Prevent Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

Besides dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are the two most alarming emergencies that we are preventing at our school garden. Dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion, and then heat stroke. Here are some more tips to follow so that your school garden volunteers, families, and students will be safe.

Safety Tips

• Wear wide brimmed hats.
• Wear light colored, loose fitting clothing.
• Rest regularly in shady areas.
• Avoid strenuous activities for long periods of time.
• Drink sufficient water and sports drinks.
• Don't wait to be thirsty to drink.
• Avoid caffeinated drinks, like coffee or soda.
• Avoid drinks that have high amounts of sugar.
• Avoid heavy meals.

Prevent Dehydration

No matter what time of year it is, we are always concerned about dehydration when working in the garden.  Children and adults need to be aware of how much water is leaving and entering their bodies.

Tips to Prevent Dehydration

• Encourage adults and students to replace fluids at a rate that equals the loss of fluids.
• Avoid exposure during high heat index days.
• Work when temperatures are cooler in the day.
• Wear light colored and loose fitting clothing.
• Find shady areas to work in or rest in.
• Take a lunch or snack break in an air conditioned room, even if it is for half an hour.

Make sure to prepare 5 gallon jugs of water, lemonade, and/or Gatorade filled before students and volunteers arrive in your school garden.  Encourage everyone to bring their own refillable bottles so that waste is reduced. Be prepared for those that don't bring their own bottles and bring twice as much as cups as needed.  Otherwise, ask volunteers or students to bring cases of water and Gatorade to share.  In hot weather, buy bags of ice to keep the drinks cold.

Stay in the shade.

Rotate teams to rest and stay hydrated in the shade.

Keep drinks in a shaded, central location for volunteers.

Day 3 Pumpkin Patch Project

On Saturday June 22, the volunteers from Junior League of Las Vegas, Project Dinner Table and Los Vaqueros, returned for one more round to finish the pathways around the planter beds. The planters were filled with topsoil from last weekend.  Now it was time to finish the pathways.

Flagstone was piled at the edge of the agricultural area.  First, volunteers had to smooth out the pathways with rakes.  Was it fog?  No, just dust from raking out the pathways.  Next, volunteers had to wheelbarrow in tons of pea gravel.  The volunteers were pros at this because of all the work they accomplished last week wheelbarrowing tons of topsoil for the planters. Finally, volunteers designed the pathways by laying out the 5 pallets of flagstone and the irrigation lines were put in.

Mr. Lopez, a fourth grade teacher from Gene Ward Elementary, worked side by side with his wife and daughter to make our pumpkin patch a success. Another father and son duo, Justin and Ed, from Los Vaqueros, worked from 5 am to 4 pm two weekends in a row.  This is what our garden is all about.  Families of all ages coming together to promote a healthy lifestyle and sustainable living.

flagstone for the pathways

Fog? Mist? Dry Ice? No, just dust from raking

irrigation

Volunteers: Los Vaqueros, Project Dinner Table, Junior League of Las Vegas

Miko is laying out a design of flagstone.

wheelbarrows waiting for pea gravel

Lily, our youngest volunteer, is entering 2nd grade

Mr. and Mrs. Lopez working together.  Mr. Lopez is a 4th grade teacher at Gene Ward.

straightening out the path for the pea gravel

Day 2 Pumpkin Patch Project

Those dedicated Volunteers from Junior League of Las Vegas, Project Dinner Table, and Los Vaqueros came back on a Sunday at 6 am.  That's right-- on a Sunday and at 6 am-- for another work day to prepare Gene Ward's Pumpkin Patch.

Even though we had over 60 volunteers on June 15 and worked round the clock, there was more pea gravel and topsoil to add to the planters.  So it was time once again to shovel, transport, and rake, in the 110 degree hot, summer sun. 

Footprints in the pea gravel

Fran, teacher from Gene Ward Elementary, is relieved that the wheelbarrowing was done for the day.

Michelle from Junior League of Las Vegas

Gina from Project Dinner Table

Justin from Los Vaqueros

Day 1 Pumpkin Patch Project

What a wonderful summer day to start a pumpkin patch for our school's garden: Jardin Del Sol.  On Saturday June 15, 2013, I opened the school at 5 am for our volunteers from Los Vaqueros, Junior League of Las Vegas, and Project Dinner Table.  The volunteers were eager to enlarge our agricultural planters by combining nine small planter beds into five large planter beds.  What a task this was!


Volunteers dug trenches around the existing planters, removed weeds in and around the planters, moved and added 900 Windsor blocks, and wheelbarrowed tons of pea gravel and topsoil. Volunteers worked in 3 hour shifts.  Some volunteers stayed from 5 am to 4 pm.  That is commitment!

One of the large Planter Beds

Five truck loads of pea gravel

Some volunteers: Los Vaqueros, Project Dinner Table and Junior League of Las Vegas.

Enlarging the planter beds

Herd of wheelbarrows

Yucky weeds!

Huge Thanks to Los Vaqueros, Junior League of Las Vegas, and Project Dinner Table. We couldn't have done it without you.