A Davis Farm to School Winter
As the year clicked from 2016 to 2017, Davis students and parents at Pioneer and Birch Lane Elementary wove fragrant rosemary and other greenery into beautiful wreaths during this annual garden-crafting event.
The cool days of winter hold a certain urgency for gardeners. Winter is the time to prune and refresh perennials and trees, plant new bare-root fruit trees, and move dormant plants before new growth awakens in the spring.
In addition to these outdoor tasks, garden students can be enjoying school-grown salads made with tender greens that love this cool season of growth. They can also be starting seeds for transplanting in the spring, tending their compost piles now energized with our recent abundant rain, and even getting ready for a wildlife lesson during the February Great Backyard Bird Count (http://gbbc.birdcount.org/). Some schools are enjoying a new kind of harvest--a brimming rain harvest from their rainwater capture systems.
Winter is also a great time for cleanup days both outside and indoors and the City of Davis has great online resources on solid waste and recycling (http://cityofdavis.org/city-hall/public-works/solid-waste-and-recycling). Try and snag a free copy of the great Yolo County 2017 A-Z Recyclopedia calendar for useful tips on handling everything from Appliance Disposal to Zero Waste.
