Thanks to all

[Jack Daniels]

Thanks to all that help with our middle school garden project. I bought seeds from the vendors with good forum reps and asked for seeds via the forums. This is the first year the school had a garden project. They have gotten several grants and local help to get it off the ground. A California company came out and planted a 30 tree orchard with 5-6 varieties of fruit trees. Earlier in the year they discussed selling vegetables for a fund raiser. The school district decided that selling “bad” vegetables might open liability issues. I suggested selling heirloom tomato plants, they agreed, and the hunt for seeds was on.

Before the Christmas break, we discussed what would need to be done to sell plants and when they would need to get started. When they returned from the break, things started happening. I must say, the last few months have been a very interesting. Germination problems, drowning problems (“It’s Friday, lets give them lots of water so they can make it until Monday”), potting up problems (“Hey teacher, what do I do when I broke it in half?”), and the most interesting of all was the labeling problems.

When we did our first inventory for our first sale, the names of the tomatoes plants were very unique. We decided not to guess at the variety and just label them “mystery”. Our biggest selling plant of the year was the “heirloom mystery tomato plant”. Since it was a fund raiser, the people understood how these things happen. They liked the idea that it was an heirloom tomato, but they would have to wait a few months to see which one they bought. They started out small this year and were shocked at the success they had on selling heirloom plants. The first sale was 75-100 plants and lasted 15 minutes. The second and last sale was around 150 plants and lasted 30 minutes, I think next year they will have more available. They raised a little over 500 dollars to keep the project going.

With the extra space they have at school, they plan on planting 10-20 tomato plants and save the seeds for next year. This will bring them full circle on the tomato plant.

Once again, thanks to all that helped with this project.

Glenn

[stormymater]

oh that is a great story! I admit I'd be sorely tempted by the “heirloom mystery tomato plant” label! Congrats! Many little mouths awakening to what a fresh vegie is & the joys of science too!... and math (calculating plots, amounts of mulch, compost).... & chemistry (pH, N, K, Po4)... & ... it warms my heart, that old applied learning it does.

[Ruth_10]

With the extra space they have at school, they plan on planting 10-20 tomato plants and save the seeds for next year. This will bring them full circle on the tomato plant.

That's great. I really like that. Most school programs don't take that last step, which, as you state, brings them full circle.

[PaulF]

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the lack of caring and the refusal of teachers to go the extra mile to educate their students. You prove that this is not true. Good job with some out of the ordinary teaching methods. I'll bet there are lessons learned in this process that will stay with those students for life. If the parents of those kids don't say thanks, I will. THANKS!!

[Sherry_AK]

Good job! Last summer we attended a workshop here on Agriculture in the Classroom. There are LOADS of materials available for teachers. My husband is a substitute teacher and he's always looking for small lessons on ag to work into his classes. This sounds like an excellent program!

Sherry