The WHRI school garden clubs have been full of life and activity this year. I work primarily with the elementary schools, other farmers work with our 3 middle schools, and have had the pleasure of observing the young gardeners antics. Here are a few of my favorite tales of small gardeners....
The Garden Club at Sul Ross Elemenary consists of some of our most enthusiastic gardeners. At this school we work with 2 groups, one of 2nd and 3rd graders and one of 4th and 5th graders. All of our Garden Club students have been involved in a number of enviable activities from petting goats and rabbits to pulling bright orange carrots out of the ground and snacking on a variety of fresh treats. One day the often overlooked joy of weeding was enough to lure a group of kindergarteners away from recess and over to the garden fence. One small girl, nicknamed Flaca, sweetly asked if she could "stick her little hand through the fence and pull some weeds."
We have kept a few things growing in the school gardens through the winter, primarily lettuces, carrots and onions, but mostly we are planning for the spring. One cold day at Doris Miller we took a seed catalogue so that the students could select which plants they wanted for their garden. We are trying to emphasize student ownership of the gardens and saw this as another way to include them in an important decision process. Students took turns gathering around the catalogue and coming to a consensus on seed varieties. Some students made their selections based on pictures while others insisted that I read through the descriptions of each variety. The greatest debate came in the melon section when a group of boys could not decide between the largest watermelon variety and one that boasted sweetness. The argument was settled when J proclaimed "bigger doesn't mean it tastes good."
The West Ave. Elementary Garden Club also been doing a lot of planning and dreaming about the spring. On the last day of the fall semester before Christmas we took the kids a pecan pie, made of course from WHRI pecans, and fair trade hot chocolate from the Village Store. We all enjoyed this treat together over a conversation about what they wanted to plant this spring. Many of the suggestions came from fruits and things that the students liked to eat, which was great. However we were even more excited when individual students made suggestions from things that they had experience planting. One student, E, told the group about how she had planted sunflowers at her home and had even harvested and either eaten or replanted the seeds. I asked E if she would lead Garden Club in planting and harvesting sunflowers and she enthusiatically agreed. We see gardening as an avenue for empowerment and leadership in our students and you could see on E's face that she felt these effects.
We have kept a few things growing in the school gardens through the winter, primarily lettuces, carrots and onions, but mostly we are planning for the spring. One cold day at Doris Miller we took a seed catalogue so that the students could select which plants they wanted for their garden. We are trying to emphasize student ownership of the gardens and saw this as another way to include them in an important decision process. Students took turns gathering around the catalogue and coming to a consensus on seed varieties. Some students made their selections based on pictures while others insisted that I read through the descriptions of each variety. The greatest debate came in the melon section when a group of boys could not decide between the largest watermelon variety and one that boasted sweetness. The argument was settled when J proclaimed "bigger doesn't mean it tastes good."
The West Ave. Elementary Garden Club also been doing a lot of planning and dreaming about the spring. On the last day of the fall semester before Christmas we took the kids a pecan pie, made of course from WHRI pecans, and fair trade hot chocolate from the Village Store. We all enjoyed this treat together over a conversation about what they wanted to plant this spring. Many of the suggestions came from fruits and things that the students liked to eat, which was great. However we were even more excited when individual students made suggestions from things that they had experience planting. One student, E, told the group about how she had planted sunflowers at her home and had even harvested and either eaten or replanted the seeds. I asked E if she would lead Garden Club in planting and harvesting sunflowers and she enthusiatically agreed. We see gardening as an avenue for empowerment and leadership in our students and you could see on E's face that she felt these effects.
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