April 15 2013.
The summer squash at Lakewood elementary school have grown huge. We had two classes out in the garden today. The children where very excited to see how large the food had become. One squash was over a foot long, so we let the second class take the squash back to their classroom.
The cucumbers are growing big as well, but have not and probably will not reach the same size as the squash.
The corn is almost four feet tall now. It is amazing to see corn grow so well in this little local garden. It is very important for the children to be around corn due to its controversial presence in the United States regarding it as the number one cash crop and also its use as fuel.
The image on the right is a baby pineapple that is just starting to grow. Pineapples grow very slowly, so now that we see them in the garden it is very exciting.
We taught the children about the different seasons today and which plants grow in which season. This lesson can get slightly complicated to teach in Florida because the weather does not change that much from season to season. To teach this lesson we had the children draw different plants from the different seasons. We also walked around the garden to see the giant squash and talk about the plants that were producing a lot of food right now. It is always rewarding to see how excited the kids get about the lesson. They really try hard to learn and participate in the activities. It is wonderful that the children get to have a small portion of their class outside in the fresh air and
warm sun. Few things smell better or feel finer then
a garden right after it has been watered with the
sunlight glowing on the plants allowing them to
grow.
Professor Curtis came out to the garden today and spoke to the kids about the garden as well as reminded them of the importance of compost.
By Lia Nydes
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