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A Summer Camp for Kids in Need
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Food Regulatory Guild annually volunteers time and expertise to a local Elementary School Community Learning Garden.
Every classroom at the Elementary school generally had 60 minutes a month in the garden and together the various grades plant and harvest vegetables, flowers and seeds that are later enjoyed by the students, sold to raise funds for the school and/or donated to worthy community groups.
Experiencing the magic of seed, soil, water and sun becoming a tiny plant is a lesson in itself, and one not soon forgotten. Tending the tiny plant teaches responsibility and teamwork. It provides an opportunity to bring science, math, social studies, and language to life through hands on learning.
Learning to appreciate the wonder and power of nature is the core of an environmental education in sustainability. Planting a seed teaches about the need to protect our natural resources— clean soil and water for the plant to grow so that we can have clean air to breathe and nutritious food to eat.
The fundamental law of the farm is that growing a garden takes responsibility and good teamwork. If you don’t water your garden, your plants will die. If you don’t weed the garden, the weeds get worse and you have to work harder later to get the job done. Children learn how to be responsible for taking care of something, and learn through natural consequences when they don’t do the work. Watching their garden grow is the sign of their success.
Gardens provide a wealth of opportunities for kids to get their hands dirty while learning their lessons in all curriculum areas. Learning plant anatomy and botanical life science is just the beginning. Young scientists can experiment by changing variables in the garden (such as watering frequency or plant spacing).They can collect growth data weekly, chart their data, and write up their analyses and conclusions. The garden is a double blessing. It lets them enrich their curriculum lessons while also providing an opportunity to teach nutrition when students sample their harvest. Children are much more likely to taste a vegetable that they have grown—and vegetables always taste better straight from the garden.
Enter the Garden...
Enjoy the tangible fruits (aka vegetables, flowers, seeds, lemonade) of our labor….
