden. Our White House "mirror" bed grew some of the same crops as the Obamas' organic garden.
In addition, our 15-bed mini-farm produced crops of carrots, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, collard greens, arugula, broccoli, peppers, swiss chard, beets, corn, zucchini, summer squash, garlic, onions, basil, cilantro, potatoes, turnip greens, and strawberries. All the produce went to students, volunteer families, or a local charity. 
The 2009 season ended with our Fall Harvest Festival in early October. Kids, their families, and visitors toured the garden and nibbled on garden-fresh salsa, pizza sauce, and several yummy zucchini-based desserts. We incorporated the arts into the garden setting with a literature scavenger hunt, and an interactive drama performance.
Next season, we hope to combine science, social studies, history and food with an "Around the World" theme. We'll grow crops from different parts of the world, to demonstrate how delicious foods originate from every continent and culture.
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