The month of August is a growing season, not just for our plot in the Bremen St. Community Garden, but for our students as well.  On Monday, we joyfully (and tearfully) celebrated Harbor City School’s historic first graduation with more than 50 friends and family members.  We reminisced about where the Tugboats were a year ago, and marveled at that they have accomplished in that time.  After earning their diplomas and singing “The Rainbow Connection,” the graduates had a casual picnic filled with delicious food, play time with friends from HCS as well as other neighborhood schools, and hugs galore.  Check out our Flickr page for photos and video!

We’ve experienced a bountiful harvest from our garden for the past few weeks, and have enjoyed daily snacks that we grew ourselves!  Many preschool-age children, especially those living in urban areas, have limited knowledge about where their food comes from.  When asked where they typically get their food, they simply answer “the store.”  When asked where it was before that, most children reply, “In the back of the store!”  With our plot in the Community Garden, we’re seeking to change those perceptions.  The children are involved in the preparation of the plot, the planting of seeds, and the tending of the plants while they grow.  Many of the Tugboats have learned how to carefully harvest vegetables and can be replied upon to do so independently!  They are experts at cutting leaf lettuce, selecting tomatoes, plucking green beans from the vine, and yanking carrots from the ground!

This week, we’ve integrated their developing knowledge of the garden and plants into the classroom during project time.  The Tugboats are quite familiar with seeds, although few of them identify which plants will grow from which seeds.  One day, we gave each child a piece of paper with a small seed glued to the bottom of the page.  We drew a green line for grass and then set their creativity loose to imagine what plant would emerge from their seed.  The beautiful garden that resulted was amazing!  Some children grew plants in the seedling stage, others drew fully grown plants, and others even adorned their plants with butterflies or bees!  We’ve also been playing a few plant-themed card games.  In one such game, the children turn over cards with objects printed on them.  If the printed object helps a plant grow, they color in a portion of a plant stem on the game board.  If not, they simply discard.  When they have collected all of the objects needed to help plants grow, their flower’s stem is complete!  Another card game, called Find the Trowel, involves a deck of numbered cards (1-20) with cabbages on them.  The dealer hides a card printed with a trowel under one of the cabbages, and the players must guess which numbered cabbage is hiding the trowel.  For some children, this exercises their memories and guessing abilities, while others use the game to practice number recognition.

We’re looking forward to rounding out our summer curriculum with more garden exploration.  Stay tuned!