School, Sioux Empire Farmers Market and Ground Works, Oh My!

I was excited when my mom got home and told me mom a few things happened while I was at school today.

I put my mom to work this morning to make a few phone calls and send a couple emails in the daytime hours while I was at school. My mom likes to make the first contact with people because otherwise it is like I am talking to strangers and I am ok with that I am only 8 and not everyone is ready to be nice to an 8 year old.

Once she knows they are ready to listen to me, then she lets me take over. Believe it or not there are some people in this world that don't take the abilities of an 8 year old very seriously.  

So she told talked to some people about my idea and got a few emails and phone calls back in response.

 

So.. My teacher and my principal are officially on board with my idea!  I have a business lunch scheduled with them and my mom on Monday to sort out the details.

 

Also Joan from the Sioux Empire Farmer's Market has agreed for us to come an sell one day this spring. They are excited about my project and supportive of my ideas. It will be a great deal for them too for us to sell there as well because we will be bringing in our parents and friends and others who hear about the sale to their farmers market right at the beginning of their season. We help them, and they help us! Don't you love that?

Plus Linda one of the main people who are in charge of the Market, will have a booth for her garden at Ag Day too. So I will get to meet them there.

 Here is a link to the Sioux Empire Farmers Market.

 

The official sale date for the Sioux Empire Farmer's Market is yet to be determined but it will most likely be the first or second Saturday in May, I will have to talk it over with my teacher and principal to see what works best.

 

Also my mom got to talk to a guy today named Tim from Ground Works South Dakota. Ground Works is a non-profit organization here in South Dakota that brings gardens to schools. Hayward and Lowell elementary schools have gardens / greenhouses put in by Ground works. The gardens are great because they teach kids about growing just like my project, and lets people who live by the school have some of the healthy food from the gardens.

 

Announcement:

Ground Works is our first official Fund Raising Beneficiary. This means that Ground Works is on our list of a possible three, as a Local Green Cause we will vote to give some of our profits from our sales to. Other causes are yet to be determined and my class will get to vote to see what percent each group gets. That's the plan anyway we will see what happens. I for sure wanted Ground Works on the list they help schools of kids like us, and we can help them.

 

Here is a link to Ground Works

 

Tim was excited to hear about my project and has invited me to a fundraising event on April 23th held at Landscape Garden Centers. There he will tell everyone about my project. I am a little nervous about how many people might be there, but more people will come to our sale!

 

PS. I had my mom type this post for me because there was a lot to say and that is a lot of typing.

Once my friends start the project, they will get to write some posts too.

A Business Meeting

Today I met with Erica from the Washington Pavilion. She had some good ideas for my project.

 

One of those ideas is to get the word out about our sale and our project by having a booth at an event the Washington Pavilion hosts called Ag Day.

Saturday March 22nd. 10:00-2:00pm

 

I agreed that I would love to have a booth at the event to tell people about my project. Here is a link to the event. Hope you can come. It should be a lot of fun. I hope my friends will want to come too, and maybe even help with my booth.

http://pavilionagday.org/

 

The other thing I told you about the day before is the film she mentioned. She told me about a film that will begin showing at the Washington Pavilion at the beginning of March. It is called Watermelon Magic. It is about a girl who grows watermelon with her parents to sell.

Here is a link to their website.

 

http://watermelonmagic.com/watermelonmagic/2-minute-trailer/

 

We talked about how it would be fun for my classmates and I to come see the movie as inspiration for our project, since the beginning of March is when we will most likely start planting our seeds. But we would need to get permission from some people first to make that happen. But I still think it would be a really good idea that we would like.

 

 

 

 

A Beginning

Today I went to Ace Hardware and filled out a donation request form. It sounded like the managers thought Kid's Grow Green was a good idea. Talking to the managers about my plan made me a bit nervous. I think I will need to practice explaining it a bit more.

I also have a lunch meeting with Erica from the Washington Pavilion on Tuesday. It will be at Leonardo's café. I like the fact that the restaurant is named after Leonardo Davinci.

I will tell Erica my idea start to finish, and she said she might have some ideas for my project.
Although I have some groups in mind, I have not decided on specific green organizations to ask to be a part of my event,  I had asked Erica about local green companies who may be able to talk to my friends and I about what they do.  I remember some green groups having booths at the kids engineering competition last year at the Washington Pavilion so I thought she might have some ideas I didn't think of.

She emailed and mentioned something about a film. I will let you know more about that when I learn more.

From a Single Seed Grew a Big Idea!

  

       My name is Allie. In 2011 when I was 6 I told my mom I wanted to have a lemonade stand during our neighborhood rummage sale. She was not excited about this idea. She told me to think of something else to sell, and plan ahead for next year.

 

 

        In the beginning of March of 2013 we planted seeds inside to sprout for our garden in the spring. Because of our weather in South Dakota, we start plants indoors and plant them outside in late April, or early May once the last frost is gone. I like planting seeds, and so my mom and I decided that I would plant extra tomato and marigold seeds to sell in a plant stand during the neighborhood rummage.

 

      I grew an awesome batch of tomato plants, and marigolds that sold really well to those visiting our busy neighborhood rummage sales. I made a profit nice and donated money to a charity.

 

     I had so much fun growing and selling that I knew I wanted to do it again the next year, but this time I wanted my friends to have fun too.  So the idea was born in April 2013 that I would do this with my classmates and friends at school the following year.

    I took my extra plants to school that year in 2013 and gave them to my teachers and classmates and taught them how to take care of tomato plants and how to grow them from seeds.

I then shared my idea for 2014.

 

The idea:

To have kids grow tomato plants and flowers in their classrooms to learn about growing and sustainability.

To have a hands on business experience where we make a product to sell and sell it.

To raise money for a local green causes that the kids who work on growing and selling get to choose what percentage is donated by vote.

To learn about local green businesses and what they do. 

 

Who is involved:

Local businesses who donate materials such as soil, seeds, and growing trays. Our local farmers market who is opening up a space and letting us sell. Local gardeners who volunteer their time to teach students about growing. Hood Magazine who will advertise the sales event and create awareness for the cause. Local green businesses who will educate students on their causes in order to get a percentage of money raised and to grow awareness for their efforts. Parents, teachers, students, friends, neighbors, the general public who visit the farmer's market.

 

Stay Tuned for future developments and updates for the Kids Grow Green Project.