Earth Team Watershed Steward

Today we met a watershed steward! Her name is Chiara (personally I like that name:). She works for an organization called Earth Team as an after school teacher in Richmond, CA. She meets on Mondays and Wednesdays and teaches students about ecosystems and how animals live in their habitats. If you didn't know, because I didn't know, what watershed stewardship is, see the definition below. I interviewed Chiara and she told me many things about keeping our environment clean. 

For example, if a six-pack ring gets thrown out most people think that it will just get cleaned up but no, it doesn’t! It goes straight to our bay. That garbage affects marine life in a negative way. It all piles up and starts killing marine life and pollutes mother nature. Sadly, without mother nature most, if not all, living organisms will die and that includes us! So it is very important that we don't litter because it has long lasting effects on earth.

Definitions:

- A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place

- Watershed stewardship is a partnership between an environmental association and the community that helps conserve local watersheds. The Earth Team program in Richmond teaches students to enhance the health of local water-sheds.

For more information:

Earth Team's website: http://www.earthteam.net

Bay Area watershed finder: http://museumca.org/creeks/wb-resc.html

Check out this diagram of how watersheds work!

This is a map of all the Bay Area watersheds!

Guest Blogger: Joanna Styx

This is me with a cake I made for Green Club's first potluck

Hi, my name is Joanna Syx and I have been working here at the Green Pioneers for about a year now, and I have learned a lot. Mostly about eating right and making sure what you eat is healthy. For instance, did you know that the chicken from McDonald isn't real chicken? Well I didn't know but ever since I started the program I have learned a little more everyday.

Collard Greens

 Even the salad at McDonald's isn't healthy. Healthy food is grown without pesticides and chemicals being used. I feel that my job in the Green Pioneers is to help people understand that eating healthy isn't exactly hard, it is actually kind of easy as long as you know what foods you are eating.

For example, in the garden we grow: lettuce, onions, cilantro, cabbage, fava beans, strawberries and collard greens. We are able to make delicious snacks, instead of going out and buying hot chips and soda. Some people feel that it is hard to find healthy food and that is true but, if you really put your mind to eating healthy I know you can do it.

4 different kinds of lettuce we grow in our garden


Learn what chicken nuggets are really made of!

   What do silly putty and McDonald's chicken nuggets have in common? 

Food First Interviews Green Pioneers

A representative from Food First came to visit our garden and write about us! Food First is an Institute for Food & Development policy. This is their website: http://www.foodfirst.org

The writer interviewed different students and asked them to answer the question: "How do Green Pioneers help the environment and Oakland?"

Here are some of the answers they gave:

"I'm in Green Pioneers because I'd rather spend my time helping my community than out in the streets up to no good. I love working in the garden, planting, and even making a delicious healthy snack for fellow Green Pioneers. My internship goal is to plan a farmer's market in our neighborhood for everyone's family to enjoy and hopefully I will be able to achieve it. My experience in Green Pioneers has been great and I'm glad I could help the community eat healthy." - JoAnna

"I think Green Pioneers is good for Oakland because it helps the environments and it also helps teenagers grow close to nature. That's exactly why I joined the club." - Jazmin

"Green Pioneers is a positive influence on youth.  Instead of eating unhealthy food (like McDonald's), we teach other people how to grow their own food, and we learn what is in our food." - Oranjel

Chicken update!

Now we have eight chicks! We have four types of chickens: three are Ameraucana, two are Rhode Island Reds, two are Barred Rocks, and we have one black chick whose type is a mystery! The Barred Rock chicks have a little black coloring and one of them is from the chickens in our garden! The Rhode Island Red chicks are going be red from head-to-toe. The Ameraucana are going to have a little bit of every color. The chick from our garden is one week old and the rest are about one week older. We’re going to sell the eggs our chickens lay. Oh! And they are all organic chickens :)

Did you know?

- Roosters fight for territory and for the females who live on the territory.

- Chicks can’t fly! Their wings aren’t strong enough for them to fly so they hover instead. 

- Chickens are related to both T-rex and Archaeopteryx dinosaurs!

I had asked one of my Green Pioneer peers, Jasmine, what she thought about having the chicks inside the class and she said, “They are freaking cool! Hallelujah!”

Teaching 6th graders in the garden

We were like teachers today! It was a very thrilling experience. A group of 6th graders from another school came to visit the garden because they want to start a garden at their school. They attend Elmhurst Middle School which is located near our garden. I never thought that teaching 6^th graders could be so amusing until now.

First, we had a meeting where we introduced ourselves to our visitors. Then Green Pioneer members stood at different stations in the garden. We gave a tour of the garden by dividing the 6th graders into small groups that went to each station where we explained the different Green Pioneer projects happening there.

In my interview with Margie Castillano, who was stationed at our compost bins, she was filled with energy and excitement when she spoke to the 6th graders: “I explained to them what compost is and how it helps the garden. I asked them what compost is and they didn't really know so I told them compost is kind of like vitamins for plants. When it is mixed with soil during planting it helps the plants grow faster and healthier naturally without harsh chemicals and pesticides.”

We enjoyed having the 6th graders at our garden. Five Green Pioneers are going to mentor the 6th graders and help plan a garden at Elmhurst Middle school. Pretty cool, huh?

Our first chick hatched!

Wow, the moment we had all been waiting for arrived: Our first chick hatched! Everybody in Green Pioneers was so excited, you could see it in their eyes - they looked like little kids getting a new toy :) We can't wait for the next one to hatch too. We've had these eggs in our incubator for 23 days. The only part that may be problematic is that for the first two days, chicks only have a 50/50 percent chance of survival! 

I wanted to tell everyone reading this that I learned a new word today: FLABBERGASTED. Doesn't it sound awesome?! It means to be overcome with astonishment. For example, I was walking in the garden for the first time and I was flabbergasted by the pretty sight! :)

I never knew Castlemont had such a nice garden till I saw it for myself with my own eyes!