The May flowers are blooming at our site. Here we see the Camas plants that have been in bloom this week at Swinomish. It was a perfect time to be talking about flowers and flower parts in the Plant Biology class. It was also a great time to discuss the plants we utilize for carbohydrates in the Honor the Gift of Food class–tubers, grains and bulbs. We discussed cultivated grains, like wheat and barley, and the Ozette potato as well as the harvesting of wild bulbs, like Camas lily.
For the weekly potluck we had a Beet salad, that was delicious and colorful. A member of the Chenopodiaceae family, the beet is a storage root that we consume for vitamins, minerals and energy. Swiss chard, a healthy green, is also in this family.
While we still have several weeks of the quarter left, time is passing by quickly. Today we spent some time in the sun discussing techniques for vegetation monitoring. We did some mock transects in our living laboratory (aka, the garden). We will be doing transects to collect data at the Port Susan restoration site.
We also are starting an experiment looking at bean growth over time in relation to fertilizer as well as a dry bean variety trial. We will be comparing the growth and productivity of four varieties of 
dry bean that are available to farmers in the northwest. It was exciting to see some new growth and emergence today!
Next week if the Blessing of the Fleet on May 17th , so we will not be having lab. We will be returning to Port Susan Bay on May 24th.