School garden a growing experience
By Margaret Ellis, The Columbian Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The only place some kids have seen a strawberry is at the store.
Now students at Hazel Dell Elementary are seeing berries and veggies in their natural environment with the help of a community garden that seeks to teach them about nature and nutrition.
"I think that there is a major disconnect between kids and where their food comes from," said Caitlin Blethen, who works for the Washington State University Extension Service program that founded the garden.
The community garden, on the elementary school campus, is celebrating its first successful summer at a garden party Thursday.
The public is invited to the event, said Barbara Nordstrom, parent and community coordinator for the school. The program is looking for volunteers to help maintain the garden. There will be activities for children, including making stepping stones for the garden and lessons on how to grow edible sprouts. Master gardeners will be there to give gardening advice.
WSU Extension started the garden with its Food Sense program, a federally funded program that teaches nutrition through gardening.
Blethen, coordinator of Food Sense and the 4-H program, approached Hazel Dell Elementary about the project. She surveyed the area and found a lack of such gardens.
A variety of partners helped out. Clark County's recycling and solid waste department provided landscaping to promote organic gardening and lawn care. The Vancouver School District Foundation provided money to build a greenhouse.
Throughout the summer, kids from the nearby Boys and Girls Club joined in, working on the garden and harvesting veggies.
Nordstrom presented the kids with zucchini spears for them to try with dip. Blethen boiled some garden-grown potatoes for the kids to sample with ketchup.
Preparation is intentionally simple, Blethen said. "Stuff that's inexpensive and is really easy for kids to prepare themselves."