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Organic Gardenings Going to School

February 13, 2014

by guest blogger Ethne Clarke, editor-in-chief, Organic Gardening Within the past f ew weeks, organicgardening.com did something even more amazing that usual. We posted Dig, Plant, Grow! a curriculum designed to assist teachers who wish to make an edible garden f or their schools. School gardens are an asset that should be part of every learning system, and in the past they of ten were. But like school orchestras and outdoor recess, they f elt the cut of the budget knif eor were spurned by the altered expectations of educationalists (f ormerly known as teachers.) But everything is cyclical, and I recently read that our local urban secondary school is supporting El Sistema to bring music back into its curriculum. T his program uses music education as a catalyst f or social change, believing it can, dramatically change the lif e trajectory of hundreds of thousands of a nations neediest kids. And PBS just ran a program about how school principals are commissioning the nonprof it Playworks to bring recess and games back to the school day. It turns out that if you let kids blow of f some pent-up energy (and anyone whos sat at a desk f or seven hours a day at age 10 will know what that f eels likeit used to be called ants in the pants), it can boost their concentration and academic perf ormance. In short, music and playtime are good f or young minds. Which brings me to gardening. A f ew years ago it was reported that in healthy, organically managed soil there exists a soilborne bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, that triggers the release of mood-enhancing, anxietydecreasing serotonin. Add to that the f act that most digging in the soil is done in the open air on sunny days, and you have a recipe f or good health. In Organic Gardenings terms, the equation is: healthy soil = healthy people = healthy planet. So it was with great happiness that, in 2010, I began working with teacher Meredith Hill and her seventh-grade English class f rom the Columbia Secondary School f or Math, Science, & Engineering to help them learn about organic practice, composting, seed sowing, and growing. T he kids were researching the topic as part of an

English lit program f ocused on f ood and sustainability; they wrote their reports, and with guidance f rom OGs editorial team, produced a magazine, FRESH! YOUNG VOICES ON FOOD AND SUSTAINABILITY . You can read the articles that we produced with Meredith about the class experience, and what she learned herself and how it benef ited her teaching agenda, at the f ollowing: Why School Gardens Matter Composting is Awesome Editors Letter Its been a rich experience f or all concerned, but most prof ound was coming to the understanding that school gardens serve a purpose beyond getting childrens hands in the dirt and connected to the good f ood they can and should eat. A school garden is a teaching asset that of f ers numerous lessons in a myriad of subjects. And thats the gardens value to teachers. Because without good teachable content, a school garden is just a warm, f uzzy f eeling, and its care and maintenance just one more job on a teachers already-heavily-burdened agenda. Another consideration that some regard as a stumbling block: What happens to the garden when school is out f or the year? Obvious answer: T he garden can be lef t to run to seed, which in ef f ect means it is prepared f or the next class to ready it f or clearing, digging, composting, sowing, and cropping. Or it can become a honey pot, drawing kids and their f amilies to it over the course of the summer breaka destination that of f ers the shared pleasures of f ood, of connecting with the earth and each other through teamwork, and of mutual nurturing, f or as the seasons turn and the garden rejuvenates, it becomes a f ocus of hope and happiness and promisef or f uture generations.

To download a f ree copy of the Organic Gardening edible school garden curriculum, visit organicgardening.com/dig-plant-grow. We hope that these ideas will bring an understanding of gardening and f ood systems to young people who can in turn build a sustainable f uture f rom the ground up. Ethne Clarke is editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening, the leading magazine resource f or an organic approach to home, f ood and garden. Charged in 2009 with the revitalization of the cornerstone publication of the 72-year-old Rodale publishing company, Clarke led a highly successf ul redesign and editorial repositioning of the brand that every year since has accrued important industry awards, including the prestigious Best Magazine Redesign in 2010 f rom MIN and most recently a Folio Eddie award. Originally f rom the Midwest, Clarke lived in England f or 30 years and trained there as a prof essional gardener; she is

popular internationally as a speaker on gardening subjects, and the author of some 20 books on landscape history, design and practical gardening, including Infinity of Graces: Cecil Pinsent, an English Architect in the Italian Landscape; Hidcote: The Making of a Garden; Herb Garden Design; Art of the Kitchen Garden; and English Cottage Gardens, all of which have been published in the United States and Great Britain.