A Wonderful Weeks End

Friday was a good day. We had some relief from the chilly weather this week with a beautiful sunny afternoon and some excited young minds in the garden. Our first grade class came out with tons of energy so we started off drawing and measuring the young seedlings that are starting to come up in some of our beds. They drew while we talked about what types of things make our tiny plants turn in to big edible plants. Things like sun, water and rich soil. We also talked about what roots do for the plant leading in to an activity where everyone got a chance to get their hands dirty. In small groups we transplanted our volunteer lettuce sprouts in other beds into our lettuce bed; first digging a small hole in our lettuce bed while talking about how delicate young plants are, then carefully lifting out the sprout with roots and soil intact and finally placing it in our new hole and filling in around it. This was a great opportunity for the kids to see a sprout in its entirety, roots in the soil and leaves in the air, as well as practice the gentle touch needed when dealing with plants in the garden. Every time the kids come out into the garden I am amazed at their retention of information. The more questions we ask them, the more eager they are to provide answers. All in all, the week ended with yet another wonderful gathering of eager young minds to explore the miracles of life from the dirt.