Mr. Hank's Corner 12/10/18
- Bella Mente Charter
- Dec 10, 2018
- 4 min read
So how do we build healthy soil? How do we keep food out of the landfill and help combat greenhouse gasses? Well a solution to this problem can be with compost, that’s how. We here at BMMA are working towards creating a closed loop system in our own school garden and working towards the best practices we can do for carbon sequestration or at least teach our students on this matter.
Composting helps in so many ways and is not really hard to do and once you begin and you can easily do this at home and find out how easy it really is. Plus you get tomatoes too!! Solana Center in Encinitas has composting kits available as well as classes and Food 2 Soil in San Diego creates transforming waste into good healthy soil. Here are links to their Facebook pages for further information.
Why am I writing about composting and showing pictures of heaps and heaps of food waste? Well, in November I attended an amazing event called Food Tank in San Diego. So many amazing minds filled an auditorium from chefs, farmers, policy writers, educators and then they even let me be a part of this. Regenerative practices was a focal point of many of the discussions that day from David Bronner https://www.drbronner.com/ speaking about Regeneratarian diets to Ryland Engelhart speaking of regenerative practices in soil by taking Carbon out of the air and putting it back into the ground. Hence his organization name, “Kiss the Ground”. So building back the soil by the way of supporting its’ biological life is the only way we will be able to have nutrient dense healthy food grown on farms as well as a healthy environment for futures to come. To learn more about what Ryland is doing check out this website: https://kisstheground.com/
What happens though when our populations grow so large and we have to keep finding new ways to grow food when we don’t fix the soil? Some believe hydroponics may be the solution to that problem as well as aquaponics or perhaps even aeroponics. So many ponics, right? Well, ponics comes from the Greek word “ponos” meaning work. So when we look at the water doing the work with the right nutrients then we grow an abundant amount of healthy and nutrient dense food but without soil. This is a great solution to an ever growing problem and Aero Farms in Newark, NJ might just be onto something. This company has converted a 70,000 square foot warehouse into a working farm using less water with a quicker production time and growing over 2 million pounds of food a year. Take a look at some of the things they are doing as they work towards solving both issues of carbon and food insecurity all while in a closed loop system as well. Aeroponics is a technique which mists the roots of the greens with nutrients, water, and oxygen. The aeroponic system is a closed loop system, using 95% less water than field farming and 40% less than hydroponics. Check them out at https://aerofarms.com
Now if you want to listen to some of the most amazing speakers check out Food Tank on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkRaFO8PraE
December 2- 8th was National Handwashing Awareness Week. It has been brought to our attention that many students have been stricken with illnesses and either have been staying home with the flu or just simply spreading germs. So, BMMA fels it is important that everyone either learns how to wash their hands, or just reviews proper ways to wash hands. It is important that children wash their hands coming in from the playground, before lunch or after restroom use. To help everyone reduce the risk of illness teachers that have a bathroom or sink in their rooms will have students wash their hands before they begin morning circle each day.
“Spread the Word Not the Germs” is accompanied with 4 key principles, but I added the 5th principle since many rooms have a sink or bathroom. Here are tips when to wash and also a Montessori video on washing hands you could watch at home together.
Wash your hands when they are dirty and before eating.
DO NOT cough into your hands, cough into your elbow cuff.
DO NOT sneeze into your hands, sneeze into your elbow cuff.
DO NOT put your fingers into your nose, eyes or mouth.
If a student is seen doing something that handwashing is needed have the student utilize the sink in your room to wash their hands immediately before contaminating other items or students.
Finally, when we return in January we will start back up with more “Cooking it Up with Mr. Hank.”
If you are interested here are your sign up links for January, February, and March.
January’s theme is Italian NIghts https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0944afa72aa0f94-italian
February’s theme is Soups & Stews https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0944afa72aa0f94-soups
March is all about Asian Inspired Dishes https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0944afa72aa0f94-asian
Hope to see you at one of these classes.
Comments