“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.

This program brings how-to horticultural knowledge to first-graders in four of our local elementary schools. Why first graders? According to Wonacott (a retired elementary school teacher), at that young age children are easy to engage, they retain their sense of wonder at scientific phenomena, and they are just plain fun to work with. In addition, the School Gardens Program imparts basic biological and botanical information. For Wonacott, this is science teaching at its best.

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:

SEEDS: Together, the kids and the adults (Master Gardener volunteers, school teachers, and classroom aides) soak lima bean seeds to soften them up so they can pull them apart to examine the inner parts. The magic here is that visible within the seed are the seed coat, the leaves, and the root; the seed halves will provide food for the new sprout when it grows.

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.

SOIL: After a discussion of soil constituents (sand, silt, clay, and humus), students make their own soil by loading each of these components into a quart jar, filling it with water, shaking it, and watching it settle out into layers. This leads to discussion and exploration of ideal combinations for plants.

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.

One of the best memory aids is singing, and there is a catchy tune with lyrics to help remember these plant essentials, titled The Needs of a Plant Chant. It goes as follows: For a plant to stay alive, it needs five things so it can thrive. It needs water so it can grow. And it needs soil down below. Plants need space, they can't be tight! The sun helps plants by giving light. Don't forget to give plants air. Repeat the needs if you dare: water, soil, space, sunlight, air, AND DON'T FORGET THE LOVE!

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.

Although summer vegetables are some of the easiest to grow, they are not suitable for school gardens, because no one is there to tend the gardens during the punishing heat and drought of our summers. Instead, the focus is on fall and winter vegetables. Great success has been achieved with leafy greens such as bok choy, lettuce, kale, and chard. The tendency of these plants to bolt is turned into a lesson on how to attract and provide sustenance to pollinators. Carrots have not been successful, but peas have. Wonacott wants to add pumpkins to the planting list: they can be planted in spring and harvested just in time for Halloween.

A TAKE HOME GARDEN: In the past, the program has culminated with a field trip to the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch. Unfortunately, the cost of busing and other logistics have now made this trip difficult to accomplish. Instead, students build their own miniature garden to take home with them: they make paper pots, fill them with soil, and plant two with veggie starts and two with seeds. Squash, sunflower, and watermelon seeds have been the most successful.

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.