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As I prepare to head out for my fourth day in Warsaw, I’m a little hesitant. The confidence I built in the first two days took a hit yesterday as I ventured far from the Old Town, and dang! My feet are tired. I also bought a ticket for a six pm boat ride. Even though I gave myself an hour between lunch? and the time the boat left, I just couldn’t make it happen. Can you believe they don’t put the Metro number on the outside of the stations?
I walked down into no fewer than three stations, but never did find the number 2! So I ended up having to take an Uber. That means I’ve walked, taken buses, an Uber, and a boat to get around this city. I may try the Metro today; I think I learned something yesterday. But then again, why get any farther out of my comfort zone?
Only by walking do I catch the name of Jadwiga’s husband, and the 14th-15th Century King of Poland on a street sign in Stara Praga.
Fun? Fact–Russia occupied this part of the city even before World War II. Learning so much history. Sometimes my brain is full.
I don’t use the bus at home, and we don’t have trains at all. I do love riding the subway in NYC though. So, one challenge is to learn how to read the schedules (in Polish), buy and validate the tickets (bilety), board and exit the bus. I am totally grateful for the technology that smart phones put into my hands.
To add to the challenge, I’ve been using two phones. I had a European sim card put into my old iPhone so I can use it for navigating and texting. BUT, it was running out of battery long before I was ready to call it a day. So, I started mapping the route and taking a photo with my new iPhone 16 and then putting both phones into Airplane mode.
Today I’m going to try what just kind of happened yesterday–use the old phone as a personal hotspot and thus have connectivity on the new phone all the time. When I want to save the battery, I’ll put them both in Airplane mode. I’ll let you know what happens.
Oh! and another thing, don’t be afraid to ask for help (I know, it’s not my favorite). Even when they don’t speak English, the Polish people will find someone nearby who can understand you.
I’ve realized as I’ve been sight seeing that everyone I meet who is my age lived under the Soviets, and people my sister’s age lived under the Nazis. To have lived in a free Poland, they would have to be younger than my son-in-law. This is something I’ve been considering as I meet people, like the woman in the book store that pulled up the Warsaw Rising Museum on her laptop for me.
Here I am in Warsaw, exploring largely on my own. It’s challenging for this Libra to have unstructured time on her hands. Decisions are hard sometimes because all the options look good. Or at least good enough. Yesterday I read this post about the month of Leo; it helped me get my bearings and tap into my store of courage. I like this blog and the products from Moon Phase Studios in the United Kingdom. See if the hints and journal ideas resonate with you.
Mermaids are big here. There are a few stories; explore them here. They all include her capture by a rich man who wanted to profit from her beautiful singing. I prefer the story of her solo escape, though she may have had help from the fisherman who loved her despite her interference in their trade. I love this sign in the Old Town of Warsaw.
And this one.
And isn’t this just the right story of courage? Swimming up the Vistula River from the Baltic Sea, making good trouble by releasing fish who were destined for the dinner tables of the wealthy.
I also love this earliest image of a mermaid in Polish lore, made in 1390, while Jadwiga still reigned in Poland and Lithuania.
I’ve learned a lot about navigating on my own, walking through the city to find the remnants of the Jewish ghetto, and then getting back to a bus stop. I happened on this impressive sight toward the end of my first day.
Saxon Garden is a huge park that I’d compare to Central Park in NYC. It’s the home of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and a beautiful and famous fountaiin. So many people walking, playing and biking.
My map took me through the park, and into Saski business and retail district, and there I found the remnant, theatres and skyscrapers.
I met the challenge of getting back to our apartment without cell service, and discovered a few things about technology along the way.
I’m ready to head out for my third day exploring this vibrant city. Unfortunately I slept too late to get the fine breakfast in our Guest House (pictured here yesterday), but there’s no shortage of cafes with beautiful pastries and delicious cappuccinos. On to COFFEE!
Travel is exhausting but it doesn’t compare to the grueliing ordeal our ancestors survived when they immigrated to the United States.
We were a proud sponsor of the Iowa Farm & Food Celebration. In Grinnell on Friday, June 13, the event featured farm tours, delicious local eats, and connections with food system organizers and educators.
The day began at Grinnell College with a panel discussion of issues facing the local food system in Iowa. After a lunch featuring locally produced foods, we participated in Farm Crawl in the afternoon visiting Compass Plant CSA, Middle Way Farm, Prairie Produce, and Grinnell Farm to Table.
Across the state nearly 35,000 kids celebrated the first annual Iowa Kids Garden Day, hosted by 100+ locations! At Next Step Adventure, we have been organizing and coordinating this work for almost two years, and it was gratifying to see it all come together.
My favorite story was when I visited a celebration at Irving Elementary in Waterloo. A boy planted a row of bean seeds and was asked to water them using a small pail of water. The boy was quite hesitant exclaiming, “I have no experience with this! I’ve never watered anything in real life, just in games on my phone!” A minute later, he successfully poured water over the seeds.
Iowa Kids Garden Day celebrates children and educators growing and eating delicious food. This annual statewide celebration is coordinated by the Iowa Farm to School & Early Care Coalition. Join us next year on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 by visiting https://www.iowafarmtoschoolearlycare.org/iowa-kids-garden-day
Spring is in the air, and with it comes the irresistible urge to get outside and explore! What better way to combine fresh air, learning, and fun than with a garden scavenger hunt?
Just download and print the Garden Scavenger Hunt PDF. Clipboards and pencils are helpful. Kids can mark off items as they find them, and add their own ideas to the back.
Whether you use the scavenger hunt with your own family, or a large group of kids through Iowa Kids Garden Day, happy hunting!
While you are garden planning, don’t forget to check out other gardening curriculum from Next Step Adventure: K-5 Garden Planning, Planting, & Celebrating; K-5 Farm to School Lesson Plans, and K-5 Teachers Going Green lessons. Garden yoga is always fun, too. All are aligned with the Iowa Academic Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
We’ve been working on this for months, and we finally get to share it with everyone – Iowa Kids Garden Day registration is open here!
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 (or anytime in May!)
Save the date for Wednesday, May 21, 2025, and celebrate Iowa Kids Garden Day! School and ECEs are encouraged to host an event, joining with others across the state to celebrate children and educators growing and eating delicious food.
Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Location: Schools, early care centers, and community organizations across Iowa
Activity: Planting or caring for a garden
Questions? Email [email protected]
At our core, we believe in the power of growing together—whether that’s through planting seeds, cultivating relationships, or creating lasting change within our communities. That’s why we are so excited about our work with the Iowa Farm to School & Early Care Coalition, a collaborative effort that has been laying the groundwork for a healthier, more sustainable future for Iowa’s children.
The Iowa Farm to School & Early Care Coalition brings together schools, early care programs, farmers, government agencies, and community partners to foster connections between local food systems and young learners. The work we do helps to strengthen these partnerships, encouraging kids to explore where their food comes from, build healthy eating habits, and understand the importance of sustainable agriculture.
For many months, we have been working behind the scenes to coordinate a new statewide event in partnership with the coalition. On Wednesday, May 21, we will celebrate the first annual Iowa Kids Garden Day—an exciting event that will bring Iowa’s children, educators, and farmers together to celebrate the joy of gardening, fresh food, and learning.
Sites are asked to register to put their site on the map. Registration will open on March 5th, 2025 for schools, early care sites, and community organizations. At each site, coordinators will organize a variety of gardening activities for children and educators.
Iowa Kids Garden Day Every is an annual celebration occurring on the third Wednesday of May. Join us in bringing recognition to the people and programs providing these innovative, hands-on learning opportunities. Learn more about hosting a site in your community!
Last month Ashley M and I enjoyed a lunch meeting at the Trellis Cafe at the Des Moines Botanical Garden with Stephanie Harrington, Natural Resources Program Coordinator with ISU Extension, Polk County. Stephanie trains ISU Master Gardeners to work with school gardens. She does lots of other stuff as well.
She’s been looking for the Teachers Going Green curriculum for a couple years. And she’s had requests from teachers. The lessons haven’t been available for several years, but NOW THEY ARE!
And they are even better than they were before. Ashley updated them to a format similar to the lessons Sara developed for Waukee Schools a couple years ago. Those lessons empower teachers to use their extensive school gardens to teach the science curriculum.
Kids can learn science concepts experientially, while they’re getting outdoors, and learning about healthy food.
Since we developed the first Teachers Going Green lessons in 2009, the Iowa Core was changed to become the Iowa Academic Standards. Ashley combed through the standards and existing lessons to make sure they align.
She also reviewed and evaluated the lessons we’re now making available to you, for quality and clarity. We’re proud to say they come up to the standards you’ve come to expect from Next Step Adventure.
Teachers Going Green lessons for Kindergarten through 5th Grade are available for you to download HERE, free of charge. They are organized by the subject their Academic Standards align with–
We’re excited to offer this new resource to you for your classrooms and other programs. Please take the opportunity to share it with your colleagues and friends. And let us know how you’re using it, and how it works.
Kids and dirt go together, well like dirt on kids. These two kiddos are collecting roly polies in our raised bed garden. June has worked these beds since before she was one, but now she’s six, and her interest in gardening is overshadowed by dance, first grade, and playing pretend. Still, yesterday, she picked a Jimmy Nardello pepper and ate it all up. When kids grow their own food, they’ll eat it!
This is our very October garden with compost cage, volunteer pumpkin and squash. We still have potatoes and carrots to harvest. But our garden is only my personal part of Next Step’s contribution to the Farm to School movement. And the movement has really picked up steam in Iowa over the last several years. Next Step developed Teachers Going Green beginning in 2009 to help teachers connect gardening with the Iowa Academic Standards.
Since then we’ve worked with local schools in Des Moines, Waukee and Iowa City to name a few. Our focus is on the education–We developed School Garden 101, also for Keep Iowa Beautiful. We plan to make the Teachers Going Green lessons available on our website in the near future, with some updates to reflect changes to the Education Standards.
Sara Lockie and the rest of the team train teachers and other youth professionals to work with kids in the garden. One important thing to remember is that it’s not about the plants. It’s about the kids.
But we’ve branched out from developing activities and lessons to coordinating Iowa State University’s Farm to School & Early Child Care coalition statewide. These efforts will expand the Farm to School movement far beyond the reach of Next Step Adventure alone. This year they’ve set goals to develop resources and better access to already existing curriculum.
So join us in celebrating Farm to School month by listening to this podcast from the National Center for Appropriate Technology, imagining how YOU can help connect with local food, and have fun doing it.
