Celebrating Pollinator Week with Kids

By: Molly Gaines, CSU Extension-Denver Master Gardener since 2019

A Tiger Swallowtail hovers above a zinnia. They collect pollen by brushing their wings across flowers. Photo: Molly Gaines

Summer in Colorado is heading into full bloom, with bees, butterflies, moths, birds, and other pollinators abounding in our backyards and across the Rocky Mountains. At the same time, Pollinator Week, created by Pollinator Partnership to promote the health of pollinators through conservation, education and research, kicks off June 19. This makes it a perfect time to celebrate pollinators with the kids in your life, observing pollinators in action and creatively acknowledging the special roles they play in our environment. 

There are many engaging ways to help kids of all ages learn about pollinators. Some basic facts you can share about pollinators include:

• Pollinator species include bees, beetles, flies, moths, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats.
• More than 70% of the world’s flowering plants rely on pollination, which is essential for producing fruits and seeds.
• Just like humans and other animals, pollinators need food, water, shelter and space.
• Pollinators are in trouble, and there are some reasons why and ways we all can help.

For a wealth of background and education about pollinators, check out the Pollinator Partnership’s website. It offers planting guides, bee guides, guides to creating a pollinator garden, pesticide education, and much more. 

The following are a few fun ideas to teach the kids in your life more about pollinators, along with a few resources for reference. 

1) Take a walk around your neighborhood. One of my favorite things to do with my own kids is to stroll through our neighborhood observing pollinators in action — a butterfly hovering around milkweed or a bumblebee deep inside a squash flower. It’s delightful to slow down and watch all of the ways pollinators move and work their way through our natural environments. And, if you look closely at a honeybees’ legs, you can see and point out to kids the yellow pollen they’ve collected and are carrying back to their hives. For a list of plants that are native to Colorado that might be found along your stroll, check out this blog post by Denver Master Gardener Kathy Roth.

A honeybee helps this cucumber grow fruit. Photo: Molly Gaines

2) Plant pollinator-friendly plants or a tiny garden to attract them. It’s not too late to find pollinator-friendly flowers at your local nursery and plant them with your kids. Or, you could plan now to plant a fall pollinator garden. Some great ideas for what to plant and background on how pollination happens can be found here. When your garden is complete, have your kids visit www.pollinator.org to download free garden signs. Older kids can help make signs to place in their garden, and perhaps a neighbor’s pollinator-friendly garden, too! 

3) To find an abundance of pollinators in one place, consider a visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens, Chatfield Farms or the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado. The Butterfly Pavilion is hosting a Pollinator Palooza Festival on Sun., June 25, to celebrate all things pollinators.

Did you know grasshoppers are unconventional pollinators? Photo: Molly Gaines

4) Throw a pollinator party with your kids, a few of their friends, and neighbors or family. Serve yogurt parfaits with berries, granola and a drizzle of honey or sugar cookies cut into butterfly or bee shapes. Give away a favor of 2-3 honey sticks and tie with garden twine. Make seed bombs with pollinator-friendly garden seeds. I’ve done this before with kids and there are several ways to do it and kids love making them! Consider downloading free pollinator art (there are many options online) and have kids color with crayons or markers. Invite a neighborhood beekeeper to show off a frame from his or her hive and some beekeeping equipment. Have kids do pollinator chalk art on the sidewalk in front of your home.

These are just a few ideas to help kids connect the dots between pollinators and their environment. Teaching young people about the essential role pollinators play in nature and our food supply is a great step towards helping future generations care for them. And care is what will help ensure pollinator populations thrive once again.

CSU Spur – The New Education Kid in Town

By Valerie Podmore, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2020

CSU Spur Family Day photo courtesy of CSU System

Trigger Warning…Terrible rhyming ahead!

Hey everybody, have you heard

About the amazing new campus called CSU Spur?

It’s a science-based learning center

Teaching all kinds of subjects

And the beauty of it is that

it’s free and open to the public!

What is this “Spur” about which you rhyme so poorly?

CSU Spur is an offshoot of Colorado State University, a new urban campus in Denver which aims to educate the public in subjects which affect us all as citizens of this planet and Colorado. Spur’s focus is on engaging pre-K-12 youth in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) subjects and encourage their participation in related careers. Not only are there educational programs focused on food, water, and health, but community outreach, research, and partnerships with schools and industry.

CSU Spur Day of Service photo courtesy of CSU System

While there’s something to do and see almost every day at Spur, the family fun really happens on the 2^nd Saturday of every month.  Check the continually updated events page for new activities. In addition, school groups are welcome so get in contact to schedule a visit!

CSU Spur is located at the National Western Center, just north of I-70 between Washington Street and Brighton Boulevard. It consists of three separate buildings on the National Western Center campus: Vida, Terra, and Hydro (opening January 2023).

Terra

CSU Terra building with Kendall Rae Johnson on the Green Roof photos courtesy of CSU System

Terra is the earth sciences building, where agriculture is brought to life in a way that educates us ‘regular folk’ on where our food comes from and how we can all participate in creating a food future that is sustainable and benefits all.

At Terra you can observe plant and food growth research, participate in cooking classes, watch the creation of new food products in the innovation lab, see how agriculture can take place even in urban spaces like on the green roof of Terra, and inside you’ll see the most amazing plant wall!

Terra Green Wall photo courtesy of CSU System

Not only is it pretty (remarkable!) but this year the green roof’s vegetable garden produced an amazing amount of produce which was donated to a local food pantry partner, Growhaus. Read about it here.

The Soil, Water and Plant Testing Laboratory, formerly located in Fort Collins, has moved to Spur! This is a great facility to assist with learning what our soil needs, what might be wrong with our plants, and how best to treat them. This blog explains how soils testing can help us create a great garden.

Terra is the place if you want to learn about food and plant careers, as the best of agriculture education happens here!

Vida

CSU Spur Vida photo courtesy of CSU System

Vida is the human and animal health and life sciences location! Focused on the connection between humans and animals, Vida aims to educate and engage people about animal and human health.

Interested in learning about veterinary work? Come watch dog and cat surgeries at the Dumb Friends League Veterinary Hospital. The DFL’s aim at Spur is to focus on connections between human and animal life. It’s a teaching hospital for veterinarians in training with the goals of community engagement, education in the humane treatment of animals and the effects animals have on us humans as well. Check it out here.

Dumb Friends League Veterniary Hospital photo courtesy of CSU System

The Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center helps horses needing physical rehab and therapy to recover from injuries and is also available for viewing by the public.

If you’re familiar with CSU Professor Temple Grandin, you know that large animals and their humane treatment are her passion. At the Temple Grandin Equine Center, a variety of therapies are available for individuals with a range of challenges utilizing the Vida horses.

Hydro

CSU Hydro courtesy of CSU System

Hydro is close to complete, opening January 6^th of 2023!

This will be the water education center, where you can learn about the far-reaching impact of the waters which begin here in Colorado. Located adjacent to the Platte River, the public can learn about headwaters and watersheds.

Hydro will house a café using produce grown onsite, include many different art exhibits, contain a variety of spaces for meetings and learning. It will be the permanent home of CSU Masters of Agribusiness and Food Innovation Management, the CSU Water in the West Symposium and other programs.

Water in the West Symposium photo courtesy of CSU System

As water is so important here in the West, this building will be a wonderful learning and solution-focused resource.

Trust us, just GO!

The new CSU Spur campus has so much available, it’s hard to put it all in one post. It is truly is amazing and will only grow and improve as time continues, so check out the FAQ page and plan a visit – you might be surprised what you learn!

Vegetable Gardening for Kids

By Lois Margolin, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2011 

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Gardening is a great activity to do with kids, whether they’re in preschool or young adults. In addition to teaching children a new skill set, it introduces them to new foods (they like eating what they grow!) and incorporates great lessons such as protecting the environment, healthy and nutritious eating habits, water conservation, and more. It also teaches children the benefits of helping others in need by donating extra produce to food banks.

Gardening is also a great, hands-on way to teach children the life-cycle of plants. All plants begin as seeds. About five to eight days after planting, the seed will sprout. You will see a green “stem” poke above the soil. Two seed leaves will begin to form, and then larger true leaves will appear above the seed leaves. The plant will flower and the flower will become the vegetable (beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers). Some vegetables (like carrots, onions, and beets) are actually roots. By fall, the plants that have been growing all summer will begin to get brown and die.

If you want to grow a garden this summer, these are some veggies that grow well in our Colorado climate:

• Edible pea pods
• Peas
• Kale
• Spinach
• Leaf lettuces
• Green Beans
• Zucchini and other squash
• Cucumbers
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Onions/scallions
• Beets
• Carrots

What You’ll Need to Garden

A few tools make gardening easier:

• Shovel – This is essential for in-ground gardens to turn the soil.
• Trowel – Best tool for digging small holes and trenches.
• Gardening gloves – Keeps your hands clean. Buy them in children’s sizes for kids.

Decide Which Type of Garden You Need

In-ground or Small Raised Garden Bed

While these gardens are small, they can hold a lot of veggies. Pole beans, cucumbers and squash can be grown in them. Cucumbers grow tall and can be tied to stakes or cages, and lettuce and other short plants can be planted around the base of the taller plants.

Even if you only have a small space to work with, you can easily grow:

• tomato plants
• pepper plants
• carrots
• pole/green beans
• peas
• onions
• cucumbers
• zucchini
• lettuce
• brussels sprouts

Container Gardens

Containers are a great way to introduce kids to gardening. It’s easier to prepare the soil in pots, they have fewer weeds, and rabbits can’t reach the taller ones.

Get Started

If you’re new to gardening, START SMALL! For the best outcome, plan your plantings on paper first. Get creative with your design – you can plant a LOT of veggies! For in-ground gardens, start by preparing your space. Dig up an area of ground about 4 feet x 4 feet.

A sample garden design. Credit Lois Margolin

A sample garden design could have three mounds of cucumbers, three rows of bush green beans, two rows of beets, and one row of onions.

Root veggies like beets and carrots need to be thinned out once they sprout to allow room for the roots to develop.

Prepare the Soil

If you’re building an in-ground garden, remove all of the grass and weeds from your new area. Mix in good top soil and compost (available at garden centers), and work it into the ground soil.

If you’re using containers, put holes in bottom of the container for drainage, and cover holes with a piece of very thin cloth or coffee filters. Fill clean containers with potting soil (available at Garden Centers). Make sure your garden is located in full sun if you’re planning on growing veggies, as 6 to 8 hours of daily sunshine is needed.

Decide When To Plant

When buying plants and seeds look for maturity dates of 48 to 85 days. Planting during the correct time of year will help make sure your vegetable garden is successful.

Use the following list as a guideline:

• April: Plant cold weather crops like peas, lettuces, spinach, and kale.  
• Early May:  Plant carrots, beets, and onions.
• Mid to late May:  Plant tomatoes, peppers, squash (zucchini), cucumbers, and beans. Hot weather crops can be planted when the soil reaches 60 degrees.
• June: Continue planting cucumbers and beans so you can harvest veggies continually from July through September.

To get veggies over a longer period of time instead of having one big harvest all at once, plant a row or two and wait a week before you plant more.

How to Plant

Look at your seed packets for instructions on how deep and how far apart to place seeds. Follow those guidelines, but also be aware that you can plant seeds closer together in containers than you do in the ground.

If you’re using starter plants (young plants that have been grown already and just need to be put in the garden), carefully remove them from their pots, put them in the soil at the same height as they were in their original pots. (Tip: Tomatoes can be planted deeper to develop more roots.) Water the ground or container immediately after planting.

Maintain Your Garden

Make sure your garden gets enough water throughout the season. Check daily by putting your finger in the soil; if it feels dry, you need to water! The garden will need more water in the middle of the summer when it gets very hot and/or windy. Containers need daily watering, sometimes twice a day in really hot weather.

Water early morning so plants dry out before going to “bed” at night.  This helps prevent diseases and fungi from spreading. Pull any and all weeds that you see!

Fertilize your in-ground garden by mid-summer and your containers once a month from June through August.

Harvest Your Vegetables

You can check the seed packet to determine the number of days from planting to harvesting, but the plants will usually let you know when they’re ready to harvest. Most tomatoes are ready when they are bright red unless they’re meant to be yellow or other colors. Root veggies will begin to “pop” out of the soil when they are ready to pick. Beans and peas should be harvested when they’re firm and medium size. They get tough when they get too large. Lettuce can be cut at any size, but if you leave half the plant more leaves will grow. By mid-summer lettuce starts to flower and gets bitter, so try to complete your harvest by then. Watch your squash and cucumbers closely! They grow fast and need to be picked before they get large. Similar to lettuce, they’re not so tasty when they get huge.

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With plenty of sunshine, water, and a little fertilizer, you will be ready to harvest by mid summer. Have fun and prepare to eat delicious veggies!

If you have specific questions, please call the C.S.U. Denver Extension office at (720) 913-5178.

Five Nature Activities to Do With Children in Winter

Want to share your love for nature and plants with children this winter? Here are five activities to spark curiosity, teach and amuse.

Adopt an insect-eating plant. The Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is fascinating to watch as it traps spiders and insects for its meals. This animation explains the process.

Start a worm farm. It’s a fun way to learn about the composting process and add to the garden later in the year. All that’s needed is a plastic lined or wood box with a lid, vegetable scraps, shredded newspaper and a few red wriggler worms. Kept moist and cool, the worms will get to work making valuable compost.  Find full instructions here.

Plant a terrarium or fairy garden. Assemble a collection of small plants in an open-topped container or create an imaginative, kid-friendly scene with structures and characters – perhaps a park for superheroes or dinosaurs! Children love to play in the dirt, so this makes for great hands-on learning of planting basics. Stick to easy to grow, petite plants and add a bottom layer of pebbles if using containers without drainage holes. 

Feed the birds. Gather some pine cones and tie a string to the top of each, slather with peanut butter, then roll in bird seed. Hang in a nearby tree and watch the feast begin.

Sprout an avocado pit. Stick the perimeter of an avocado seed with toothpicks and suspend it, rounded side down in a glass of water. Watch for roots followed by a green shoot. Avocado is a fast growing plant and will soon need to be transplanted into soil.

What nature activities do you do with children?

Images:  Bing Images (Royalty Free)

Written by: Linda McDonnell, a Denver County Master Gardener

 

 

Slow Food Helps Grow Kids

An important part of the children’s garden was helping kids connect to nature by learning about the colors and magic of fruit. Other beds were filled with all the plants needed to make salsa, a nutrient scavenger hunt and salad greens as an equation for success.

There was a lot to love about the Slow Food Nations festival in downtown Denver over the weekend.

The celebration of local, organic and sustainable foods included free food tastings offered by Slow Food groups from around the world, educational programming and vendors selling to the thousands of foodies that attended the event.

But one of my favorite displays was the children’s garden, located on the sidewalk just north of the Taste Marketplace.

In this series of raised bed gardens, kids had the chance to get their hands dirty by exploring gardens filled with fruits, vegetables, herbs, grains, and flowers.

One of the premier gardens included a sample of the modular Learning Gardens, created by The Kitchen Community. The Kitchen Community’s mission is “Community through Food” and it accomplishes that goal by building outdoor classrooms on school playgrounds around the country, including Denver and Fort Collins. There are more than 400 to date.

The customizable gardens are designed to fit into each school’s landscape and become part of the educational process. As a teaching tool, the gardens help students learn about growing and eating nutritious foods and gaining healthy habits to hopefully last a lifetime.

A bowl of dried corn and a grinder were placed next to a bed of corn plants. Kids were encouraged to try their hand at turning corn into a grain for cooking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Low Tunnel garden bed introduced kids to the the concept of helping plants grow before and after summer. Books on year-round gardening surrounded the bed as resources for kids and their parents.

 

 

In addition to all the herbs, fruits, and vegetables, there were beds of flowers to promote planting for pollinators. A sensory garden helped kids see, smell and feel the benefits of plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Jodi Torpey
A Denver Master Gardener