An Urban Garden Grows More than Vegetables

“Are there worms in there?”

“Ewwww…did you put them in there?”

“What do I do if I find one?”

“What sort of tools are we using?”

“We have to use our hands?!  But what if I touch a worm?!”

The students and I stood around our newly constructed garden beds preparing to begin planting.  Up to this point the group, consisting of three fourth-grade girls and one fifth-grade boy, only expressed excitement about beginning their urban garden.  The garden is part of our lunchtime mentoring program at the Marshall Elementary School in which fourth and fifth grade students have the opportunity to work on long-term projects that incorporate reading and writing.  For the last several weeks, they had been reading seed packets and writing supply lists in preparation for our planting.  The preparation also involved our AmeriCorps State team braving through a very rainy day of building the beds, shoveling compost and carrying heavy crates of soil.

Now that the students were actually standing around the plots, they understood two new things: there were worms in the soil (which they might have to touch) and they were going to have to get their hands dirty.  The group split in half and the two girls in my group were assigned to planting peas.  The other half began planting spinach with Zach, the AmeriCorps member assigned to the school.  As I demonstrated how to dig a one-inch deep hole and discussed proper spacing, the girls seemed reluctant to put their hands in the dirt.  The initial plunge was accompanied by squeals and giggles but once the initial shock was over, they were digging rows of holes quickly, adding seeds and refilling with dirt.

By the end of lunch, their dirty hands and newly planted garden beds were a source of pride, even though there were a couple ruined manicures.  And they only found one worm.

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