CMA Garden Club
Grown to a different Beet
We are proud to offer a free interactive program where children and parents can practice gardening in a hands-on environment using aeroponic systems and dirt-based techniques. Learn about the growth of food and flowers, insects, and seed saving. We will discover harvesting and explore how to use what is harvested to make delicious homegrown food. So please wear something you can get dirty in, and join us at Garden Club!
The CMA is grateful for Whole Kids Foundation and Scotts Miracle-Grow Foundation grants to engage children, ages PreK-10, and their families in edible educational gardening using containers of and three aeroponic systems from Tower Garden by Juice Plus.
Join us for the Inaugural Garden Club to help set up the aeroponic tower systems on May 6, 2023, from 10 – 11:30 am. Registration is limited to 10 families. Sign-up below.
Learn more about Aeroponics
These hydroponic grow towers were donated by the Whole Kids Foundation, for the CMA to demonstrate different food growing processes. Hydroponic growing is a process where the roots are suspended in air and water trickles through the suspended roots. A pump pushes the water from the bottom to the top of the tower, where it falls down onto the roots about every 12 minutes, like a waterfall. The water used contains a chemical nutrient solution, created to have all necessary nutrients for plant growth, making them grow up to 30-50% faster than traditional methods. In the Summer, hydroponics can be used for heat loving crops, and in the Winter greens are a great crop for these towers. Things like lettuce, Bok Choy, and flowers to attract pollinators all grow well in hydroponics during the Winter.
Learn more:
https://www.towergarden.com/aeroponics
https://www.towergarden.com/grow/lesson-plans
About the Gardener
Hello, my name is Allison and I grew most of the plants on display at my house from seed. My passion is growing food, flowers, and herbs and teaching others to do the same. On Saturdays, we have instructional segments where I share simple lessons about gardening and cooking. Then, we look for and fix any problems that are occurring in our example garden with families that come, fertilizing, pruning, and harvesting together. These gardens are meant to educate us on what growing food actually looks like. We practice growing food, harvesting and using the food, as well as memorizing what times of the year what can be planted. (Timing is key to a great harvest). We are so often disconnected from where food actually comes from, and what it looks like, that I wanted to include displays of some of our favorite foods to eat, like peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and greens. The hope of this program is to share a love of eating fresh, local food, and to become a beautiful place for pollinators to thrive. In an increasingly concrete world, we have lost many pollinators who aid in food production. I hope to meet you on a Saturday here at the museum. If you have any questions or comments about the garden, you can contact me at Intern@cmalaf.org.
All the best,
Allison Gerardino
