Fine Arts & Science Classes - Exploring the Earth’s Recipe for the Food we Eat.

A few seeds, a little soil, some compost, a few worms, a ray of sunshine and a splash of rain together create the Earth’s recipe for the food we eat. We are fortunate to have a beautiful deck just outside the classroom with several large garden boxes, a compost container and a home for our Red Wiggler worms. The children have been diligent in saving their vegetable and fruit peelings both to feed the worms and to put into the compost for our garden boxes. The children are fascinated with both the worms and the compost. We have been exploring both.

The Red Wigglers

 

It  was discovered that the worms need to eat too.
The children took turns adding cabbage, carrot peelings,
celery and broccoli into the worms “home.”



We then took a closer look and the children were amazed at what they saw:
Little white baby worms and lots of eggs - very interesting!

 

 Gently does it...looking for the baby worms.

“We found some!” “Look at that!”

Excitement very quickly traveled through the children and they all wanted a turn!

“Look at this!” “There is a worm on the celery!”

The questions came all at once. “Why do we have worms?” “Does the garden need to have worms?” “Will they have more babies?” “Why are the babies white?” “Do the worms bite?” All the questions were answered and the children learned that the worms slither through the dirt, eating debris and discharging it as castings, a rich natural fertilizer. As they move through the soil, the worms create a network of tunnels that allow water and air to filter in. This helps the plant roots to breathe and grow.


The Compost

 

Looking inside the compost container the children noticed soil,
paper and vegetable peelings. “Ugh! It smells nasty!” “I don’t like that.”
Just some of the comments the children made.

Some of the children wanted to add to the compost.

 Compost dripping “tea.” The “tea” will be used to fertilize the garden boxes.

The Garden Boxes

It was time now to prepare the garden. First the children had to clean out the box. They discovered that a very small carrot was still in the dirt. What a delight for them to find. Then it was time to gather some pebbles to prepare the soil for proper drainage.

 

 With trowels and small shovels in hand, the children happily dug up some pebbles.

 

 Preparing the garden box with trowels, dirt and pebbles.



Transferring the soil, everyone had a turn and they just
wanted to keep digging!

What happens next? “I want to plant some seeds.” “I do too.”

A few days later we closely examined some bulbs with our hands and magnifying glasses - of course we also had to smell them! It was decided we would plant some iris bulbs and watch them grow.

 Each child had a turn to plant.

A little shoot was noticed.

We will continue to observe our garden. Last fall wheat and garlic were planted and to everyone’s delight they are growing well. We will continue our studies with the planting of scarlet runners. I wonder what the children will choose to grow in their garden boxes this year? Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Happy Gardening!

~Joanne