Titan Garden at River Place Elementary

Radish harvest in the Titan Garden

2012-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

1st graders last week came out to the garden with one thing on their mind - radishes.

They knew the time had come to harvest radishes from the Titan Garden, but first they had to have some "garden care" time. They split into groups and went to work picking out weeds and using lots of teamwork to dig them up Other students watered different parts of the garden.

After caring for the garden, it was time for our harvest. Only about 1/3 of the students said they had ever tried radishes so this would be a new experience for many of them. And they could choose to try or not to try the radish. First we dug up about 5 radishes per class. Then the students helped clean them and get them ready for slicing. A little salt sprinkled on top and the tasting begun.

Thoughts from the students: "refreshing", "yummy", "kinda spicy" and the occasional "ewww". In the end, we asked them to give thumbs up or thumbs down on whether they liked the radish.

But the most telling sign they might like this something new that they tried? After offering seconds and thirds to anyone who wanted them, there was not a single slice of radish left over.

Hill Country Education Foundation helps our garden grow!!

2012-01-24T20:12:00.000-08:00

THANK YOU HILL COUNTRY EDUCATION FOUNDATION!

Just before the holidays we were thrilled to get a surprise visit, not from a jolly old elf, but from the Grant Patrol of the Hill Country Education Foundation and Dr. Bret Champion, LISD Superintendent, to award the Titan Garden with a grant of $2500 for continued development of our garden program. The Foundation’s goal is to assist in developing a superior educational experience for students in the Four Points community, accomplished through financial support from individuals and businesses living and working in the area. We appreciate all that they do for our schools and this was an amazing gift to the garden.

What made it even more amazing was that they arrived right in the middle of one of our garden classes, so we had a great time showing our guests the new rainfall simulator being used in our lesson and showing them all the great things the students have planted. Our rainfall simulator shows 3 scenarios of rain falling on different surfaces and how it changes whether the water can be used as a resource. The kids did great at making predictions on which scenario would produce the most groundwater vs. runoff.

And of course, there is nothing like having your class interrupted with balloons and a big sign! Thanks to all those at the HCEF, you can come hang out in the garden anytime!

New signs in the garden

2012-01-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

The garden has some beautiful new signs in it. These signs are cut slices from our cedar trees that were donated to make our stump seating in the classroom. The stumps each have a garden rule on it, the very same rules that the 1st graders came up with when the classroom was created.

Thanks to Mary Catherine Gardner, one of our parent volunteers, for making these amazing signs.

2nd grade finding nature's beauty

2011-12-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

The RPE second graders came out recently to help make some beautiful nature wreaths for the garden. We brought lots and lots of gorgeous material, all supplied by Mother Nature. Roses, succulents, grasses, nandina berries, eucalyptus, pittosporum, salvias, magnolia leaves, rosemary, and lots more. The kids did a great job of finding contributions in their own gardens to add to their class wreath.

This is our second year doing nature wreaths and every year we wonder if the wreaths might end up being just a big mess of leaves. And every year, the students show us how it is done and, let me tell you, they could give Martha Stewart some competition.

This year, we also designed some ribbons out of raffia and the teachers chose the ribbon to add.

While classmates were taking their turn at wreath making, the rest of the class was making sure our veggie beds were getting lots of water.

So you be the judge and take a look at the fabulous nature wreaths made by our second grade classes.

I know, fabulous, right? I am amazed that even though they were all given mostly the same plant materials, each class designed such a unique wreath. Great job 2nd graders!

More garden poetry

2011-12-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

Garden poetry from Ms. Dietzmann's class. Enjoy...

They start as a seed

We know what they need.

Soil, water, air and sun,

Planting seeds is lots of fun!

Plants like garden beds, soil and dirt,

Don't step there or the plants will get hurt!

If you want to see a flower,

There needs to be a rain shower.

In the fall some plants will go away,

But, we'll see them again on a sunny, Spring day!

Poetry in the Garden

2011-12-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a little poetry composed by Ms. Phillips 1st graders during garden class. Enjoy....

Working in the Garden is so much fun!

We plant the plants and they grow in the sun.

The sun gives lots and lots of power,

to the many, many flowers.

Look at all the creepy crawly ants,

climbing on all the beautiful plants.

We plant flowers from little seeds,

but the flowers and seeds do not like weeds.

Plants need energy to become nice and green,

remember to keep the garden clean.

1st graders whip the vegetable garden into shape

2011-12-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

On a very windy day in October, the 1st graders came out to the garden ready to set to work on planting our vegetable garden.

Each class planted seeds in a section of the T-shaped beds and then made sure the seeds were watered in well. Crops include broccoli, kale, carrots, lettuce, spinach and chard.

After planting the seeds and making sure they were watered, the 1st graders learned about mapping in the garden by making their own maps of different areas.

Annual Titan Wildflower Stomp

2011-12-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

Could this be a picture of a stampede to a candy sale, a toy clearance, a cartoon marathon?

Nope, it's just the River Place Titans enjoying their annual Wildflower Stomp on October 24th.We are loving all of this rain, not only because it helps relieve the severe drought we are in but because we have some lovely little seeds that have just been waiting for rain. The Titans enjoyed their annual Wildflower Stomp on October 24th. Fall is the perfect time to get those wildflower seeds in the ground so they begin germinating and be ready to bloom in the spring.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we received a grant to help pay for our seeds. We picked a mix this year that has lots of variety with perennials (multiple year bloomers) and annuals (one year bloomer). The mix includes: Indian Blanket
Greenthread
Plains Coreopsis
Clasping Coneflower
Golden-Wave
Purple Coneflower
Scarlet Sage
Lemon Mint
Purple Prairie Clover
Cutleaf Daisy
Huisache Daisy
Drummond Phlox
Black-Eyed Susan
Texas Yellow Star
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Pink Evening Primrose
Mexican Hat
Bush Sunflower
Prairie Coneflower
Winecup

Students from Kinder through 5th came out and stomped, twisted and jumped to help those seeds in the ground. Now we will let nature take her course and get the seeds started and hopefully see some beautiful colors come next spring.

News from the Titan Garden: Week of November 21, 2011

2011-11-24T18:38:00.001-08:00

During this week of Thanksgiving, we have somuch to be thankful for in this year of expanding our Titan Garden:

Thank you to all the parent volunteers who haveworked in the garden over the past 3 years to build it and maintain it.
Thank you to all of the companies likeMalt-O-Meal, Home Depot, and IBM who have contributed financially to theexpansion project
Thank you to all of the organizations includingRiver Place Garden Club, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Vandergrift HonorSociety, and Four Points Middle SchoolHonor Society for contributing volunteer hours to our garden
Thank you to all of the companies who have donatedhours and materials to help us make this dream come true: Above the Plane, Austin Green Water, AustinGutter King, Dirty Work Services, Holsinger Architecture, Home Depot, JPConcrete, Straight & Level Construction, Structures, and Wilson Roofing
Thank you to all of the teachers who areexploring the possibilities of ways to use the Titan Garden in theircurriculum.
Thank you to all the students who continue toinspire and show how much the Titan Garden has to offer.

The Titan Garden is open to our RPE teachers and their classes every day of theweek- come explore!

Want to learn moreabout our garden?

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Watch our amazing installation day video
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Article on installation day event

2011-11-18T11:31:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Four Points News for writing about our installation day event. Article on Page 2.

Open publication - Free publishing - More austin

News from the Titan Garden: Week of November 14, 2011

2011-11-17T12:37:00.001-08:00

Have you used our outdoor classroom at the Titan Garden? There are lots of useful items there to help your class have a great experience. Our new garden thermometer, measuring both Celsius and Fahrenheit, has been installed on the classroom post. Other items in the classroom that your class can use include lap dry-erase boards, clipboards, and shovels.

Our vegetable beds are alive with sprouts thanks to the great planting of our first grade garden classes. Vegetables that are growing include kale, Swiss chard, lettuce, carrots, broccoli and spinach. And don’t forget to check out the radish seeds planted by many of our teachers located in the cinder block holes.

What happens when cooler weather rolls around? Hopefully our new plants get a chance to settle in before any severe freezes happen. Because we focus on native and adapted plants, many of them will freeze back but stay root hardy, meaning they will come back in the spring. Our cool season vegetables will get some frost protection from row cover cloth if a hard freeze is forecast.

New plant labels are appearing in the garden this week giving plant names and information.

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

Studying water? Let us help you put together a lesson on rainwater conservation where students can learn to measure how much water can be gathered from our roof in the garden and how fast our barrels will fill up.
Plant growth is a great way to learn about graphing. Have students measure the vegetable plants growing in the vegetable garden every week and chart their growth.
Looking at our garden is a great way to learn about weather, climate, environment and why certain plants do well here (native and adapted) and certain ones do not. Discuss how our climate drives how our native plants look (hint: conserving moisture is important to these plants)

News from the Titan Gardens: Week of November 7, 2011

2011-11-09T05:39:00.000-08:00

Teachers, have you checked on their radish sprouts yet? I have and I’ve seen green!! It is very important to keep germinating seeds in slightly moist soil so we have been using our stored up rainwater to keep your radish seeds happy. Check them out with your students.

Want to keep up with the news from the garden? Our blog is easy to find at www.titangarden.org. You’ll find lots of news on what is happening in the garden seasonally as well as what other classes are using it for. Want to feature your class in the garden? Just tell us what you’re using it for and we will write it up. Even better, snap a picture for us to post!

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

Students need to practice their writing skills? Try writing some garden poetry or do a guided writing exercise where students explore what it would be like to be a worm in the dirt crawling among the roots.
Working on measuring? There are lots and lots of areas to measure in the garden. Students can even practice calculating volume and area with the raised beds.
Studying trees? Trees are going through lots of changes right now with some dropping acorns, others having their leaves turn color or even losing them. Have students notice these changes and write about them.

Enjoy the weather as it gets a bit cooler this week and check out all of our veggie sprouts coming up!

First graders go planting in the new garden beds!

2011-11-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Oct 21, the first graders came out to a whole new garden. The weekend before saw many of them up at school helping to expand our garden with many new planting areas. Now it was time to plant! But before they would head out with their plants, we took a look at the mudshake we prepared at our last class and saw how different materials had separated out because of their size and weight.

And on to planting. Our awesome first grade gardeners really had their work cut out for them as they were going to be planting in the native garden and the herb wheel.

We explored some of the new herbs in the herb wheel, smelling them, like lemon verbena, pineapple sage and lavender.

We talked about how important it is to prepare the spot well for the new plant by digging a big enough hole and loosening the roots on the plant. Finally, everyone made sure to water their new plants in well.

The students successfully planted our Mediterranean herbs, Mexican herbs and lemon-scented herb areas.

And with great native plant choices like Mexican feather grass and salvias, we hope our native garden will be a great place to experience the garden no matter what our weather might bring. Congratulations to all the first grade teachers and students who participated in building and planting the Titan garden areas. More to come next week as our vegetable seeds will be going in!

RPE First graders learn about soil composition

2011-11-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

The RPE first graders have been coming to the Titan Gardens weekly for activities that tie into their classroom curriculum. Recently, they had a science unit on pebbles, soil and silt and came out to the garden to learn more about soil composition. They started by building their own model of the different size particles that make up good garden soil like sand, silt and clay.

The kids had fun realizing that the jar was never really full because there was always more space in between to put smaller things.

After building their models, they explored some garden soil with their hands and tried to identify some of the different things that are in garden soil including sticks, roots, sand, pebbles, etc.

Their final activity was to watch a "mudshake" being prepared with a soil sample which they would explore further at their next visit.

News from the Titan Gardens - Week of October 17, 2011

2011-10-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the new garden? It is amazing what can be accomplished with the work of a community. Thank you to all those who gave time to help with the garden installation workday. If you would like your class to be involved in the planting of our native, herb or vegetable areas please let me know. We will also be clearing out many of the old raised beds and these can be used by your class. Please let me know if you want to use one and we will reserve it for you.

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

Make sure your students know the basics of plant survival- P.L.A.N.T. : Place to put roots, Light, Air, Nutrients, Thirsty (Water). Pick some spots in the garden (in a bed, on a tree branch, on the sidewalk) and have your students tell you if each place fits the PLANT requirements.

Our herb wheel garden is a great place to learn about fractions since it is divided into equal “slices”.

Upcoming Events:

Fall wildflower stomp-Monday, October 24th during grade recess times. We will be preparing an area by the classroom for the annual Wildflower Stomp. Volunteers will come get a few classes at a time. Parents invited as well!

Teacher tour of the garden –October 26th

WOW! Titan Gardens Installation Day a huge success!

2011-10-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome turnout of volunteers to help us this past Saturday for our Titan Gardens Installation at River Place Elementary. What an incredible event it was to see. We had over 160 volunteers including students and families from River Place Elementary, Four Points Middle School, and Vandergrift High School; volunteers from the River Place Garden Club, Travis County Master Gardeners, Austin Herb Society; volunteers from our main financial sponsor The Home Depot including Mike Reichert who manages our local Four Points Home Depot, and even friends who don’t have a connection to RPE but came out to support others. With all of these helping hands, the job got done! Thank you so much for all of your enthusiasm and hard work. Check out this video celebrating the day! I can only hope it gives you some sense of the enormous volunteer effort that this project took.

Our students will be out this week planting and then next week stomping in Wildflower Seeds during our annual RPE Wildflower Stomp. RPE parents, please feel free to join during your child's recess to stomp in seeds!

News from the Titan Gardens: Week of October 10, 2011

2011-10-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

This is a big week in the Titan Gardens. We are preparing for our Garden Installation day on Saturday October 15th from 9am-3pm so we will have a busy week of materials delivery and preparations. I hope many of you will join with students, parents and community members by giving whatever time you can spare to build our new garden areas that will be a lasting resource for our students.

Plants continue to catch a second wind as cooler temperatures at night allow them to recover from heat during the day. This means more growth and more flowers.

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

Make sure your students know the basics of plant survival- P.L.A.N.T. S. : Plants need, Light, Air, Nutrients, Thirsty (Water), Soil. Pick some spots in the garden (in a bed, on a tree branch, on the sidewalk) and have your students tell you if each place fits the PLANTS requirements.
Why not bring your class out to the garden for some reading time? Mornings are nice and cool and after recess, this is a great place to transition back to class time.
What does a successful habitat need to provide for wildlife? Foods, water, cover for protection, and a place for wildlife to raise young. Interested in having your students create a schoolyard habitat recognized by the National Wildlife Federation? This can be a great year-long project for multiple grades and a satisfying accomplishment for students.

Upcoming Events:

Titan Gardens Installation Day- families, staff and community welcome – October 15, 9am-3pm
Fall wildflower stomp-Monday, October 24th during recess times
Teacher tour of the garden –October 26th

Our first delivery for the new garden

2011-10-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is it, the week leading up to the Titan Garden Installation day on Saturday October 15th! Only 4 days away. And this last Saturday we got a new addition to the garden in preparation for our native plant garden being added. Meet Mossy, the boulder.

Mossy, so named because she is a moss rock, weighs in at 1/2 ton- that is 1000 pounds for anyone wondering. She had her own special truck bring her to our school (I'm not implying she is a diva or anything but...). She was so heavy, she almost broke the wood pallet she was riding on as she rode across our field to reach her final resting spot.

Her sunny new home will end up being in the middle of our future native plant garden where she will happily provide a little hardscape structure among all the lovely plants growing around her.

Welcome Mossy. We are glad you're here.

1st Grade classes learn about PLANTS

2011-10-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

Our first grade classes came out this week to visit the new garden classroom and learn more about plants and soil in the garden. This was their first of the weekly classes they will have in the garden, with our lessons coordinating with their Pebbles, Sand and Silt science unit and then moving onto other areas.

The first graders got right to work suggesting some rules for their garden, everything from "no picking without permission" to "respect our garden" and "no squishing bugs". Our lesson for the day was learning what plants need for survival. The students were able to help us list all the plant needs on the dry erase board. Then we shared a trick to remember: P.L.A.N.T.S.

P lants need:
L ight
A ir
N utrients
T hirsty (water)
S oil

The we split into groups and Garden Buddies had the kids decide on what places outside were good to put plants based on what they had learned They had it down pat! Great job! Our weather ranged from cloudy to rain to sunshine for our classes coming out. But it was great having students come out and see the rain barrels filling up right before their eyes.

A great first week of classes! We hope many of these first graders will come with their families on October 15th from 9-3pm for our installation workday to expand our garden. These guys will be planting in the new areas before you know it.

News from the Titan Gardens: Week of October 3, 2011

2011-10-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Does it seem like the same old plants are out in the garden? You’re right. Because we have our installation coming to expand the garden in just two weeks, we are letting plants recover from the high temperatures in order to transplant them to new areas of the garden. At that time, most of our old grade-level beds will be cleared out. These beds will be available to any teacher who might want to do some planting for a specific lesson or class project. Want to use one of the beds? Just let me know and we will reserve it for you for whatever time period you need it!

Cooler temperatures are bringing new blooms to the garden as plants recover from the heat. Just this week, I noticed Blackfoot Daisy with small white blooms and Turk’s Cap with its little red bonnet blooms.

Upcoming Events:

Titan Gardens Community Build Day- families, staff and community welcome – October 15, 9am-3pm. Please join with teachers, parents and students to help build our new garden areas.
Fall wildflower stomp-Monday, October 24th
Teacher tour of the garden –October 26th

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

Let students study our new rainwater harvesting system. How does it work? Why do we catch rainwater off a roof rather than just setting the barrel out in the open? Older students can even learn how to calculate how much rain will be caught.
What happens to most life cycles as temperatures start to cool?
Insects, trees, plants- can we see a common theme in how most of them react to a cooler season?
What does a successful habitat need to provide for wildlife? Food, water, cover for protection, and a place for wildlife to raise young. Interested in having your students create a schoolyard habitat recognized by the National Wildlife Federation? This can be a great year-long project for multiple grades and a satisfying accomplishment for students. Ask me for more info!

If you have questions or would like volunteers to help your class learn in the garden, please contact me.

Titan Garden Teacher Newsletter: Week of September 26, 2011

2011-09-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Exciting things are happening in the Titan Gardens. Look for all the new additions to our outdoor classroom including new supplies for your class use and a new 3' x 5' dry erase board at the front of the classroom for you to use while your class it sitting on our stump seats. We will be adding a teacher sign in sheet for you to indicate you’ve visited the garden. We’d love to know you’re using this new resource.

Our Titan Gardens Community Build Day is scheduled for Saturday October 15th, 9am-3pm. Thanks to generous grants from companies including Home Depot and Malt O Meal, we have funding to continue our school garden expansion project at River Place Elementary. We are inviting all members of our school, community, and volunteers from Home Depot to help us build the new sections of our garden: vegetable gardens, an herb garden, and native and adapted plant garden. We hope to have many teachers, parents, students and community members join together to get the job done!

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

When younger students are learning about the calendar and seasons, the garden is a great place to talk to them about seasonal weather changes and how living things like plants respond to those changes.
Learning about earth materials- teach your students about soil is built!
Habitats are perfect lessons for the garden- and a great way to teach about how living things depend on each other.
Learning about maps? Have your students create a map of a section of the garden.

Upcoming Events:

Titan Gardens Community Build Day- families and community welcome – October 15, 9am-3pm
Fall wildflower stomp for all grades- PARENTS WELCOME!-Monday, October 24th
Teacher tour of the garden –October 26th

If you have questions or would like volunteers to help your class learn in the garden, please contact me.

Titan Garden News: September 19, 2011

2011-09-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

The grip of hot weather just won’t seem to let go and allow fall to roll in. Just as we are tired of the heat, so are the plants. Fall is typically a resurrection time for many of our native plants who might go into a second bloom cycle before winter. And stress has affected plants from the smallest flower to the tallest tree all around Central Texas.

But this is a time when students can learn a lot about the needs of living things in the garden. Specifically, plants need light, air, nutrients, water and soil. How does this compare to what we need to survive? What happens if plants don’t get one of these things, like lacking water in a drought?

Titan Garden Activity Ideas

Take students out and see if they can observe evidence of plants lacking water. Is water important to us as well?
Take students to the garden and have them observe the trees. Ask them to notice ways the trees are the same (growing direction, parts, needs) and different (shape of leaves, size of tree)
If you have been discussing good citizenship, let students think of ways we are good citizens in the garden- growing plants for other species to enjoy, increasing out green space, giving a beautiful space for all to enjoy)
Discuss living and nonliving things in the garden and have students find examples of each. How do we know if something is living?

If you’d like garden volunteers to help teach one of the activities above to your class, contact me at my email.

Upcoming Events:

*      Teacher tour of the garden –Sept 21/Oct 5 (TBD)
*      Great Titan Garden Build workday- families and community welcome – October 15, 22
*      Fall wildflower stomp and student planting days-week of October 24th

2011-09-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Every week, we are sending garden news straight to our River Place Elementary teachers to keep them updated on what is happening in the garden and possibilities for their classes to use the garden as a learning resource in their curriculum. I'll be posting these weekly newsletters here on the blog as well.

Titan Garden News- September 12, 2011

Imagine taking your class out in a beautiful garden to readto them? How about planning a scienceexperiment or practicing math skills out in the fresh air? Want your kids to fix a salad from vegetablesthey have grown? All of thesepossibilities are reasons that many have worked hard over the past year tocreate the expanded Titan Gardens at River Place Elementary. You might have already seen the new outdoorclassroom which is at your disposal- soon you’ll see phase 2 and 3 of theexpansion add an herb garden, vegetable gardens and a native plant area.

I’ll be sending you weekly communication on the garden tolet you know what is happening that might be of interest to you and yourstudents, suggest garden activities, and let you know about upcomingevents. We created this garden for ourRPE teachers and students, so while garden volunteers will be happy to helpwith creating or running activities for your classes, please feel free to usethe garden anytime.

Titan Garden ActivityIdeas

Talk to students about recycling and let themexplore the garden for ways items have been recycled for other uses (treestumps for seating, ground up trees used for mulch covering, food barrels forrainwater harvesting)
Ask students to notice ways that the garden andenvironment have changed over the summer from our weather. Let them predict how it might change as weget cooler temperatures in the fall. Howdoes our drought affect plants?
Let students discuss how plants are the same andhow they are different. Think aboutgrowth, size, and what they need to live for different plants like trees,flowers and vines.

Upcoming Events:

Teacher tour of the garden –early October
RPE Garden Installation Saturdays- families andcommunity welcome – October 15, 22
Class installation days and Annual Wildflower Stomp: week of October 24

Let knowledge grow in the Titan Garden!

Nature's Best Seats

2011-08-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

The school year has started and a few weeks ago we had some great volunteers help out in adding some seating to the new River Place Elementary outdoor classroom. The volunteers helped to lay out a border around the seating area and install mulch. Through some very kind donations, we were able to pick up some stumps to add as seating for the outdoor classroom. All of our Titan helpers got a chance to test out the new stumps and let us know if they were Titan-worthy.

Thanks again to the Home Depot Foundation and our local Four Points Home Depot for helping with materials and delivery. Mike Reichert, the manager over at Four Points HD, came out as he has done many times to help us get things done.

Lisa Pizinger and her daughter Ana helped get those border stones lined up and dug in.

Jodie Semelsberger and her sons helped get the mulch laid flat.

Ethan Semelsberger checks Bonnie Martin's border layout to make sure it is straight.

Seating area waiting for Titans to start school and come enjoy the garden! Thanks to all the volunteers who helped out.

Let the rain dance begin...

2011-08-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

Meet Ben and John from Austin Green Water. They came out Monday to deliver and install our new rain barrels for the Titan Gardens. And following closely behind, Austin Gutter King installed our gutter on the low side of the roof that will feed directly into these barrels.

Want to know how much rain we can catch...yes, I know...ha, ha, if it ever rains? But it WILL rain again. And knowing our weather here, at some point it won't just be a sprinkle but a deluge. OK, so let's figure it out together how much rain we can collect off of the NEW outdoor classroom roof.

First, calculate the square footage of the roof. 17 feet x 17 feet = 289 sq. ft. Now, 1" of rainfall provides approximately 600 gallons of water for a 1,000 square foot catchment area. That means that a 1" rainfall hitting our 289 sq. ft. of roof will catch approximately 173 gallons of water. And Austin gets an average rainfall of 32" per year which means we could potentially catch over 5500 gallons of water per year.

We are excited to have our new rain catchment system, excited to show it to all of you and excited to teach the kids about water conservation and renewable resources. Thanks to Austin Green Water and Austin Gutter King for their donations of materials and labor and helping us continue to create a fantastic outdoor learning area for the River Place Titans and our community. Now, bring on the rain!

Painting workdays at the Titan Gardens new classroom

2011-07-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had two workdays where volunteers helped paint the new outdoor classroom at the Titan Gardens. Huge thanks to all of the volunteers that showed up to help. Old and young, little and big, everyone did their part. We had current Titans and future Titans, Titan families and community volunteers. From siding to trim to the underside of the roof, they got the job done.

It takes all sizes of painters!

Roger Gregory reaches high to get the trim. Roger even showed up for more work on Sunday!

Roger Gregory and future Titan Alexandra Martin make sure everything is covered

Austin Brown and Jack Martin put on a second coat on the back wall

Titans Sophie Robinson and Jack Martin on the job with Alex Martin

John Martin and Roger Gregory start painting the ceiling

Lisa Pizinger takes care of the trim

John Boyle and son Evan (not pictured) helped make sure our classroom is ready for the fall

Naomi Moore, Lisa Pizinger and Matt Robinson working on the back wall

Titans on the job included Aaron and Ryan Radloff, Sophie Robinson, Jack Martin, Alex and Harry Wilby, and Evan Boyle. With our volunteers on Saturday and small but mighty "get it done" crew on Sunday, we were able to get all of the painting and sealing done on the classroom and have it ready for our students!

The roof is on!

2011-07-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Meet Chris, Steve and Joe. They work for Wilson Roofing, who generously donated labor and materials to add a roof onto our Titan Gardens outdoor classroom. It is a beautiful metal roof that will be sturdy and give us a great catchment area to harvest rainwater off of our building. Thanks to Wilson Roofing and Chris, Steve and Joe for helping us create such a fantastic place for our students to learn about the environment.

Next up...painting and caulking this weekend. Want to help? Email Bonnie and let her know. C'mon, you know you've always wanted to operate a caulk gun!

New outdoor classroom at Titan Gardens!

2011-07-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

The week for building our new outdoor classroom at the Titans Garden finally arrived last week, and we were happy to have some great volunteers to help us get this project going. John Martin of Straight & Level Construction has donated his time serving as our general contractor and builder on this project and has helped us to gain volunteer time from other contractors and subcontractors. Brandon Gibbs from Above the Plane is another area contractor who donated his time. Finally, Mike Reichert from the Home Depot at Four Points and his wife Rina from the Pflugerville Home Depot donated their time as well. Huge thanks to all of them for working some long hours in VERY hot weather.

Mike Reichert helping frame outdoor classroom

Outdoor classroom storage area framed

Windows in and structure wrapped

Installing front posts for covered class area

John Martin preparing decking on roof

Mike Reichert on the saw

Jack Martin, RPE 2nd grader, helps his dad install ceiling planks

John Martin, Brandon Gibbs, and Mike Reichert, supervised by 2nd grader Jack Martin

Finishing touches on structure

Next steps, roof installation, gutters and rain barrels. Now, if only we could have rain!

Foundation for Outdoor Classroom Poured!

2011-07-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

To get straight to the point, summer in Texas is not the ideal time to be outside pouring a concrete foundation. Yes, it was hot. But this was our time to get the foundation done and we were determined to move forward. Thanks go out to JP Concrete for amazingly donating all of their labor to tie the steel rebar and get the concrete slab poured. We happily gave them an audience of four kids and a few adults to cheer them on- concrete trucks are always amazing to watch no matter what age you are.

Stay tuned as we will be building the outdoor classroom structure soon.

First phase of Titan Garden expansion begins!

2011-06-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

After many months of planning, applications, and approvals, we are happy to announce that work on the expansion of the Titan Gardens has begun. This past week brought a flurry of activity. Below, you can see the forms being laid out where concrete will be poured for the foundation of the outdoor classroom. The outdoor classroom will have a storage area and a covered class area. Hard work went into making sure the form was level and straight along all sides. And believe me, that dirt out in the field is NOT easy to dig in.

So it is REALLY impressive to see the end result of two days of digging in that hard, compressed soil. You can see the trenches where the concrete will be poured in to form the foundation beams, shown by Titan Jack Martin and future Titan and little sister Alexandra Martin. Their dad John Martin, who is serving as General Contractor on the project, is all smiles because the digging is done for the day! Whose bright idea was this to build in the middle of summer????

The holes for the main foundation and the smaller foundations for the columns of the classroom all have to be dug down 2 feet. Jack and Alexandra show off one of the column foundation ditches below, figuring out whether they can hide from their mom.

Concrete is scheduled to be poured this week so we'll post more pictures. Watch for more activity mid-July when the framing for the classroom will go up followed by the roof and siding. Go Titans!

1st graders end the year showing off potatoes

2011-05-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Last week, the first grade classes finished up their weekly classes in the Titan Gardens with two activities. The first was the harvesting of the potatoes. Even though it is a bit early for the harvest, we wanted the kids to get a chance to dig up their potato plants. Since we had a few varieties of potatoes, we knew that one class' harvest might differ from another.

All but one class had multiple potatoes on the plants they dug up. And the one that didn't have as many on all of their plants? It was the class that had the tallest potato plants all season, "Yukon Gold" variety. We discussed with the kids how plants can put energy toward growing tall or producing fruits and vegetables, but sometimes they don't have enough energy to do both in such a short period of time. And sometimes our growing seasons don't match up perfectly with our school season, so we were definitely digging these guys up a bit early.

Here they are proudly showing off their potato plants with the little potatoes sticking out.

So maybe not enough for potato salad for everyone, but we had a blast growing them. Moms and dads, don't be surprised when your little one starts sneaking potatoes out of the kitchen and planting them in the ground. You just might wait to see if anything comes up!

Expansion Plan for the Titan Garden

2011-05-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

Exciting things have been happening in the Titan Gardens at River Place Elementary. Over the past few months, we have been piloting an idea to incorporate weekly outdoor class time in the Titan Gardens teaching activities that reinforce in-classroom curriculum. Some of our lessons have included measuring area, understanding how insects use their senses, learning how interdependent plant and animals are in a habitat, observing native plants, learning how to read a thermometer, collecting data and creating charts and understanding how plants life cycles.

With the school adminstration's support, we have proposed a plan to expand this weekly class program next year. In order to support the program, we have also proposed to expand the physical footprint of our garden and our plan has been approved by Leander ISD. That's our expansion plan up above (click on it to get a better look) and we are thrilled that it would offer more for our program like an outdoor classroom structure, compost bins, rainwater harvesting, food growing beds, native plantings, and an herb bed.

In addition, last week we heard from Malt-O-Meal that the Titan Gardens had won the grand prize in their Greenest Classroom, an award of $2500. This is a huge first step for us to begin our expansion project and we thank Malt-O-Meal for this incredible award and thank all of the teachers, parents, students, and friends who supported us by voting and keeping us in the top 10 to advance to the judged portion of the contest.

A great way to end the school year!

4th graders eat like birds in the garden

2011-05-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

In early May, a few 4th grade classes went out to the garden with birds on their mind. When they arrived in the garden, they had a snack waiting for them composed of foods that a bird would eat.

Included on the menu was popcorn, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, worms (the gummy kind, not the dirt-covered kind) and peanut butter. They also enjoyed sipping nectar from juice boxes. While enjoying their bird-licious snacks, garden volunteers discussed what native Texas birds eat each of these treats and shared some facts about native Texas birds like cardinals, mockingbirds, hummingbirds and blue jays.

After snacking, the classes took some time to observe changes in the 4th grade planting bed, seeing how the seeds of the bluebonnets had formed and were beginning to dry and how other plants had begun to flower.

Our plants move on to other gardens

2011-05-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

Last summer, as school was just around the bend, we got busy cleaning out the grade level beds at the Titan Gardens so grades cold start fresh in the fall for planting. But what to do wth all of the great plants? It just so happened that two girl scouts were working hard with the Travis County Master Gardeners to create a children's garden at the Austin Children's
Shelter. So we compared lists and happily donated whatever plants of ours could be used in their planned new garden.

I am happy to announce that the Children's Garden project has won those two girl scouts the Gold Award, the highest award given by the organization. The chldren's garden offers a wonderful environment for both mothers and their children to enjoy nature. So it should give us pride to know that our plant donations from the Titan Garden have found a new garden in which to pay a yet another part in chldren's lives.

Ten Nature Activities for Kids and Adults

2011-05-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

With Summer fast approaching, lots of kids will use their summer freedom to catch up on video games and sleep late. That's all fine in moderation, but YOU can help your child get outside by offering activities that you can do together. The below article is reprinted from the Children and Nature Network blog. Let it inspire you to be your child's nature teacher this summer. And feel free to come by the Titan Garden to do some exploring this summer.

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Got dirt? “In South Carolina, a truckload of dirt is the same price as a video game!” reports Norman McGee, a father in that state who bought a small pickup-load of dirt for his daughter and friends. As McGee’s photo shows, the dirt was a great success. I told his story a couple years ago in this space. The story is worth repeating. So is Liz Baird’s idea — along with a few new ideas.

Liz keeps a ” wonder bowl” available for her children. When Baird was a little girl she would fill her pockets with natural wonders—acorns, rocks, mushrooms.
“My Mom got tired of washing clothes and finding these treasures in the bottom of the washer or disintegrated through the dryer,” Liz recalls. “So she came up with ‘Liz’s Wonder Bowl,’ and the idea was that I could empty my pockets into the bowl. I could still enjoy my treasures, and try to find out what things were, and not cause trouble with the laundry.”

What’s your family doing in the coming months, not only to help your kids be healthier, happier and smarter — but you too? Here are ten suggestions:

1. Think simple: Create a wonder bowl like Liz’s, or buy a pickup load of dirt, like Norman did. Some of the best places to play, and toys, are the simplest and least expensive. Did you know that the National Toy Hall of Fame has inducted the cardboard box and the stick?
2. Start a Family Nature Club. Download C&NN’s guide to creating a network of like-minded families who want to get their kids outside, but need the support of others to help make that happen. It’s a new form of social networking! New: The Family Nature Guide is now also available in Spanish.
3. Invite native flora and fauna into your life. Maintain a birdbath. Replace part of your lawn with native plants. Build a bat house. For backyard suggestions, plus links to information about attracting wildlife to apartments and townhouses, see the National Audubon Society’s Invitation to a Healthy Yard.
4. Encourage your kids to build a tree house, fort, or hut. But don’t do it for them. You can provide the raw materials, including sticks, boards, blankets, boxes, ropes, and nails, but it’s best if kids are the architects and builders. The older the kids, the more complex the construction can be. For understanding and inspiration, read Children’s Special Places, by David Sobel.
5. Suggest camping in the backyard. Buy them a tent or help them make a canvas tepee, and leave it up all summer. Join the NWF’s Great American Backyard Campout.
6. Become a Natural Leader. Being a nature mentor isn’t just a job for parents and grandparents. Young people helping other young people get outside is catching on. For example, in Mississippi, teenager Josh Morrison founded Geeks in the Woods with his friends. He defines ” geek” as a ” gaming environmentally educated kid,” and says he and his friends—” tired of being labeled” tech addicts—can have their PlayStations and their outdoor time too.
7. Find a guide book. Consider “I Love Dirt,”; Joseph Cornell’s classic “Sharing Nature With Children”; and “Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature.”

8. Go online. Take a look at the growing number of good online guides for parents. Among them: the free online Parents’ Guide to Nature Play offered by the Green Hearts Institute. Our sister Web site, Nature Rocks, created in alliance with ecoAmerica, the Nature Conservancy, REI, the American Camp Association, and other groups, offers a “family fun nature planner” designed to help you find all sorts of nature activities, plus tools to help guide and plan your adventures, including a Family Nature Staycation guide. Also, a “Find Nature” feature — plug in your ZIP code and find out about nature activities near your home.
9. Join the movement. This month, all of C&NN’s partners and initiatives are uniting for a major push not only to get people of all ages outside, but to encourage service projects to benefit the naturalworld as part of the process—it’s called Lets G.O.! (Get Outside). You’re encouraged to join one of the already scheduled Let’s G.O.! events, or organize your own — and post it on C&NN’s map of activities.
10. Relieve your stress. All the health benefits that come to a child come to the adult who takes that child into nature. Children feel better after spending time in the natural world, even if it’s in their own backyard. So do adults, who have Nature-Deficit Disorder, too.

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Richard Louv is founding chairman of the Children and Nature Network. He is the author of “LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” which includes 100 Actions that families and communities can take. His newest work is “THE NATURE PRINCIPLE: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder.”

How does our garden grow?

2011-05-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last week, the first graders got up close and personal with the plants in the Titan Gardens. Armed with magnifying glasses, their assignment was to observe a specific plant with their team up close to notice things about it. Did it show signs of being used as food or shelter for insects? Was it flowering? Had it produced seeds yet? What shape were the leaves? How were the leaves arranged on the stem?

They have been learning about the different stages of plant growth in their classroom so investigating to find out what stage a specific plant was at in the garden helps them to put their lessons to work in the real world.

We have continued to tend to our potato plants- noticing that some of them are REALLY growing big necessitating more lumber to be added to the potato tower so we can add leaf mulch around the stems where the potatoes will be produced. And we have continued charting the growth of our beans-practicing gathering data to use in a bar chart. Between the 4th and 5th week of measuring, our beans nearly doubled in size, surprising most everyone who predicted growth would slow down. Now, if only those beans will come out before the end of school!!

Help us make the Titan Garden even better!

2011-05-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of the parents, teachers, administrator and volunteers who help us make the Titan Gardens program work. We love the impact we can have on students and are aiming even bigger for the next school year.

And that is where everyone can help us-our school garden needs your help! We are entered in the Malt O Meal Greenest Classroom contest showing how our proposed new outdoor classroom would be a great example of green education, using recycled materials, rainwater harvesting and composting. The grand prize is $2500 and we have a great shot at winning. You can vote for our submission once a day every day until May 15^th . Only the top 10 vote-getters advance to be judged for the prize.

Please click here to vote. We are the entry titled “Help Us Develop the Green Thumbs of Tomorrow” and just click on the "Vote Now" to cast your vote. And remember, you can vote every day until May 15th.

Also, please help us by sending this link to your friends or colleagues who would consider supporting us and having them vote for us as well. $2500 would be a fantastic funding opportunity for our program. But if we don’t get the votes, we are not even considered in the judging.

Thanks for your help in moving us forward!

Potatoes and Pole Beans Take Off

2011-04-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

First graders have really been busy in the garden these last few weeks. One of the first things the first graders do on every visit to the garden is Observation Time. First, they read the temperature. Next, they spend some time observing changes in the garden...and right now, the changes are happening fast. These students have seen bluebonnets sprout, flower, get pollinated and now grow seeds, all in the last few weeks. Insects are really coming out now so the students get to see bees, caterpillars, spiders and more. We saw our first black swallowtail caterpillar in the garden this week as well, along with two baby caterpillars, happily munching on fennel.

Did all of the parents out there know that the first graders know how to grow potatoes? Each class has a potato tower in which they have 4-5 potato plants growing. Every week, a few students are the potato crew, watering the plants gently. But in the last few weeks, we have seen some phenomenal growth so we are now busy mounding mulch around our potato stems to encourage the formation of the potatoes.

While the potato crew waters, other students make observations, checking to see if we need to add mulch or this week, noticing new flowers on some of the potato plants.
In addition to all of these other great things to watch in the garden, we have been keeping an eye on our zinnia and pole bean seeds that we planted. Well, the beans have sprouted and boy, are they growing fast. So we have started charts to record their growth, turning our weekly measurements into a bar chart that shows us easily which weeks have the fastest growth. We will keep adding to the bar charts until our last week in the garden, only four weeks away!

Passion flower in the Titan Gardens

2011-04-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

We were thrilled and so grateful earlier this year when the Sustainable Food Center gave us a grant to add a trellis to our garden. Our intention was to increase our butterfly habitat by growing passion vine on the trellis which is a favorite food of the gulf fritillary caterpillar. That's him below, getting ready to turn into a chrysallis in my garden last fall.

These guys LOVE passion vine and they'll munch it as long as there is plant left and then turn into a chrysallis right in the same area. Our hope is to showcase this wonderful cycle at all stages in the garden for the students to observe. Well, our passion vine has been growing...fast. The first graders have been marking off the growth with me on the trellis and I'd say we are gaining 6-8" every WEEK in height! And while this is pretty cool to see, the passion vine has another cool attribute, it's flower.

People who see it for the first time say it is like no other flower they have ever seen. I was lucky enough to be out in the garden with some students watering last Monday when our first flower on the new passion vine bloomed. I hope to see many more.

Kindergarten class gives their ladybugs a new home

2011-04-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Ms. Lohman's kindergarten class brought their ladybugs from their in-class habitat out on Friday and gave them a new home among our plants in the Titan Garden. They watched as the bugs scurried around and explored their new habitat. Thanks for giving us lots of new friends in the garden!

Kindergarten lets the bugs out of jail

2011-04-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks, many of the kindergarten classes have been visiting the Titan Gardens with their parent volunteer garden buddies to learn more about seeds and ladybugs. The seed lesson began with discussion about what a seed needed to grow. Then each child was given a popsicle stick to write their name on and either a corn, sunflower or bean to plant. The sticks were to mark their seed locations so they could watch them grow. I checked last week and many of the seeds have already sprouted.

The second lesson focused on ladybugs. Did you know there are 5,000 varieties of ladybugs, with over 400 varieties in the US? The students talked about what they eat, that they flap their wings 85 times per second and their life cycle. We also discussed how WE like ladybugs in our garden not only because they are pretty but also because they are beneficial to the plants as aphid eaters. But enough of the lesson…the real action began when the kids enjoyed a Ladybug Jailbreak.

With 3 sacks of purchased ladybugs (about 6,000 bugs) we began the fun and quickly learned that :
1.) 6,000 ladybugs is a lot of ladybugs
2.) Once the ladybug bag was open, our chances of continuing our educational discussion rapidly fell to zero.

But the kids had a GREAT time. There were ladybugs crawling all over everyone as we dispensed them straight from the bag into a sea of outstretched little cupped hands. End of the day, all seeds were planted, all ladybugs were paroled, and everyone was happy. Thanks to the Kindergarten Garden Buddies for organizing and teaching!

First graders use their butterfly sense

2011-03-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

If you have been around any first graders lately, then you know the hot news is CATERPILLARS. The first graders have been raising caterpillars in their classrooms and most have now gone into their chrysalis stage. So when the first grade classes came out to the garden this past week, they had a surprise in store for them. It was time for THEM to act like butterflies.

Each of the students received a cup that was stapled shut. Inside each cup was a source of a smell. And each cup had a partner with the same smell. The first graders were on a mission to find their partner with the same smell. But the tricky part was that they had to act like butterflies, using their sense of smell to find the right matching smell WITHOUT TALKING! Have you ever been around 22 first graders in complete silence? It's a little eerie, let me tell you.

But they did a great job silently walking up to their classmates and sniffing cups to see if they matched. Some of the smells included popcorn, vinegar, peppermint, vanilla, and lemon. And after they found their match, we played one more round where we got to see how fast the teachers could find their match.

Here's hoping we have lots of butterflies waiting for them when the first graders return from spring break.

Life cycles in the garden

2011-03-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

The first graders have been doing a great job of independent observation in the Titan Garden during their weekly visits. Their first few minutes in the garden are spent noticing things that are new or different and writing them down on their observation sheet to share with the group. Of course, now is a big time for change in the garden with perennials re-emerging. Three week ago, most of what they observed was that the plants were dead. But just three weeks later, many of them comment that the garden "was not all the way dead" and "looks a lot greener". And they love seeing all of the daffodil bulbs coming up and putting out beautiful orange, yellow and white flowers.

Last week, we discussed the role that plants play in fairy tales that the classes have been studying, like Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and the Princess and the Pea. We observed that you can use the same sequential words (first, next, then, last) that you do in stories to describe life cycles in the garden. The kids suggested some life cycles that we could describe- trees, plants, insects like caterpillars- and then got to work writing down the sequence of the life cycles.

-First, a butterfly lays an egg.
-Next, the egg hatches to a caterpillar.
-Then, the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis.
-Last, the butterfly emerges.

New color in the Titan Gardens

2011-03-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

Notice some colorful new additions to the Titan Garden? The totem poles lining the car rider pick-up line were made by Mrs. Mahan's 4th grade students during art class. The students recently completed a unit on Native Americans in social studies and created these totem poles to express themselves through totem pole art much like the tribes they studied. Each child got a recycled bottle to paint and then many wrote statements or special thoughts on the bottles. Thank you to Ms. Schexnayder, our art teacher, for helping the 4th grade garden buddies accomplish this project!

Enjoy our new garden art.

1st graders start weekly visits to Titan Garden

2011-02-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

This past week, the 1st graders came out for the first of what will be weekly visits to the Titan Garden. We are so grateful to the teachers for making the time to bring the kids out and we hope to reinforce many of the lessons that they are learning inside in this outdoor classroom setting.

The kids began their visits as we will begin every visit, with Observation Time. They took a few minutes to walk around the garden and notice things they they might not have noticed before. What was the most popular observation this week? "The plants are dead!". Great observation...but look closer- are they all dead? Thank goodness, no!

Next, we talked about the different parts of plants: roots, stems, leaves, fruit, seeds, flowers. An we took the grocery store challenge by asking them to guess what part of the plant each item from the grocery store was. Give it a try!
Celery
Carrot
Apple
Lettuce
Broccoli

If you said stem, root, fruit, leaf and flower, you get an A+!

Our final activity was to plant our potato towers with our seed potatoes. The kids will be watching as these potatoes grow and keeping track of their height, practicing their measuring skills and creating a chart of growth. But first, they had to prepare the soil we added to the tower. Next, the potatoes went in.

And finally, the gardeners got to water the plant, making sure to use our special watering cups so that the water went on gentle.

Decorating with nature

2011-01-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

To end the year in the Titan Garden, the first grade classes had wreath making activities. They used all natural materials from the outdoors including live plants like pittosporum, nandina, foxtail fern, artemesia, and rosemary, pine cones and cinnamon sticks. They each chose a few items then wired them on to the wreath form. Nandina and pyracantha berries added deep red splashes of color. Finally, the teacher got to choose a bow to add to the wreath.

The six wreaths hung on the garden fence for the last two weeks of the year- perhaps you got a glimpse driving into the parking lot or waiting in the car pick-up line?

Each of the wreaths was completely unique but all of them were stunning! Take a look... (click on the photo to get a better look)

4th and 1st grades go scarecrow stuffing in the Titan Gardens

2010-12-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

Right before Thanksgiving, some of the first and fourth grade classes joined us in the garden to make scarecrows. This was a great activity to show teamwork and the kids were awesome! They divided into four teams: legs, torso, head and accessorizing crew.

First order of business was for the class and teacher to select the scarecrow's outfit. There were quite a few to choose from in a variety of stunning ensembles. Then the legs crew began and stuffed the pants. They grabbed hay from some donated hay bales (thank you Gamble family!) and got to work! After stuffing, they ties off the leg ends.

Then the torso crew took over. They stuffed the chest and arms of the scarecrow, making sure to leave a little straw poking out from where they tied off the wrists.

While all of this activity was going on, we had our head crew designing the faces on the scarecrow. And last but certainly not least, the accessorizing crew moved in. Having a jewelry box of baubles and trinkets to choose from, they made sure our scarecrows had some great scarves, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets to show off and looked ready for a Thanksgiving party.

Finally, here are some of the awesome scarecrows put together by our Gardening Titans.

Hello Juliette!

Looking good, Marcus!

Hey, Joe Bob. Quite a crew you have there.

Hi Farmer Joe Burton. You don't happen to be related to a certain 4th grade teacher, do you?

Thanks to all of the teachers and students for being great scarecrow builders.

More birdhouse photos!

2010-12-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some more shots of the birdhouses made by some of the fourth grade classes for the garden.

Fourth Graders Making Birds Happy!

2010-11-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

This week, the 4th grade garden buddies went to art with Ms Higginbotham's class and painted and assembled these bird feeders. Thank you to Ms Schexnayder for helping us create these bird feeders for the garden out of recycled materials! Please come see them hanging in the garden and feeding neighborhood birds.

Shout out to all the 3rd grade gardeners!

2010-11-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

Way to go, 3rd graders!

With beautiful weather making it a great day to be in the Titan Gardens, the third graders came out to plant their sensory garden. They did a great job naming the 5 senses and then identifying what senses were used when planting snapdragons, pepper and rosemary plants. The bulbs they planted will be a magnificent surprise and a treat for our visual sense in the spring. The seeds will bring more herbs to the garden before Christmas break- and who can resist smelling them?

After each class planted their share of the garden, it was off to the wildflower area to run and jump in the sunshine. It was so much fun!!! Then back to class and their studies. We can't wait to see our garden grow!

Titans Go a Stompin'

2010-11-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

Our annual wildflower stomp took place October 26th! And boy, did we get some expert stompers out in the garden. Every grade came out to the wildflower field to help spread and stomp wildflower seeds. This year, our seed purchase is aided by a $50 seed grant from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Check out our slideshow of the super-stomping Titans doing their best to seed the field.

Thanks to all of the parents who came out to join us and we look forward to showing off our wildflower field come springtime!

Kindergarten gets dirty in the garden!

2010-11-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our kindergarten classes came out to the garden for the very first time to plant their cool weather bed. Garden buddies had helped to plan a sensory garden for our youngest students with plants that affect our senses-sight, touch, taste,and smell- and maybe even hearing if the wind is blowing! From the beautiful colors that soothe the eye, and the rustling of the ornamental grasses, to the smell of herbs that can be used in our salads and meals, to the soft touch of a lambs ear plant. The kinder gardeners learned about what plants they would be planting and were very enthusiastic about all the different plants that they could see, hear, touch, smell, and eventually taste. The kids helped garden buddies to plant their bed, learning how to dig the right size hole and how to transfer the plant into the bed.

In addition to planting, the kindergartners explored the rest of the garden, using their senses, to check out what all the other grades had planted. They got to smell herbs, see bright colors on annuals in the other grades' beds, and got to see a caterpillar munching happily on the bronze fennel plant in the demonstration bed.

A great start to gardening for the kindergarten classes- thanks to the garden buddies, teachers and kids for all their hard work!

4th grade showcases Texas plants in the garden

2010-11-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

The 4^th grade classes took time a few weeks ago to come out and plant their fall garden. To complement their study of Texas history, the Garden Buddies helped design a native Texas bed for the students to plant.

The focal point of the bed is a trellis painted with the Texas flag, made from recycled materials. Plants in the garden include chile pequin, autumn sage, Mexican bush sage, hot lips salvia, lindheimer muhly grass, verbena, blackfoot daisy, and turk’s cap. These perennials grow with little care in Texas and also attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. They also planted our state flower, the bluebonnet. Climbing pea vines are planted at the base of the trellis to start climbing. Students dug up the bed to soften the soil, fertilized, and planted the new plants. While in the garden, students learned the difference between a perennial, a plant that lives for more than two years, and an annual, a plant that lives just one year.

In addition to planting, the students learned about the importance of water conservation when choosing plants and how this helps to save our water source, Lake Travis. They got to see the new water-wise drip irrigation system that was installed in the Titan Gardens this fall.

Check out the fourth grade bed if you get the chance. They have some fabulous plant labels that tell all about the chosen plants. Great job, 4^th grade!

Second graders plant a DELICIOUS bed!

2010-10-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Second graders were out in full force in the Titan Garden this last week. They planted tulip bulbs, Swiss chard, arugula, and pansies.They also planted herbs including lemon thyme, basil, chives, fennel, and cilantro. What are they going to do with all of these delicious plants, you might ask? Let's just say that a yummy salad dressing could be in their future.

In addition to making their bed look fantastic, they also dug around in the unplanted beds looking for grubs. They got more than they bargained for when they discovered a frog and a scorpion too.

Good planting second graders!

1st graders create a Cool Color garden

2010-10-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

Last week, the first graders came out to the Titan Garden to get their bed planted. Awaiting them were numerous Garden Buddies with garden activities and planting materials all ready to go.

The first stop was making Soil Soup. First Grade is learning all about soils and what materials make up soil in their science module. So they came out to get a hands on lesson in making the perfect garden soil. They learned that silt, clay and sand are made up of different sized particles, with clay being the smallest and sand being the largest. They mixed these together to help create the right mixture of sizes to have the best properties for holding water but also provide good drainage for plant roots. Then they talked about how compost is made and added compost to the mixture. Voila...the perfect garden soil.

Each class then split into two groups. One group planted while the other group learned about native and adapted plants in the garden. For example, they learned that bronze fennel, also a culinary herb, is a favorite of the swallowtail butterfly caterpillar, who eats his way through the plant until he is big enough to become a chrysalis. Some of the classes even got to see some caterpillars in action on this plant. They also learned that blue mistflower is a favorite of the Monarch butterfly, especially during it's migration through Austin to Mexico every October.

Over in the garden bed, first graders happily created their Cool Color garden by first loosening up the dirt and then planting ornamental kale, ruby crystal grasses, daffodil bulbs, Swiss chard, artemesia, red dianthus, and yellow bush daisy. They learned about their new drip irrigation system that helps keep the garden watered but helps us conserve water as well.

Great job, first graders. We look forward to beautiful color from your garden for months to come!

Prepare to stomp!

2010-10-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Our annual wildflower stomp for the entire school is approaching- October 26th! Parents are invited to join their children during their regular recess time to stomp some seeds in our wildflower meadow. This year, our seed purchase is aided by a $50 seed grant from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We'll use it to purchase seed from Native American Seed.

This is a photo from our wildflower field last spring.

So no boots required for this kind of stomping but we do want all those budding gardeners to join us on October 26th. See you at the Stomp!

Our first year in the garden

2010-09-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

As we start a new year of gardening in the Titan Gardens, let's look back on a great first year introducing this great outdoor classroom to our school. And thanks to all the volunteers that helped and especially Rebecca Cole for her leadership in getting things off the ground.

I hope you enjoy this look back at our garden-and don't forget to share this video with your kids. I've only had to play it for my little ones a few hundred times!

Because gardens can always grow...

2010-09-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to be starting another year in the Titan Garden at River Place Elementary. Another year of planting seeds and plants. Another year of stomping wildflowers only to see them emerge in the spring with an explosion of color. Another year of teaching kids where food comes from and how we can care for the environment around us.

But we want to do so much more, like help fund student garden art and other projects for the garden. And that's where YOU can help. Green Ribbon Schools is a fantastic organization that encourages school to promote healthy living, connections with nature and outdoor play and study to promote a student's growth and development.

Green Ribbon Schools is trying to promote their organization and to do so, they are giving away $250 to 2 school PTA organizations. To win, we have to get the most people visiting the Green Ribbon Schools Facebook page. Just click on "like" and post a comment to the wall reading "River Place Elementary, Austin TX"

So take a moment right now and post our school name to help us win $250-and watch our garden grow!

Great soil and mulch thanks to Home Depot!

2010-09-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mike and all the staff over at Home Depot at Four Points who not only gave us a great discount on compost and mulch for the Titan Gardens, but also delivered and unloaded it for free. Thanks to them, we made our funds go pretty far to secure more organic material (compost) to amend the soil in each of the raised beds and have enough mulch to protect our plants as the weather gets colder.

Now if only Tropical Storm Hermine would stop drenching us with rain, the Garden Volunteers could get out there and spread all this great garden material!

By the way, if you're interested in helping out with the garden and have not signed up to be a Garden Buddy, email Bonnie Martin. We'd love to have you join us.

Summer in the Titan Gardens

2010-07-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Just because school is out, doesn't mean the Titan Gardens have taken a break. With the great rain we have had this summer, our gardens have kept growing. The sunflowers are beautiful and the wildflower field keeps bringing wave after wave of different flowers.

The 3rd grade bed has corn developing in husks, with the first silk showing out of the top.

And we have some happy friends in the garden, caterpillars munching on parsley and fennel. These host plants really do attract these beautiful caterpillars year after year.

Kindergarten goes wild for wildflowers!

2010-05-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, most of the kindergarten classes have had a chance to go outside and marvel at what happened to all of those seeds that they stomped into the ground in the Fall- when they were new students at River Place Elementary. Now, at the end of their Kindergarten year, they get to enjoy the beauty of all of the wildflowers that have sprung up.

The classes went out in small groups and got a chance to learn about 4 of the wildflowers that are growing in the field: Coreopsis, Clasping Coneflower, Beebalm or Horsemint, and Indian Blanket. Then they learned about how wildflowers want to create seeds that they can spread far and wide to create new plants next year. Seeds can be transported by the wind, by animals or birds, or sometimes even hitch a ride on our clothing.

After testing their new knowledge by identifying a few varieties of wildflowers in the field, the kindergartners helped plant some new seeds in their garden bed- zinnias and marigolds. Both of these varieties are easy to plant directly from seed in the garden and do well in our hot and dry summers. We took some time after planting the seeds to notice plants in the other grades' flower beds that were developing their own seeds. Some of the classes even got to see a swallowtail caterpillar munching on a plant, growing bigger and bigger.

Thanks to all of the kindergarten teachers who helped the kids make their garden bed so beautiful! Hey kindergarten, try and make a trip to your garden during the last week of school because believe it or not, your seeds are already sprouting! And maybe you can take a peek in during the summer to see if flowers have come along.

Wildflowers in full bloom!

2010-05-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

The wildflower seeds that RPE students tomped into the ground last fall are really putting on quite a show. The field next to the Titan Garden is awash in color from yellow to red to purple. You can see some of the following flowers if you take a walk out to the field:

Bee Balm, also known as horsemint,this native annual grows from Missouri to Kansas to Mexico. Aromatic foliage makes it deer resistant. Citridora is used as a natural insect repellent, and when it is plentiful you can grab a handful of leaves and rub them on your skin to keep the bugs away. Native Americans incorporated the use of Lemon Mint leaves for edible greens, seasoning, and as an aromatic tea. This plant will reseed itself.

Clasping Leaf Coneflower is a beautiful yellow petaled flower with maroon dots toward the center and a protruding seed head. It is named for the way the base of the leaves clasp themselves around the stem of the plant. Range is Georgia to Texas.

Indian blanket, with its color bands or yellow to orange to red, is a very showy flower in wildflower gardens.Sometimes referred to as Firewheel, it blooms from May to July and sometimes later, and appears just as the Texas Bluebonnets are finishing.

Here's hoping all the kids get a chance to go out and enjoy the wildflower show!

Titan Gardens blog...right to your inbox!

2010-05-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. If you're following our blog, we hopefully have just made your life easier. We've made it possible for you to get new posting emailed to you, so no checking the blog on whether there is a new post. Unless you want to. But you won't have to. Because there it will be, right in your inbox! And don't worry, just the posts will be emailed to you. No spam, no random passalongs of wierd webpages. Just any new posts to our blog.

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You'll receive a confirmation email to your inbox - just follow the instructions to confirm your subscription and...ta da! You're subscribed.

Thanks for following the Titan Gardens Blog. Go Titans!

Kindergarten and 3rd Grade team up for planting!

2010-04-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

The Titan Gardens enjoyed class cooperation last week as some kindergartners and their third grade buddies planted together in the beds.

A few weeks ago , Mrs. Smith's kindergarten class decided they wanted to plant seeds in newspaper pots, first to see them sprout in the classroom and then to transfer the plants to the garden. They chose corn and sunflowers as their seeds and each student picked which one to plant in their newspaper pot. The pots were great for this project since they would decompose once planted outside in the beds and would mean we would not need to transfer the young seedling out of the pot.

Third-grade buddies joined the kindergarten class outside to help them plant their crop. We would plant the corn pots into the middle of the third grade bed, allowing them to add other plantings as they were ready. Sunflower seeds would be planted in the SLE bed. The older buddies helped their younger friends dig holes to the right depth and plop their pots into the hold, covering them gently.

After all of the pots were planted, The group contributed one more item to the garden. Mrs. Smith's class had experimented with recycling a clear, plastic strawberry container into a mini-greenhouse for basil seeds. The seeds had sprouted well, enjoying the moisture they got in the closed container. We planted the basil sprouts into one of the demonstration beds to fill an area where a plant had not returned after the freeze. Basil has such a strong aroma that deer will usually avoid nibbling, so we knew it would be safe.

Great job to Mrs. Smith's kindergarten class and their third grade buddies. We'll keep a close eye on those corn and sunflower plants to see how they are doing.

4 things that caught my eye in the Titan Garden

2010-04-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

As I approached the Titan garden the other day, I was fascinated with how much it has changed since we started planting in the Fall of last year. It's hard to catch it all on camera, so if you haven't already, have your student take you over to look at what has been planted. All of the grades have done a fantastic job at putting in plantings.

Here's just a few things that caught my eye as I visited the garden:

1. Texture There are so many fascinating textures in the garden. And as we can all guess, textures are fascinating to kids and it's good for them to stimulate their senses in this beautiful outdoor setting. Here, silvery-gray Dusty Miller sits in front of the daffodil foliage. The daffodils put on a splendid display in February and March and are now soaking up energy to recharge the bulbs for blooming next year. Once the foliage turns brown, it can be pruned off.

2. Great plants: It's fun to tell kids about plants and names. Like this snapdragon, a great cool-season annual. The name comes from the look of the flower, like a dragon-face that opens and closes when you squeeze it. The botanical name is Antirrhinum, which translates from its Greek roots as "like a nose". In India, the snapdragon is known as the Dog Flower.

3. Planting Smart: This generation of kids will have many environmental problems to deal with in their world and water use is just one. It is wonderful to see them planting so smartly, choosing drought-tolerant plants like this purple pin cushion plant that will do well in our hot weather. Rain is never guaranteed, as we found out last summer. Choosing plants that are native and adapted to this area and our conditions is the right thing to do.

4. Look at what 6 months can do...
There was an idea from the PTA to provide an outdoor classroom for our children, a place where they could explore how to bring plants to life from seed, a place where teachers could expand on lessons in math, science, history and art. Then there were a dedicated group of volunteers to build and ready the gardens. Then there were teachers and garden buddies who helped the children to dream what could be planted and help them make it happen. And look at what has grown from that first seed of an idea.

Spring is here in the Titan Gardens

2010-03-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

The Titan Gardens are really putting on some blooms now that we have almost moved into full spring weather. The daffodils in the 1st grade and Kindergarten beds are showstoppers.

The vegetables in the 3rd grade beds look gorgeous even as many of the cool season plants begin to bolt and sprout wonderful flowers.

The 2nd grade bed has perfect purple pincushion flowers popping out all over in addition to salvia.

Looks like winter only took a minor toll on the gardens and not much damage. But now spring is upon us and we'll be looking forward to some new plantings to replace any of the cool season annuals.

3rd grade vegetable patch

2010-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful patch of cool season vegetables have been grown by the 3rd graders. They have a variety of cool season greens, including chard, romaine, red and green leaf lettuces. IN addition, they are growing broccoli, which is developing nicely, although now broccoli head has appeared yet. So, when will the 3rd grade be making us all a lovely salad for lunch?

1st Graders have some new visitors...

2010-01-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hey 1st graders! Have you seen your garden lately? Because you have some beautiful new visitors playing peek-a-boo, just poking the tips of their leaves out of the ground. Your bulbs are starting to appear and we can't wait to see what the flowers look like.

Kindergarten bed begins to sprout!

2010-01-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

Along with the already present cool season plantings in the kindergarten bed, some new residents are beginning to emerge. The bulbs and seeds in the kindergarten bed have begun to make an appearance thanks to the recent cold spell followed by warmer weather. The Kindergarten classes planted about 50 Narcissus bulbs along the center of their bed along with sweet pea seeds on either side.

The Narcissus bulbs should give quite the show in spring when they fill the space with color and frgrance.

Once the sweet pea seeds really start to grow long, a teepee trellis will be installed so they can climb upward.

Great planting, kindergarten!

Things happening below the cold ground...

2010-01-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Just because we have some recent cold weather doesn't mean our plants in the Titan Garden are at a standstill. Below the cold ground, seeds and bulbs are busy storing energy to send up spring foliage. And some of the seeds have already started. In the picture, you can see the sweet pea seeds planted by the kindergarten classes just emerging from the ground.

Sweet peas bloom best before the heat of summer comes on so many gardeners plant them in our mild winters and give them a head start. We have them covered to protect them from this unusual arctic blast of cold weather and we hope they'll continue growing strong. Once they get tall anough, we'll put in a trellis for them to climb, as sweet peas are a climbing vine.

First graders add color to their gardening bed

2010-01-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

The first grade planted their garden on December 9th. It was a VERY cold day but each class came out and took turns preparing the dirt and planting several plants. They planted purple pansies, red cyclamen, and alyssum. In addition, they planted herbs - rosemary, thyme, oregano, and lavender. They added some bulbs to the bed to emerge in the spring and give everyone a wonderful surprise. Great job, first graders. We're excited to see your plants grow!

Kindergarten gets their garden bed going!

2009-12-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

This last week, the River Place Kindergarten classes did a fantastic job of getting their LARGE bed planted with all kinds of wonderful plants. Each class came out and planted a portion of the 8' x 8' bed, creating a beautiful, seamless design that includes seeds, plants and bulbs.

Each class was divided into groups and each group took a turn at activities, including

digging the dirt to loosen it up for planting
planting a plant, seed or bulb
smelling different types of herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil
taking a tour of the other beds to see what other classes have planted
decorating the agave for the center of their bed with Christmas ornaments

We had so much great garden energy, that we even dug in the unplanted beds to loosen the soil for other classes who had not yet planted!

We got lots of great photos, so please enjoy this slide show

Our planting plan included lots of fun plants to tickle their senses including:

Narcissus Bulbs: The Kindergarteners loved tucking their bulbs in for their winter nap, knowing that they will pop up when the weather gets warmer with beautiful blooms and wonderful smells.

Dusty Miller: This silvery plant is a wonderful winter planting that lights up a garden bed. It feels soft too and is fun to touch.

Snapdragons: The soft red snapdragons that they planted lend a wonderful color to the bed and are fun to look at.

Thyme: They planted orange and regular thyme, both of which are fun to smell.

Lamb's Ear: Another silvery blue plant, this one has leaves that feel like a lamb's ear and are great to rub against a cheek.

Rosemary: We all love smelling the wonderful scent of rosemary. Evergreen and very drought tolerant.

Agave: The Kindergarten has a beautiful agave in the center pot of their bed, and chose to decorate it with ornaments to celebrate the holiday season.

Sweet Pea: We planted seeds of this beautiful vine and will put in trellises for it to climb when they sprout.

Kindergarten will have a great time coming out in the future and using their eyes, noses, and hands to experience all their plants have to offer!

Demonstration beds blooming

2009-11-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

The two demonstration beds at the Titan Garden are really showing off now that the plants have had time to settle in and establish their roots. The miscanthus grass in the center has sent out its beautiful fronds which will remain until it is trimmed back at the end of winter. Our chili pequin is busy decorating itself for the holidays by turning it's little peppers red, like little Christmas lights.

Another plant putting on a show right now is the Lion's Tail. This drought tolerant perennial is very attractive to bees and butterflies. It's fuzzy, orange tubular flowers grow in whorls up the stem and you can't help but let it catch your eye.

5th graders plant their garden!

2009-11-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

The 5th grade garden is planted and filled with the potential of all of the wonderful seeds they have put in the ground. First, they planted Bachelor Button's, also called Cornflower. This is a drought tolerant annual plant that does well just about anywhere. They come in a variety of colors (we'll have to wait until Spring to know what the 5th graders planted!) and are attractive to bees, butterflies and birds.

They also planted seeds for carrots and butterfly flowers. Hopefully we'll be seeing some carrot tops emerge soon. For sure, we'll be making butterflies very happy with the butterfly flowers that they planted.

3rd Grade Garden is Planted!

2009-11-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Great job 3rd graders! Your garden looks wonderful.

The 3rd grade chose some beautiful leafy plants for their planting bed during the cool season. A beautiful pot of alyssum is growing in the center.

They also created two bamboo tee-pee trellises for their snap pea seeds to climb.

Around the pot are different types of leafy greens like romaine lettuce and swiss chard, herbs like sage and lemon thyme, and other plants like broccoli.

Each class was met by some of the "garden buddies" when they came out to the garden in 10 minute shifts. The children were divided into groups of 3, each with his/her own job: 1 child dug a hole, 1 child removed the plant from the plastic pot and placed it in the hole, 1 child fertilized and filled the hole. Everyone helped mulch, and each child got to plant some snap pea and radish seeds.

The whole project took only one hour, with each class spending 10 minutes outside to plant their allotted plants and seeds. It was an effort in cooperation that left all the kids proud of their accomplishment!

Mrs. Paschall's class even planned some time to come back out for reading at the picnic tables and enjoying the beautiful weather!

Wildflower Stomp!

2009-11-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

The Wildflower Stomp is Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 10:30-1:00....
if you have time please come and help!

Annuals offer flower power

2009-10-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

Even though the weather is turning cold, you can still enjoy some flower power in the Titan Garden. Many people add color to their garden beds by planting annuals along with their perennials. Annuals are plants that last for one season, then die, typically with a change in season. There are warm and cool season annuals. Perennials are plants that lives for many years and is either evergreen or may die back to the ground but reemerge from roots in the next season.

There are some great cool season annuals that can be added to your garden bed; here are a few:

Alyssum: Low spreading plant. Many small fragrant white flowers fall-early summer. Sun/part shade. 6” high, 10” wide. Low maintenance.

Cyclamen:Low mound. Plant in fall for fall color. Shooting star like flowers in red, magenta, lavender, red-orange, pink or white, often with a red eye, in fall. Foliage frequently mottled. Light shade. 6-12” high, 9-12” apart. Take inside in winter; loses leaves in summer.

Dianthus: Perennial used as an annual. Single red, magenta, pink, or white flowers, some with dark circle around eye, in fall and again in spring. Sun/part shade.12-18” high, 12-16” wide.

Snapdragon: Upright plants. Tubular flowers in red, pink, lavender, salmon, apricot, yellow and white in fall and again in spring. Sun/part shade. 6-36” high, 6-10” wide.

Fall is also a great time to plant herbs, either from seed or plants. So consider planting herbs like cilantro and dill.

Picnic Tables / Wildflower Stomp / Solar Power

2009-10-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

The picnic tables are here!
We hope you'll use them for class outdoors or for snack time.
Fall is a great time to get outside and enjoy the weather.

The Wildflower Stomp is coming soon.
Watch for information on participating in that.

Have you noticed the construction near the MPR?
That will be a solar sunflower providing solar power to River Place Elementary. Canyon Ridge Middle School is also receiving one.

Let the gardening begin!

2009-10-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

With the construction of the beds and delivery of the soil completed, the new Titan Gardens were ready for planting. To create a sample garden of native and adapted plants for Central Texas, the River Place Elementary PTA teamed up with the River Place Garden Club to plant two of the beds.

The gardening team chose a selection of herbs, perennials and annuals which have strong deer resistance, since we know how our local wildlife love to sample our garden beds like a buffet! Some of the plants they chose included miscanthus ornamental grass, society garlic, lamb's ear, alyssum, mexican oregano, lion's tail, and santolina among others. The goal was to show the variety of textues, colors and heights of plants that are available for planting in this area.

Thanks to all of the parents and volunteers who helped with the planting and we look forward to the kids and teachers seeing these two lovely beds as inspiration when they begin planting their beds. Please feel free to take a moment if you are up at the school to go out and see these beautiful plantings. With all of our recent rains, the plants should be settling in quite nicely!

Your Outdoor Classroom

2009-10-12T16:25:00.001-07:00

Titan Garden

The PTA is happy to announce the opening of the River Place Elementary gardens located on the SE corner of the campus, between the car drop off and main parking lots. With the support of Leander ISD and River Place Elementary administration, PTA volunteers have constructed 9 raised beds for use by the River Place students and teachers, in hopes of creating an additional learning opportunity, an outdoor classroom.

The PTA created these gardens to give teachers and students an opportunity to work together to enhance their curriculum, and to give students more opportunities to see how their academic learning applies to real life. Each grade level has the opportunity to plant and care for one raised bed.

Happy gardening!

Getting Started

2009-10-12T16:24:00.001-07:00

What is Titan Garden?
River Place Elementary (RPE) Titan Garden consists of 9 raised beds constructed by PTA volunteers for use by the teachers and students at RPE. Each grade will be assigned one raised bed they can plant and maintain as they choose. There are a couple of extra beds for larger special projects and if you want to reserve those for a special seasonal project, please let us know. Currently 2 of these beds being sponsored by the River Place Garden Club. The beds all receive sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon, so choosing plants that can tolerate part shade is important. We do host a lot of deer in our area, so please be aware of that and do your best to choose deer-resistant plants. Because of the deer and the lack of full sun, vegetables may not be the best choice for planting in this location, but many herbs will work well. Consult our included plant lists for good plant choices.

Why did we create it?
The River Place PTA wanted to offer teachers and students additional opportunities to explore nature and have an outdoor learning environment. A garden can give classes a plethora of teachable moments such as interaction with nature, an emphasis on caring for living things, a focus on teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment when the gardens grow.

When is it available?
The gardens are open as of October 1, 2009. The River Place Garden Club and PTA have partnered together to plant the first two beds to kick off the opening of the gardens. You are welcome to take your class out to the gardens at any time. The plants have been labeled to make identification easier.

How do we move forward?
The PTA is funding a $20 per teacher budget to get started in buying plants. Each grade level will have a designated Garden Buddy to help with gardening activities as the teachers need them. In addition, the RPE PTA Gardening Committee stands ready to assist in whatever way we can help.

We have located a storage bin by the garden that contains trowels, a water hose and sprayer. The hook-up for the water spigot can be checked out from the front office to start the water flow for watering with the hose. If there are other supplies that you need, please contact Rebecca Cole at rebeccaleighcole@yahoo.com.

We know it can be hard to get started on a project like this. So here are some recommended steps:

Meet with the other teachers in your grade level. You are encouraged to invite your Garden Buddies to attend - they are a good source of information.
Discuss what the goal of your grade's garden will be. You will be provided a sheet on possible garden themes for some ideas.
Create a Garden Planning Sheet to help you design a planting and maintenance plan that will keep your garden happy and healthy.
If you have planting questions or concerns, please contact your Garden Buddy.

Ideas for Garden Themes

2009-10-12T16:23:00.001-07:00

Butterfly garden
Blue Mistflower
Salvia coccinea
Indigo spires sage
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberose)
Mexican mint marigold
Gayfeather
Dill
Fennel

Texture and aroma garden
Lamb’s Ear
Sage
Allium
Mexican Feather Grass
Ornamental Grasses (small like Ruby Crystals)
Alyssum
Sweet pea

Herb garden
Lemon grass
Oregano
Thyme
Cilantro
Rosemary
Basil
Mint (spearmint, chocolate mint, lemon mint)
Society Garlic
Dill
Fennel

Color garden
Snapdragons (various colors)
Marigolds (reds, oranges and yellows)
Artemisia (silver blue)
Salvias (various colors)

Pollinator garden
(attracts bees and other insects)
Allium
Society Garlic
Mexican Oregano
Verbena
Marigolds
Blue Mistflower
Monarda (Bee Balm)

Wildflower Garden
Texas Bluebonnet
Black-Eyed Susan
Indian Blanket
Scrambled Eggs (corydalis)
White Gaura
Lemon Mint
Purple Coneflower
Butterfly Weed
Mealy Blue Sage
Tahoka Daisy
Pitcher Sage
Prairie Verbena
Mexican Hat

Gardening Tips & Maintenance

2009-10-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Once your gardening plan is made, you may purchase your plants/seeds wherever you like. Local nurseries will have the best knowledge of the plants and best selections. A list of local garden nurseries can be found at:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/r_garden.htm
In general when buying plants, you are better off buying a small specimen of the desired plant (like 4” pot) If available rather than a large specimen (like a gallon pot) as the smaller plant will acclimate faster and start growing roots. Seeds are fine in most situations, but make sure they can be planted directly in the ground as opposed to starting indoors.
You can submit your receipts and check request form for reimbursement in the PTA box in the workroom. The form is located on the PTA website:
 http://riverplace.my-pta.org/Content/GetDocument.asp?ID=1
The beds are filled with a garden soil amended with compost. The soil is ideal for growing plants and we will amend it with compost every year to continue to add organic matter for the plants’ health.
Mulch should be applied about 2-3” thick around all plants once the beds are planted (supplied by PTA and left in storage bin). Should more mulch be needed, please contact:
Rebecca Cole at rebeccaleighcole@yahoo.com.
General watering recommendations are that beds should be watered 1x/week whether by rain or manually. There is a water outlet located under the orange ground-level lid just to the east of the beds. The hook-up spigot can be checked out from the front desk.
• Pop off the orange lid with the screwdriver located in the storage bin
• Lift the yellow cap
• Attach the hook-up spigot and turn ¼ turn
• Once hose from storage bin is attached to the spigot, open the circular valve on top of the spigot by turning it.
• Please return hose to storage bin and spigot to front office after use.

Applications of organic fertilizer will be made every so often by PTA volunteers. If your garden has a special need for fertilizer, please let your gardening liaison know.

Gardening Topics and Activities

2009-10-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some ideas for tying in gardening with your classroom subjects like math, science, art, social studies, etc.

Have students observe something in the garden and draw or paint it.
Use math skills to measure the garden and create a planting plan.
Graph the growth of plants
Discuss why deer avoid eating certain plants
Write poetry, haiku or stories inspired by the garden
Create a presentation/bulletin board to showcase the grades garden for parents
Make leaf prints
Teach about plant selection based on light, size, color and let them help with plant selection
Seed germination – what conditions are needed, what plant parts can you see
Seed germination rates- chart how fast and growth rate
Plant propagation- take root or leaf cuttings to grow new plants
Organic gardening- how to garden without pesticides
Landscape design- what colors complement each other, how to arrange plants according to height
Butterflies- stages of growth and to what plants they are attracted
Beneficial insects- most insects are garden helpers
Make wind chimes for the garden
Seasons- what plants grow at different times of year
Make a scarecrow
Have the kids make a gardening calendar highlighting class responsibilities for watering and garden visits.
Discuss how people at other times in history or in other cultures may have gardened.
Use library to find books on how to plant seeds, how plants grow or how they are used.

Gardening Buddies

2009-10-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

These parents are your Gardening Buddies, parents who have volunteered to help out your grade level in the garden as you need them. Please feel free to call on them at any time for assistance.

Kindergarten:
John Boyle john.d.boyle@ampf.com
Bonnie Martin bonnielaurie@austin.rr.com

1st grade:
Theresa Spencer tspencer10@austin.rr.com
Janine Jacobson benjanine@me.com

2nd grade:
Jill Brasuell jillbrasuell@yahoo.com
John Boyle john.d.boyle@ampf.com

3rd grade:
Lisa Pizinger pizinger@sbcglobal.net
Teri Radloff t_radloff@yahoo.com

4th grade:
Jody Scalpati jody@scalpati.com
Danielle Shimkus danielle.shimkus@utgolfclub.com

5th grade: TBD
Please let us know if you would like to volunteer for this position

Helpful Links

2009-10-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some links you may find helpful:

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
http://www.wildflower.org/teachers/

Travis County Extension Horticulture Site
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/

Travis County Vegetable Planting Calendar
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/VegetablePlantingCalendar2009.pdf

Extension Home Vegetable Gardening Info Sheets
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/gardening.html

Travis County Annual and Perennial Plants Information
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/lg_o_annuals.htm

Butterfly Gardens
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/lg_l_butterfly.htm

Travis County Extension Youth Gardening
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/r_youth.htm

Junior Master Gardener Site
http://www.jmgkids.us/

National Wildlife Foundation –Building a Schoolyard Habitat
http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/howtoguide.cfm

DigTheDirt
"A social gardening site with one of the most user friendly garden databases in the world."
http://www.digthedirt.com/