We could have said that this garden was a complete success, judging by the bounty of vibrant vegetables and flowers. We could have declared it a success because we won prizes for doing this project and everyone said how wonderful it was. It was featured at the County Fair. We were photographed holding up certificates.
But here is what really happened and how I learned from it. First off, all four of us "garden ladies" applied for and received the grant to do it and then put in steady work setting up the beds in the punishing heat of August, keeping the irrigation running, growing the seedlings to transplant, keeping the supplies in order, doing cooking groups with some of the classes, and with others, doing fun and interesting botanical lessons in the outdoor classroom. We really wanted to make a difference in this 'food desert' and teach kids that their food comes from the earth. We were as idealistic as twenty somethings out to save the world.
Quite early on it became apparent that no one in the school, except the kids, was very interested in doing gardening. We were not Alice Waters with a built in school population of Asian kids who already knew they loved vegetables. Our kids did not eat or like many vegetables, they "forgot" to come to the garden when it was their turn. When they did come, the teachers regarded this time as a fun little activity and they seemed totally incompetent about growing anything , incurious for the most part, and left the garden strewed with trash, all the tools helter skelter, and the irrigation system askew. They let the kids put plastic into the compost.
No teacher ever thought of replenishing the fertilizer that we used to water the vegetables. No teacher ever pulled up a weed (what's a weed?) They had no idea about how to grow stuff! And we should have forseen this and conducted a gentle gardening/botany class for them. If you know about something, you have interest in it. In this I would say we failed miserably. We assumed too much.
But the biggest thing was that this whole school was intensely focused on FCATs. As the worst school in the county by the numbers, they were working, working on pretests, post tests, anytime tests to get this school up to scratch. We did not understand the burden of this. And this was the first major mistake we made. We kept wondering why in the world the science teacher would not give the garden a minute of her attention. Why didn't the scheduled classes show up? They had no time.
The school community coordinator, the second one in a year, was generally unhelpful, though she tried.
We also learned that kids need a lot of time outdoors in a garden. They love to dig and play in the mound of topsoil. They love to pick things. They love to think about keeping the butterfly feeder full, and they love bugs and frogs and worms. There were several kids from one class who came out regularly on their own to water and plant. What a joy to find them there!
We learned that we needed to really teach some of the adults about how to grow stuff. For us seniors, it seemed so obvious, but many of these young teachers have no idea about growing anything because maybe everything worth knowing comes in 140 characters - or no one ever showed them. We needed to do more, much more, to teach these folks about gardening, and then pass on the responsibility to them.
We tried to have presentations about the garden for staff meetings, but it became abundantly clear that we were wasting their time. Eventually, the cooking groups, which were popular, stopped because we could rarely access our cupboard of pots and supplies. On vacations it was a major effort to get access to the garden to water it. Nothing was ever easy.
This week. we are pulling up the spent veggies, sending the last of them home, removing the irrigation system, covering the beds with hay. We hope the families who tried to grow their very own earth boxes - with some success-will take them home. We are serving watermelon to the kids who show up to help with this. And the school? All they say is "Have you checked with the administration about serving melon? Someone might be allergic!"
Next year, next year.. Oy.
The thing is we are still idealistic and think about what changes we can make. I am thinking that if this school still retains the same administration, bound to a testing system that is going nowhere, maybe it is time to move on. Maybe just down the hill to the preschool.
In my fantasy life, I think of how great this garden could have been if the school folks could have seen what amazing learning happens when kids are outside learning and doing hands-on, and it is thought of as valuable. Maybe the whole concept of harvest to table, and how to do it, could work. Just maybe those scores would rise if kids could do something real and productive.
I have learned a lot this year doing this project. We have been saddened and we have felt unappreciated except by the kids, and I guess that's what it really is all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment