Many school children in Butte County may soon be using their school gardens as living laboratories, engaging in science while planting, growing, and harvesting vegetables, thanks to the Butte County Master Gardener Living Lab Program.
The Master Gardener School Garden committee used this past summer as an opportunity to revisit its purpose and mission. The committee agreed that the school gardens are essential living laboratories for children, giving the students opportunities and tools to explain and evaluate the things they see. The title Master Gardener School Garden Program morphed into the Butte County Master Gardener Living Lab Program. Currently there are six Master Gardeners working with teachers at Citrus and Little Chico Creek elementary schools providing lessons aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Helping to create and support school gardens in our local community is part of a long history of introducing school kids to healthful eating through science and gardening. The school garden movement began in Europe and crossed the Atlantic in the 1890's. The first American school garden was established in 1891 at the George Putnam School in Roxbury, Massachusetts. This movement grew swiftly: by 1906 the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that there were 75,000 school gardens in the United States (James Ralph Jewell, Department of the Interior, 1907). School Gardens became essential during WWI and WWII as Victory Gardens, providing fresh fruits and vegetables for the home front as part of the war effort. The movement waned during the 1950's when America's technological advances took center stage, but in the 1970s the environmental movement brought with it a renewed interest in school gardens. Teachers began to promote ecological awareness through engagement in gardening activities.
In 2006, California passed Assembly Bill 1535, the California School Instructional Garden Act, supported by the state's First Lady at the time, Maria Shriver, among many others. Out of this legislation grew the School Garden Network, a 501c (3) non-profit organization. The School Garden Network consists of many state agencies, private companies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations that share the mission of building and sustaining school gardens throughout California. Interested educators in the state support students' opportunities to see exactly where their food comes from – literally building the experience from the ground up.
Through the School Garden Network, students learn about the food they grow and are given opportunities for making healthier food choices. Healthier food choices lead to better nourishment, and better nourishment leads to better health. Through their participation in this program, classroom teachers can integrate science, math, reading, environmental studies, nutrition, and health in a real-life, hands-on learning lab. This interdisciplinary approach supports students' observation, thinking, and communication skills [all Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)], while also creating an inclusive, engaging learning community. In fact, one goal of the School Garden Network is to build community spirit by linking together students, teachers, school staff, parents, and local businesses and organizations through a common goal.
Clearly there are tangible results to be achieved from this collaboration. Research shows that student involvement in garden activities can:
- Boost academic performance
- Improve social skills and behavior
- Enhance nutritional preferences, and
- Increase self-esteem.
Master Gardeners are also available for on-site consultations on school garden projects (both short-term and long-term). Master Gardeners can help plan and develop strategies for most aspects of a school garden, including:
- Site selection & construction
- Soil preparation (or refer you to a soil testing lab)
- Plant selection & seasonal planting themes
- Water management & irrigation systems
- Plant propagation
- Garden maintenance
- Recycling & composting methods
- Pest management
- Garden-related student activities
Sources:
Jewell, James Ralph, “Agricultural Education Including Nature Study and School Gardens,” Bulletin, 1907, No. 2. Whole Number 368, Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior.
“A History of School Gardens … And How the Model is Getting A Boost Today from Foodcorps,” UC Food Observer. MAY 6, 2015
Plant Sale!!! The Master Gardeners will hold their Fall 2021 Plant Sale on October 30, from 9am to 1pm at the Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch (10381 Midway, Durham). Along with the Plant Sale, there will be two free workshops: “Gardening with Natives” at 10am, and “Berry and Grape Gardening” at 11am. No registration is required for these workshops; Covid safety protocols will be followed.
UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu (preferred) or call (530) 538-7201.
- Author: Laura Lukes
“I want them to all feel like they know how to grow food,” says Vicki Wonacott, describing the fundamental goal of the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County School Gardens Program.
The classroom visits commence in the fall, when days are becoming shorter and cooler: a perfect time to explore some horticultural basics indoors. Lessons take place each month except December, following a logical progression, and culminating with outdoor planting in the spring. Here are the details:
PLANT PARTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS: With help from the Master Gardeners, children draw the plant parts on paper, identifying the xylem (vascular tissue that conducts water and dissolved nutrients upward from the root) and the phloem (vascular tissue that conducts sugars and other metabolic products downward from the leaves). This leads directly into a discussion of photosynthesis, that miraculous process by which plants make their own food by converting the light of the sun to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. This lesson culminates in a very clever teaching approach, as the kids eat each of the plant parts they have identified: carrots for the root; celery for the stem; spinach for the leaf; broccoli for the flower; cherry tomatoes for the fruit; and sunflower seeds for the seed.
THE NEEDS OF A PLANT: This experiment highlights the five components a plant needs to thrive: soil, water, light, air, and space. In each of six disposable cups, a radish seed is planted. In Cup One all five needs are met – this is the Control Cup. Cup Two contains soil, but is given no water. Cup Three also contains soil, but is covered against the light. In Cup Four, the seed is planted in pure clay, so the seed receives no air. Cup Five does not contain any soil, but the seed is watered. And in Cup Six, so many seeds are planted that they are too crowded, and don't have space to grow. The kids watch and water (or not) their cups twice a week for the next four weeks and record what is happening by charting (drawing) what they observe. After four weeks, they show their results and what they have learned.
WORMS: The contributions of worms to soil health are highlighted, accompanied by adults singing and acting out the Wormy Wiggle (another catchy tune). Students build a worm hotel: a clear plastic container is lined with another, leaving approximately one inch of soil on the outer circumference. Moist sandy soil is added, and food is placed on the top. With this device, the kids can observe the worms doing their work of eating, tunneling, and effecting decomposition of organic matter. While they are not being observed, the light-sensitive worms are protected by sliding a paper sleeve over the outer container.
PESTS AND PALS / POLLINATORS: This lesson focuses on insects that act as pollinators, beneficials, and / or pests in the garden. After learning about the various roles insects play to help or hinder plant health, the class is taken outside to play a game of Treasure Hunt. They search for evidence of bugs, or try to find the bugs themselves.
GARDEN MAINTENANCE / PREPARATION FOR PLANTING: After the indoor explorations and experiments, it's time to plant seeds in the outdoor garden beds! This usually takes place in March, so that the crops can be harvested before school lets out for summer. The seeds chosen to plant have high success rates and lower maintenance requirements. They must be able to sprout, grow, and be harvested within the school year.
The value of lessons like these, taught by dedicated volunteers who want to see kids succeed, and which are age appropriate, exciting, and effective, cannot be overstated. The kids get excited when they see the Master Gardeners enter the classroom because they know it is time for “science class.” One child, who during regular school lessons has difficulty staying still and paying attention, recently said “I really like it when you guys show up, because I never get in trouble.” Plus, he's learning how to grow food.
The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs. Our mission is to enhance local quality of life by bringing practical, scientifically-based knowledge directly to our community. To learn more about the Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Laura Lukes
One of the ways the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County serve our community is through their School Gardens Program. Currently this program serves four schools, reaching 300 children a month in a total of twelve first-grade classrooms. (Before the Camp Fire, the program served eighteen classrooms).
The Master Gardeners' School Garden Program has since grown into a collaboration between the UC Master Gardeners, local elementary schools, and CalFresh, part of California's Nutrition Education Program. Plant starts are provided by local community-supported agriculture farm GRUB (Growing Resources Uniting Bellies), and previously also were supplied by the Plant Barn nursery. All of the schools involved are defined as “underserved” and many, if not most, of their students qualify for reduced or free lunches. It is important to note that the Master Gardeners' School Garden Program is just one of many local programs focusing on bringing agricultural knowledge and hands-on experience directly into schools.
What is the ultimate goal of the School Garden Program? Wonacott hopes to instill within these children a love for and connection to the earth; to teach them that they can grow their own food; to lure them away from electronic screens; to engage them, delight them, and show them how fun science can be through teaching how plants function; and to encourage in each child a sense of self-direction and empowerment.
The lessons are designed specifically to “hook” the kids – grabbing their attention, and appealing to their imagination and as-yet-unjaded sense of wonder. To do this, lessons are age-appropriate, clear and simple, fast-paced, and often entertaining (for example, the performance of the “Wormy Wiggle” song and dance is unforgettable!). Master Gardener volunteers visit each classroom for one hour every month and get the kids outdoors to plant, grow, observe, harvest, prepare, and eat nutritious food.
CalFresh shares these goals. This state-sponsored nutrition program helps provide healthy food to low income families, with an emphasis on fresh and locally-grown produce. Both CalFresh and the Master Gardener Program headquarters are housed at the University of California Cooperative Extension office in Oroville, and the two programs share a coordinator, Karina Hathorn. The School Gardens Program benefits from that relationship through access to funding for, or direct provision of, curriculum, books, and other garden education supplies. Each teacher who participates in the School Garden Program can obtain classroom supplies that fall within approved CalFresh lists. CalFresh provides curriculum and other resources to interested schools within their five-county service area.
Wonacott's love for the earth and its bounty was developed early in her life by her father, an amateur naturalist who loved to garden. Her own passion for gardening is infectious; she notes that the classroom teachers love the School Gardens lessons as much as she does, noting “We have to turn teachers away.” There is a core group of six or seven dedicated Master Gardener volunteers who work in the schools each month; most are committed to a particular school. Wonacott says the classroom visits require at least two volunteers (preferably three), plus an engaged and committed participating teacher to make each lesson engaging and worthwhile.
The carefully-devised science-based lessons are inspirational and impressive. Our next Real Dirt article will focus more squarely on the classroom lessons, along with Wonacott's ambitious goals for the future of the Master Gardener School Garden Program and for the bigger picture of all school garden programs in our area. Schoolchildren in our county are lucky kids indeed!
To learn more about UC Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
Photo credit: Bok Choy: JS [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]