Eating fresh fruit and vegetables daily is part of a healthy lifestyle.
Even the Obama White House has a community garden. In 2009 Mrs. Obama invited fifth graders to help plant a community garden on the White House grounds as part of her fight against childhood obesity. As reported in The Washington Post, the first lady stated that "world leaders ... from Prince Charles on down ... were excited we were planting this garden." Participating in community garden activities is an ideal year-round project for the students in your classroom as well.
Planting Seeds & Growing the Seedlings
Show your students the use information in plant catalogs and the growing instructions on the back of seed packets to find the planting and seasonal directions for plants they wish to grow in a class community garden. Some suggested indoor plants include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes and melons. Divide the class into six groups to plant one of these six types of seeds. For each group, provide seeds and three recycled milk carton bottoms 2-inches to 3-inches deep, filled with prewatered soiless potting mix. The students can typically plant most seeds 1-inch apart and two to three times as deep in the soil as the seeds are wide. After planting the seeds, have the students place plants that need lots of light on the sill of a south-facing window or use fluorescent lighting instead.
Have your students water and fertilize the seeds as they grow into seedlings. Before watering the seeds, test the soil with a finger to see if ½-inch of the top soil is dry; use a watering can with a small spout to gently water the soil. The students can fertilize the seeds every 10 to 14 days using only 1/2 the recommended dose of fertilizer for a full-grown plant.
Transplanting Seedlings
When the leaves of the seedlings begin to grow, the students can transplant them in the community garden, following the instructions on the seed packets as to spacing and depth; have them tend them weekly. Before transplanting, help the seedlings adjust to outside by taking them outside about three hours the first day and placing them in shade, increasing the time outdoors by two to three hours each day until they are out for a full day.
Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are cool weather plants and can be planted before the last frost in the area. Tomatoes, peppers and melons are warm weather plants and can be transplanted only after frost is gone. Take the seedlings to the community garden and provide each group with spades. Have the students use spades to plant their seedlings following the suggested instructions; then water their plants. They students can visit the garden as often as possible to water their plants and pull up any weeds.
Harvesting & Donating
Your students can harvest the plants according to the recommended instructions for each plant. Have them share their harvest with others, including classroom visitors and the local food pantry. At the community garden, provide your students with spades and plastic tubs. Your students can gently dig up each vegetable or fruit, rinse it off and place it into the tub. In your classroom, have the students rinse off the produce again and place them on paper towels to dry. Refrigerate all perishables.
Decide on the produce to donate to the local food pantry. Food pantry workers can come to the classroom and talk to the students about the pantry and pick up the harvest, or have your class take a field trip to the food pantry to donate in person. Have a taste-test by cutting some of the plants into sections so that each student gets to try each type. If you have enough leftover produce, the students can choose a soup or salad recipe to make at home and bring in to share with the class.
Creating a Class Book
Use the photos of your activities to create a class book. Have your students take a picture of each student participating in an activity such as: planting and tending the seeds, transplanting and tending the seedlings, harvesting the produce, talking to the food pantry workers and cooking or eating the harvested plants. Give each student a picture and a page for the class book and let them write a caption for the activity depicted and any other favorite community garden activities. The students can place photos on the title page and make a title for the book (e.g., "Our Community Garden Project"), then add a back page. The students can put the book together by first hole-punching each page and connecting them with yarn.
Display the community garden project on your back-to-school night. Make a bulletin board with photos, seed packets and pictures with captions made by the students. Provide a "buffet" of the freshly harvested vegetables for your visitors if you like.
Tags: community garden, food pantry, each student, seed packets, class book, community garden activities