Blogs

Kids Growing Strong traveled to Paradise, CA to help the Gold Nugget Museum and Paradise Garden Club members celebrate Heritage Days. The 100-degree heat was just right for the bugs...that is the ladybugs and caterpillars. 

Children painted ladybug rocks and made ladybug masks as they learned about the life cycles of little spotted creatures. Members of the Paradise Garden Club helped kids create Haiary Caterpillars out of stockings, soil and grass. Click here for Hairy Caterpiller instructions.

Decked out in heritage attire, kids at the Paradise celebration practised the old-tume art of pounding flowers.

Announcing...

The very first KGS "Friends" mailing was FINALLY sent out on June 28th to over 400 new "friends."  "KGS Friends" are the special people who joined our family of Friends when they visited our exhibit at an event earlier this year.  Because we were so slow getting it all together, we made it extra special with three packets of different seeds and some BUZZ-Z-Z about Bees.

 The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and Dreyer‘s Fruit Bars are planting orchards across the country in a collaborative program called Communities Take Root (CTR). Through this exciting program, communities compete in a nation-wide vote to win a complete community orchard.  

The first 125 qualified applicants for 2011 will be in the running to win a free orchard, including free community workshops on planting, pruning and caring for fruit trees. 

In 2010, ten communities in California won orchards for public parks, community gardens, food banks, homeless shelters, and community centers. To see information about this year’s winners, check out the Communities Take Root website. Download and submit the application here.

 In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration and National Institute for Health set a nationwide goal that aimed to have 75% of American adults consuming two or more fruit servings a day and 50% consuming three or more vegetable servings a day. The report released this month announced no state reached that goal.

 We are still going on and on about how plants take calcium from the soil, then the humble cow eats the plant and puts the calcium into milk. The calcium in cow milk helps kids grow strong and healthy. So why not do something different. CELEBRATE THE COW!  by making a cow-planter and planting some cow beans.  

We use Vaquero beans from Rancho Gordo. They are an heirloom dried bean that most people use for pot beans, chili and stew. We soak them over night, wrap them lightly in a damp paper towel and them put them into a plastic bag until they sprout. (They take less than a week to sprout.) Almost all the beans sprouted which tells us they are fresh, wholesome beans. Kudos to Rancho Gordo!