Growing Great

The Growing Great Garden program is one aspect of the nutrition education organization dedicated to inspiring children and adults to adopt healthy eating habits. With an on-hands learning approach to growing fresh produce, students are exposed to the idea of healthier eating. The garden classes coincide with grade-level curriculum and reinforce ideas learned in the classroom. Each class starts with a short lesson in our school garden "classroom". Then, adult volunteers take small groups of 4 to 5 kids at a time and help them plant seeds or small starter plants per the instructions they received during the lesson.

The Kindergarten, first and second graders are fortunate in that they are able to come back and harvest their crops in late January or early February. Because the spring planted crops are not ready until late summer, the 3rd and 4th graders are encouraged to visit the garden throughout the summer to observe its progress.

• Kindergarten - Based on the book "Tops and Bottoms" - the students learn the parts of the plants and how we will eat the roots of some, the middles and tops of others. Each Kindergarten teacher has read before or will read the book (Tops and Bottoms) the day the kids come to plant. Radishes and carrots are our root plants, broccoli are the middles, and Lettuces are the tops.
• First Grade - The Kids will study the various parts of a plant - seeds, roots, stems, leaves and flowers. They will plant based on this lesson: Peas, carrots & radishes, Swiss chard, lettuce and Broccoli, respectively.
• Second Grade - They will study about the varieties of plants in the "cousins" lesson, and will plant 2 or 3 varieties of each item: carrots, radishes, onions, broccoli, lettuce and peas.
• Third Grade - Three Sisters Garden. Linking to the social studies standards on Native Americans, the garden is a traditional Native American companion planting of corn, squash and green beans. Students plant the seeds in circular mounds with fish fertilizer at the bottom, following Native American custom. The kids learn that plants help each other to grow: the corn stalk becomes the support for the climbing bean plant, the squash leaves provide shade for the soil surrounding the corn and bean plants keeping moisture in longer in the hot sun, and the beans roots provide nitrogen, a much needed fertilizer to help the sister plants grow healthier.
• Fourth Grade - California Rancho Kitchen Garden. Linking to the study of California history, the garden features typical plants found in Mission and Rancho kitchen gardens in early California history. Plants: corn, gourds, beans, squash, salsa ingredients (tomato, pepper, onions, parsley and cilantro) and medicinal herbs.

For more information about the school garden contact, Juliet Geraci at julietgeraci@verizon.net. For more information about the nutrition program or about Harvest of the Month, contact Debbie Hanna debhanna@earthlink.net