For Friends that have become Family
Dallas County Master Gardeners from The Raincatcher’s Garden at the Craft Fair
For a place to garden and share
Midway Hills Christian Church-The Site of our New Raincatcher’s Garden
For a time to sow and a time to reap
Chow Chow, Mustard Greens and Turnips
Harvest Blessings to You !
Everything by Starla!
“Dear Mrs. Jones, Thank you for the best field trip ever! It was awesome! Thank you for helping us make seed balls. We had so much fun!!!!!”
First graders from Lakewood Elementary had a five exclamation point (!!!!!) assessment of their field trip to the Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills.
One hundred and fifty pairs of sneakers never stopped from the moment they hopped out of four school buses on November 3rd . Every 15 minutes, timers took the students to another station: seed balls, real live clucking chickens, wiggly red wigglers, “name that vegetable,” herbs and compost. Elizabeth Wilkinson, Cynthia Jones, and Annette Beadles organized the field trip.
“Dear Raincatcher’s Friends, I love you! I love you! I love pumpkins!”
Annette compared the circumference of pumpkins—and first grade volunteers. Cynthia showed students how to roll, mash, divot, and taco-fold clay, soil and wildflowers to make seed balls for their school.
Dear Garden Friends, Thank you for a great time! I love my journal!
Jan Larson assembled 150 journals and sharpened pencils, one for each child. They carried their journals all day, making notes at each station.
The field trip was even the topic of discussion at a Lakewood hair salon. Jan was telling her stylist about the field trip, and a young woman in the next seat joined the conversation. “Are you talking about the field trip to the Raincatcher’s Garden?” At Jan’s nod, the mom said she was a chaperone on the field trip and remarked that it was “amazing.”
With some tears, the Lakewood visitors returned to their classrooms, long-used “temporary” buildings outside an old East Dallas school in need of major repairs. The forty master gardener volunteers, including DCMG board members, might have kept these thoughts from Rachel Carson in mind:
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”
Elizabeth
Pictures by Starla, poster pic by Cynthia
Listen to Dorothy! I always do! Here’s our fall tomato report:
We have talked about green tomatoes almost as much as red, ripe tomatoes:
Ann
Video by Starla
Lakewood Elementary sent 157 children and 36 adults to our garden on Tuesday.
Cynthia, Denise, and Gary Greeting our Guests
With super organization and passion, we were able to introduce the glories of gardening to each of these little students.
Follow Glenda to Your Next Garden Station
Students learned about pumpkin math, vermicomposting, growing vegetables and herbs, chickens, composting, and took home “seed balls” they constructed. Blooms begin next spring!
Denise Giving Brussel Sprout Lessons
Each child is special to us. Thank you, Lakewood Elementary, for sharing your first graders with the Master Gardeners at The Raincatcher’s Garden.
Ann
Pictures by Starla
Field Trip organization by Annette, Cynthia, Elizabeth, Lisa
Some of our regular volunteers had family/friends in need and were not able to be with us. You were missed, but we understand. See you next time!
After the Field Trip we enjoyed lunch by Judy and Elizabeth and here are the requested recipes:
MINI POPPY SEED HAM SANDWICHES
Prep: 10 min Cook: 20 min Serves: 12 people
Ingredients:
24 slices of deli honey ham
6 Slices of swiss cheese, cut into fourths
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/2 cup butter melted
1 tablespoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 packages (12 count) KING’S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls
Preparation:
1. Cut rolls in half and spread mayo onto 1 side of the rolls. Place a slice or two of ham and slice of swiss cheese in roll. Replace the top of the rolls and bunch them closely together into a baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together poppy seeds, dijon mustard, melted butter, onion powder and worcestershire sauce.
3. Pour sauce over the rolls, just covering the tops. Cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for additional 2 minutes until tops are slightly browned and crisp. Serve warm.
BROCCOLI SLAW CHICKEN SALAD
1 rotisserie chicken- debone and shred. Set aside
Crunchies:
2 pkgs. chicken flavored ramen noodles crushed. Flavoring pkgs. set aside
3/4 cup a sliced almonds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3 Tbsp. margarine
Sauté all in a shallow skillet, over med. heat, stirring until golden brown
Dressing:
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
In small pan combine both and bring to a boil stirring until sugar dissolves.
Add:
1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper
1 cup vegetable oil
2 flavor packets from ramen noodles
Refrigerate until ready to serve
Slaw Base
2 pkgs. broccoli slaw
8-10 green onions clean and thinly slice. Set aside
1 bell pepper chopped
Set aside
When ready to serve combine all four components in the needed amount making sure to shake/stir dressing. Reserve rest of ingredients separately because the crunchie parts will get too soggy. Enjoy!
Judy
FROSTED MOLASSES COOKIES
Yield: 3 dozen cookies
COOKIES:
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (4 oz) molasses (Grandma’s)
2 ¼ cups (15 ¾ oz) sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cups (12 ¾ oz) King Arthur Unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
FROSTING:
¼ cup (1 ½ oz) meringue powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 cups (12 – 16 oz) glazing sugar or confectioners’ sugar
1/3 to ½ cup (2 5/8 to 4 oz) cool water
For the dough: Heat the butter, molasses, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over low heat, or in a bowl in the microwave, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove from the heat and stir in the spices. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Beat half the flour mixture into the melted butter mixture, then the egg. Stir in the remaining flour mixture. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour until firm.
To Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
Shape or scoop the dough into 1 ½” balls, a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2” between.
Bake for 13 minutes; they’ll still look soft and won’t have changed color much. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely. They’ll become crisp as they cool.
For the frosting: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add 1/3 cup of cool water and the vanilla, and stir or beat on slow speed. The mixture will seem had and lumpy, but the sugar will dissolve after 4 or 5 minutes and everything will smooth out. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition, to achieve the consistency you desire. For a smooth, shiny glaze, the icing should be the consistency of molasses. For colored icing, add food coloring or coloring paste a drop at a time. Use a pastry brush to paint the frosting over the tops of the cookies; you want some of the nice craggy cracks to show through. Place on a rack for several hours to let the glaze harden and dry.
CARAMEL CHOCOLATE OATMEAL BARS
Yield: 32 cookies/bars
BASE:
2 ¼ cups (9 5/8 oz) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups (7 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats
1½ cups (11 ¼ oz) light brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, soft
1 large egg
FILLING:
1 1/3 cups (14 oz) caramel (from jar)
1/3 (2 5/8 oz) milk
TOPPING
1 ½ cups (9 oz) semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup (4 oz) chopped nuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease (or line with parchment) a 13” x 9”-inch pan.
For the base: In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix at low speed until combined. Add the softened butter a chunk at a time with the mixer running. (Butter must be soft.) Once all the butter is in, add the egg, mix, scrape the bowl, and mix for another 30 seconds.
Put half the mixture into the prepared pan. Spread it evenly in the pan, then cover with plastic and use the bottom of a loaf pan to press it into place. Peel off the plastic and bake for 10 minutes, until set.
For the filling: Combine the caramel and milk and heat, stirring frequently, either in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave in several 2 minute intervals, stirring in between.
To finish: After you take the base out of the oven, sprinkle it with the chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle the caramel mixture over the chips and nuts, and sprinkle the remaining base mixture over the top. Bake for 25-28 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars.
Elizabeth
At The Raincatcher’s Garden we are offering not only our regular 4 activity station field trips, but also shorter, monthly-themed lessons w/follow-up activities that are based upon connections and the cycles of nature. We began tracking these patterns with ”September: Change is Coming” anticipating the turn of the season in the fall garden and planning ahead for spring wildflowers.
Keeping w/in the monthly theme is “October: Harvest, the Last Hurrah” in which we introduced our pumpkin unit, Pumpkin Circle, the Story of a Garden by Mary McKenna Siddals & Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons. The title encapsulates the content of the book perfectly. By studying life cycles, we learned about the “seed-to-seed” story of a pumpkin, then, related that to the “seed-to-seed” story of the entire garden.
Pumpkin Class is in Session
Pumpkins are historically & culturally significant; they were originally domesticated in North America (9000 year-old-seeds have been found in caves in Mexico) and continue to play an important role in holiday celebrations from Halloween Jack-o’-Lanterns to our traditional Thanksgiving feasts complete w/pumpkin pies, breads, muffins.
Children also love pumpkins for their variety of colors and sizes, some of which are so outlandish and unique. We even created our own “Pumpkin Patch” with specific samples of pumpkins, gourds, and squash.
Factoid: Did you know there was a website with video of Libby’s canned pumpkin that details how “pie pumpkins” were developed specifically for their 16 oz cans? Or, that our beloved tradition of carving Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins comes from an old fable about a mean, stingy man named Jack who, after his death, was doomed to roam the world carrying a carved-out turnip illuminated by glowing coals, hence, the name Jack-of-the-Lantern or Jack-o’-Lantern?
The most popular of our varieties, hands down, were our gnarly, orangey-green-colored Native American Squash, weighing in at almost 30 pounds, slightly less than the weight of our smallest 3-year-old visitor from The da Vinci School, and the Knuckle Head Pumpkin, a warty orange oval that raised the “Ick Factor” for ugly.
As part of our study of the Scientific Process we used our carving pumpkins for “Pumpkin Math” – estimating & measuring (number of seeds, circumference, weight, lines/creases), recording data (individual charts for ESD Primer class & volunteers’ results for our 3’s & Pre-K groups), then reporting & analyzing our results. Using standard & non-standard measurements, we also compared our weight in pumpkins, estimating first, then using our trusty bathroom scale, & guessing our waist measurements, then tape-measuring to compare that to the circumference of the pumpkin.
Pumpkin Math with Master Gardener, Mrs Beadles
One child reported, “I weigh 4 carving pumpkins (8 lbs each) + a Cinderella Pumpkin + a Fairy Tale Pumpkin!” Many of our 3-year-old and Pre-K visitors had smaller waists than our sample pumpkins which averaged 24-27 inches. After all of the slicing and dicing and eviscerating was done, we separated seeds and pumpkin goop. And, we still had survivors which eventually fell to the carving knife.
Pumpkin Goop and Pumpkin Carving with ESD students
Later, we enjoyed a treat of toasted seeds (pepitas) and Elizabeth’s delicious pumpkin mini muffins. Our young visitors returned to their respective schools excitedly reporting these facts and more to anyone who would listen.
Annettte
Pictures by Starla
More about Pumpkin:
Creamy Southwestern Pumpkin Soup
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”
Rachel Carson
Field trips to The Raincatcher’s Garden are designed to increase that sense of wonder about our natural world. Dallas County Master Gardeners assisted Grace Academy Second Graders as they made their very own journals to write about what they see, feel, and touch in the garden.
As you know, we spend quality time with worms and learning about vermi-composting!
Worms are masters of composting. We also teach traditional composting methods.
Metamorphosis, cocoon to butterfly is studied and the science of host plants and nectar stations is seen first hand in our butterfly garden.
Ann
Pictures by Starla
Favorite quote by Cynthia
Consider this an introduction by Dr. Dotty Woodson for our class Thursday. We are looking forward to installing our rain cisterns at Midway Hills Christian Church and teaching the how-tos so that you can set up rainwater harvesting at your home or office and save water.
Date: Thursday, October 15
Time: 10am-12noon
Place: 11001 Midway Road, Dallas, Texas 75229
Who: All are welcome!
Cost: $10 per person
Rainwater Cistern Installation Class
10 am-12 noon, Thursday, October 15th
Location: Courtyard at 11001 Midway Road, Dallas, Texas 75229
Cost: $10 at the door
Our Rainwater Harvesting training will prepare you to catch the rain that runs off your roof and utilize it for your landscape.
Dr. Dotty Woodson, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Water Resources Specialist, and Tony Rizo of Organic Options, Inc and an accredited Rain Harvesting professional with American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA), will demonstrate how to set up a rain catchment system for your home or commercial building.
You will learn:
Checks for the $10 fee should be made payable to DCMG.
The class will also qualify as Master Gardener education hours.
In case of rain, please check dallasgardenbuzz.com for further information.
October is here and we’ve been fortunate to have some sunny days, cooler weather, and an opportunity to garden at Raincatcher’s. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we moved from our Joe Field location.
We are blessed to be able to partner with Midway Hills Christian Church. The winter was filled with planning, building, composting and planting trees.
Spring brought much-needed and bountiful rain and the beginnings of our gardens, the transition of the courtyard, as well as some opportunities to cook for others and share our new location.
Summer came and the rain slowed, but our plantings were starting to take root and we have had our first harvests. So now it’s Fall, and it feels like Fall with the buzzing of bees, the flutter of butterflies, the chatter of students on field trips, and vegetable crops transitioning from summer to winter.
Episcopal School of Dallas field trip studying pumpkins
The demonstration grasses are coming through, the wildflowers have been prepared and planted and we are setting up the color wheel and planning for the “Under the Powerline” possibilities.
The Color Wheel is Beginning to Take Shape
The monumental task of the irrigation is almost complete and the water tanks have arrived and will be installed next week. Oh what a busy year it has been; many hours have been logged by the Master Gardeners who call Raincatcher’s home.
I wanted to take time to thank the amazing leadership team who has made this happen in one short year, (or at times very long). Your leadership has inspired us to dream big and then plan to make it a reality, to not be afraid to ask, to join with others in the community, and to share our gifts.
The teamwork of all who work at this garden has been phenomenal. We all have had opportunities to be challenged to make this the best demonstration garden that we can offer to the residents of Dallas County.
Starla’s Serendipitous Ladybug Picture
The ladybug nailed it! We love Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills. Come and see what’s going on for yourself.
Starla
Details about our Rainwater Harvesting Class on Thursday morning, October 15th will be on the blog tomorrow.
Exciting things are going on at the Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills – It’s now Fall and the irrigation is almost done – thanks to many hours of trenching, laying pipe, setting up the drip beds — the children are coming to the garden and exploring the area we have set aside for wildflowers, learning about vegetables, compost and the flowers that inhabit our butterfly areas — And we have had our first sighting of a tagged butterfly!
While out in the butterfly area, a small round dot was seen on a monarch that was feasting on some lantana. After closer inspection with the help of my trusty zoom lens on my camera, I realized that this butterfly had been tagged for its trip down south this winter.
A Butterfly From Kansas Visiting our Garden
Not exactly sure of what to do, I researched information about the Monarch Watch and the efforts to tag them. Turns out the process is relatively simple. Get the information from the tag and email it to the address or the phone number located on the tag, including the Number that is assigned to the monarch, the date and location spotted. I was able to send a picture, but that is not required.
After a couple of days, I received an email back from Kansas University stating that the information was received, but they were unable to tell me where the butterfly was originally tagged because the tagging information has not yet been submitted. Hopefully we will hear about our little guy making it all the way to his destination — and then back again.
Keep your eyes out and your camera ready for these exciting visitors to our area and our gardens. You may have a part in documenting their journey.
Starla
DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ 