Come tonight and help make school-garden magic!

Whitewater Middle School students work in their garden

River District News And Updates, by Rich Haag – May 22, 2012

There’s something magical about gardens and farms. I vividly remember my first school field trip in 1955 when we traveled to a dairy farm in upstate New York. I can see the long row of stalls filled with cows and smell the sweet fermenting hay and manure.

I have visited many farms since but still enjoyed walking through the well-used pasture of Rivendell Farms two weeks ago with members of the Catawba River District Executive Board and Advisory Board. We had come to hear from owners Jeffie and Chris Hardin about their 8-acre farm and their work on our behalf with students at schools in the River District.

The Hardins and several River District volunteers have installed vegetable gardens at Whitewater Middle School and Whitewater Academy. The group is supporting similar gardens at four other schools in the district. Our goal is to help students develop a love science, technology, engineering and math while also developing a taste for greens, peppers and tomatoes.

Research and experience at other schools across the nation say that when kids grow stuff, they learn stuff. There is something special about watching life emerge with your help, like squash vines and tomato bushes.

Back at Rivendell Farms, we adults laughed as the petlike goats crowded to the fence at our approach, hoping we would scratch their heads and maybe give them a treat.

I saw similar enthusiasm the previous week while helping Edna Chirico, the River District executive director, lead about 50 seventh- and eighth-graders in planting and watering their new raised-bed gardens at Whitewater Middle School. The kids played and teased each other (“He squirted me first!” a girl told teacher Renee Rohn while the male target of her wet affection feigned innocence). But they also took their gardening seriously. They carefully measured distances between seedlings, mounded the soil to hold in water and gently sprayed their young plants with the garden hose.

One group told me they were growing a Pasta Garden, because everything could go into spaghetti sauce.

A boy who helps with the flower garden at home said he couldn’t wait to taste his own vegetables and to see if he can grow them at home, as well.

This was a blistering hot, dry and windy day. The kids, Edna and Renee took turns spraying down the young vegetable plants. Will these plants survive and bear at least some fruit (or peppers) next fall?

Anyone who has experienced the magic of gardens also has experienced the frustration of weeds, bugs and drought. These gardens soon will face a big challenge. When school ends for the summer, who will make sure that the crops get the care they need?

Hmmm. Interested in making magic?

Come to School Gardens meeting this evening

You’re invited to attend an information meeting on school and community gardens tonight (May 22) at Whitewater Middle School, 1520 Belmeade Drive near the U.S. National Whitewater Center. The program starts at 6:30 p.m. You can see the new gardens, hear about how they help our kids learn and find out how you can help these gardens thrive throughout the long summer. The program will also cover efforts to encourage community-supported agriculture in our area.

• CLICK to learn more about school gardens.
• GET DIRECTIONS to Whitewater Middle School.
• EMAIL Edna Chirico to discuss volunteering.
• READ THAT'S FARMING, Jeffie Hardin's blog about Rivendell Farms