Wee farmers take root at Millcreek Elem.

Millcreek Elementary is growing a crop of eager farmers who this fall will nurture their new little gardens from planting to harvest.

“Every day we’ll take time to come out and make sure they’re watered and check on them,” said first-grade teacher Kristina Blair, whose third-graders did a similar project in the spring.

With colorful plastic watering cans in tow, her students filed outside and plopped down on a picnic blanket to learn about container gardening from Mary Witt, a volunteer with Fayette County Farm Bureau.

“Most of these kids believe their food comes right from the grocery store,” Witt said before the class gathered. “A lot of the children have never seen greens or lettuce in the ground with roots on there. They’re not in the kitchen with Mom or out in the garden with Grandmother.”

Her one-hour goal: to introduce various seeds and fresh vegetables and “hope they can get their hands a little bit dirty.”

Mission accomplished.

 
Witt had brought along two helpers – Carrie Johnson, executive director of the local Farm Bureau, and greenhouse grower Butch Peyton – to show off freshly picked banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, green beans and asparagus.

Peyton also had a bucket of Pro-Mix potting soil, which he buys by the truckload for his farm. Harvested from bogs in Canada, Pro-Mix is made of decayed plant matter. This artificial soil also allows for better drainage.

“The best part is you don’t have to worry about weeds in it,” Peyton told the kids.

For her young audience, Witt categorized the garden plants based on the edible part: leafy vegetables (spinach, chives, kale, collards), root vegetables (radishes, beets, carrots, onions), buds (broccoli) and seeds (green beans). She also allowed the kids to sample lettuce, cauliflower and other fresh produce.

Besides new foods, the garden project exposes children to new experiences like digging a hole to set a plant, fertilizing it, watering it and watching it grow.

Their teacher also ties the gardening into classroom instruction. For instance, the morning of Witt’s visit, Blair took roll by asking the children to name their favorite vegetable, and they practiced math by noting how Millcreek had three container pots in the spring and added two more this fall for a total of five pots.

The hands-on gardening also will encourage the children to work together, help them connect with stories about farms and reinforce the importance of a nutritious diet. Blair, who had a camera in hand on Day 1, plans for her class to make a scrapbook along the way.

Witt noted how the bright-eyed youngsters are fascinated by the whole process.

“They remember those little seeds being so fine and tiny, and then to see a plant actually come out of the soil – it really surprises them,” she said.

Did you know?

Fayette County Farm Bureau picked Millcreek Elementary as its pilot site and hopes to expand its school gardening projects. Farm Bureau also helps with the Farm to School network in Fayette County Public Schools and offers a free agriculture literacy conference for teachers each June. In addition, teachers can borrow a model farm complete with tractors and animals for classroom instruction.

For more information, contact Carrie Johnson, executive director, Fayette County Farm Bureau.

From FCPS.