Temple Beth Am 4th Graders Visit the Garden for Planting Day

For the third consecutive year, we were honored to host the Temple Beth Am 4th Graders for a day of planting in the garden.  We divided the children into three small groups where they got hands-on experience planting seeds, learning about South Florida’s unique weather from WSVN Chief Meteorologist Phil Ferro, learning about butterfly gardening, and even started a plant propagation project to continue at home.  The students will also experience the great taste of fresh food when they return during the harvest season for a special meal featuring produce they have studied and helped grow.  On the walk from the Clubhouse to the Garden, the students were fortunate enough to see a rare American Crocodile (from a far distance), a Wood Stork, an Anhinga, a bunch of Peacocks and quite a few Turkey Vultures.  Phil did a wonderful job engaging the kids and assisting with the planting of the garden.  Enjoy these photos from the event!

Temple Beth Am Students Learn About Good Nutrition

Ethan Shapiro welcomes Ms. Koller's 4th grade class to Deering Bay

Membership Coordinator Daniella Tosta sets up our garden fresh tasting for the students

Our Garden Fresh Salad Bar is ready

The students talk about their experience at our November planting event

Ms. Koller encourages the students to try everything 

After the tasting, the students cast ballots for their favorite vegetable and favorite dip

Favorite vegetable was Roasted Golden Beets and favorite dip was Guacamole.  The pineapple was a huge hit and lemony sorrel was also popular 

The weather improved and the students walked up to the Garden, with a slight detour to look at Deering Bay resident American Crocodiles 

Ms. Koller's class heads back to school after collecting beneficial insects at the Garden. Thank you kids!  We had as much fun as you did!

Temple Beth Am 4th Graders Visit The Garden 2011

The day started out with a bus ride in pouring rain to an outdoor event and ended in bright sunshine and smiles.  On Monday, November 28th, Deering Bay welcomed Temple Beth Am Day School kids from Ms. Koller's 4th grade science class to the garden. We held a program consisting of 4 separate science labs and rotated every 15 minutes.  The labs were:
#1. Seed propagation with Daniella Tosta
#2. Butterfly Gardening with Ethan Shapiro
#3. Vegetable planting with Tim Rowan
#4. Ms. Koller's science class .

The students really enjoyed every thing about their field trip and so did we! We plan to host the students again at the Club in March so they can check on the garden's progress, harvest and eat vegetables and collect caterpillars.

As for planting the garden, we made great progress.  The students completely planted the butterfly garden with Ethan while learning about host and nectar plants and the different types of butterflies they attract.  Daniella did an excellent job demonstrating seed propagation and all the kids left with a potted plant to grow at home. Ms. Koller took the opportunity to teach about the importance of beneficial insects, pollination, ecology and conservation.  I was happy because I had 20 kids who were eager to help me plant.  And boy were they productive planting nearly 1/4 of the garden.  All in all, we planted three types of cabbage, garlic chives, sorrel, cosmos, radicchio, golden beets, lettuce, basil, bok choy and tatsio.

On behalf of the Staff and Members of Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club thanks to the Beth Am 4th Graders for visiting our garden!

Temple Beth Am 4th Graders Taste Produce They Planted

Students from Temple Beth Am Day School visited the Garden again on Friday, 5/13 for the culmination of their planting back in November.  35 Students and Teachers got a chance to sample various items they planted including Parsnip, French Radishes, Pineapple, Escarole, Red and Yellow Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula, Mint, Carrots, Sorrel, Edible Flowers and much more.  The kids also voted on their favorite veggies and favorite dip.  Cucumber and the Spinach Dip won the voting but a few kids wanted to change their vote after trying the Sorrel.  Sorrel was the unofficial winner!

The 4^th graders met again with QCS Certified Organic Farmer and Deering Bay Chef Tim Rowan as well as Deering Bay’s award winning Executive Chef Greg McDaniel.  Over the last five months, Chefs Greg, Tim and the Kitchen Staff featured fresh produce from Deering Bay’s garden on our menu or part of our salad bar every day.  On many occasions, the items harvested were served in our dining room within the hour; you can’t find produce fresher than that!  On Friday, the children visited the garden for the last time this season and observed how many of the plants had “gone to seed.”  We discussed the many ways plants produce seeds and the idea behind composting.

This season the Deering Bay garden survived two hard frosts and won top honors at the Edible Garden Pavilion of the South Beach Food & Wine Festival in February.  We held successful gardening workshops with children of all ages and did a workshop for our Members with the President of Slow Food Miami, Donna Reno.  This blog, “A Garden on the Bay” http://blog.dbycc.com, was featured on well-known, local blogs Mango & Lime, Slow Food Miami, Redland Rambles, Food for Thought and Little River Market Garden.

On behalf of the Members and Staff of Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club, we thank Temple Beth Am Day School for allowing the children to visit the Club and collaborate on the garden.  The garden project would not have been a success without their help!

Tim Rowan & Ethan Shapiro

Ethan Shapiro introducing Tim Rowan and welcoming the kids to the Club

Tim talks about all the harvested vegetables

Tim speaking next to a cutting of cosmos

Ms. Koller holding a beet plucked from the garden just a few hours ago

Posing next to a pineapple plant grown from a cutting

Posing next to a pineapple plant grown from a cutting

Ethan leading the kids on a walk to the garden

Freshly picked carrots

Ethan talking about composting next to the Deering Bay composting bin