Spring Sign Up for our Vegetable Session!

We are now accepting sign ups for our Spring Vegetable Session. This group of kids will be working outside and in our greenhouse. We will be planting early or "cool" season vegetables. We have a community garden that we built in the spring of 2013 and it will be available for the kids to plant their seeds/seedlings. We are working with a mixture of gardening styles. Club members will have the chance to experience growing in a greenhouse setting, raised beds, and in the ground or the natural way. We look forward to jumping right into the planting season and hope the our kids that sign up will continue to be club members all through the year.

I am proud to announce that GardeningwithKids.Org has also sponsored some items for each child that signs up. Isn't that exciting?

Each kit includes a gardening journal, an apron, junior gardening gloves, and a seed packet. Let's send a big thank you to GardeningwithKids.org.

I will be accepting 15 kids for this session. There will be a waiting list generated after the first 15 sign ups. If any child decides not to participate, I will contact you if you are next on the waiting list. It is important to get your sign up completed as soon as possible.

The Spring Vegetable Session will take place on Saturday April 12th, 2014 from 3pm-5pm. During this time we will be jumping right into getting our vegetables growing. I will have a waiver for parents to sign when they bring their child to the first session. If you have participated in a previous session, this will not be necessary.

You can begin signing up immediately. There are a few ways you can do this; email, mail, or phone. Please use one of the below methods to sign your child up for this session. I will notify if you have been accepted or wait listed. Sign up is free, however I do ask for a $1 if possible or other amount. This can be given to me on the day of the session or mailed to the address below. It does costs to keep a garden growing and maintained and this will help cover the cost of that.

Sign Up! by phone by calling Amanda at (641)216-3912. Please do leave a message with you name, why you are calling, and a good number to reach you at. Also please include which session you are inquiring about and how many children you want to sign up. I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Sign Up! by postal mail by mailing a sign up sheet that includes your name, child name/s, address, phone number, session you are signing up for, phone number, and donation if you are sending one to:
Amanda Bozeman
What's Growing On
511 West Van Buren St 
Centerville, Iowa 52544
I will contact you when I received your mail.

Sign Up! by email by sending a sign up request to tommyandamanda7286@gmail.com Please put the subject line as the session you are inquiring about (example "Spring Vegetable Session Sign Up"). Include your name, child name/s, address, and phone number. I will be back in touch with you as soon as possible.

Read more ...

What's Growing On Recognized by Garden.Org

I was excited this morning to learn that Garden.Org recognized me from spreading the word about their non-profit organization. Nicole from Gardening With Kids emailed me and informed me that I was selected to receive this eco-friendly planter. How awesome is that? Gardening with children is a passion of mine and it is nice to know that I am recognized for what I am doing locally. Thanks Nicole and thank you Garden.Org. Keep on growing!

Nicole writes:

Thank you so much for helping the National Gardening Association spread the word about all of the great gardening resources that are available. Every share helps us to continually work towards our nonprofit mission: to empower every generation to lead healthier lives, build stronger communities, and encourage environmental stewardship through educational gardening programs.

Read more ...

Feeding Snacking Children the Right Way

My four kids are always wanting something to snack, snack, snack. We always have our three square meals a day, but they always seem to be hungry. Also, we have a teenager, and let me tell you- he can eat! After learning a little bit about nutrition, I found out that sweet, sugary snacks fill you up and then burn off fast. This is what makes you hungry over and over again. I found that limiting the sweet snacks or high carb snacks and replacing them with healthy foods that are high in nutritional value keep my kids fuller, longer.

At my house, we took away all the crackers, cookies, brownies and such and replaced them with nuts, fruit, oatmeal, high fiber cereals, yogurt, and other great foods. I found that the kids were still snacking, but not as much. They were also eating something good for them. Don't get me wrong, we all need a little sugar too. I make sure every weekend I make a few homemade items like pie or cookies. The trick is finding healthier ways to make them and go homemade over store bought. The more a food is processed, the less nutritional value it usually has.

What snacks do you have around your house?

Read more ...

Spring Flower Session Sign Up

Here is our first sign up for the What's Growing On club for the Spring Flower session. During this session the kids will be able to plant flowers in a hanging basket to take home. This session will be ornamental and allow the kids to get their hands a little dirty and start working with plants. During the session they will learn about seed germination, light and watering needs of their plant, and feeding on a regular schedule. This will give them an overall idea of how a plant grows and what care they need to place in plants to provide for good growth. Each child will go home with a hanging basket, planted seeds, informational card about their plant, and a food packet to jump start its growth.

Sign ups are limited so please get your child signed up as soon as possible. I will be taking 20 children for the first spring session that will take place in March 2014. Exact date and time will be released at a later date. The cost is $5 for each child and this will cover all the supplies they will need for planting their flower basket. After 20 sign ups I will also start a waiting list and you will be contacted if there is an open spot. Payment is due by February 1st 2014.

To sign up please fill out the form below. I am so looking forward to working with your child and teaching them about all the things we can grow!

*Please put "Spring Sign Up" as the subject. All of your information is strictly confidential. I will contact all sign ups with more information.
foxyform

Read more ...

Fall Pumpkin Harvest

Looking for ideas to use up those pumpkins from your harvest this year? I am thinking chips and dip in a fun, decorative way. The kids will love it! This year I threw a Halloween party for my kids and needed ideas for the food. With the help of Pinterest I found loads of things to do. One thing I chose to do was make a dip holder from a pumpkin. Pretty crafty huh?

You can make any dip or soup you like and fill er up. I chose a small pie style pumpkin for the dip and cut the top off, cleaned the inside, and filled it with dip. I then served it up with a platter of chips and the kids loved it.

 

Read more ...