Students at Parker Elementary will now be able to eat their own homegrown vegetables.
On Tuesday, Kansas City Community Gardens (KCCG) assisted the children in making four raised-bed gardens.
The Schoolyard Gardens programworks with about 200 schools in the metro, from preschool to high school. There are three growing seasons for the gardens: spring, summer and fall. For summer plantings, sweet potatoes, peppers and tomatoes were set out at Parker.
“Once the garden is in at the school, it’s the school's responsibility and their garden. We come in to check on them about three to four times a season to make sure everything is going OK, but it’s the students’ vegetables,” said MaryAnna Henggeler, Schoolyard Gardens coordinator at KCCG.
All tasks - box building, moving soil, raking and planting - were done by the students.
The students filled wheelbarrows with soil and moved them to garden boxes.
Marci Taylor is in the third grade. When asked what her favorite part about the day was, she responded, “When I got to hammer."
“This is kind of fun,” said Angel Cortez. “I like raking.”
The schoolyard gardens allow the children to experience the growth process of their food from seed to plate.
Ramello Bowie isn’t the biggest fan of veggies, but broccoli is the one he likes the most. “I don’t really eat it but I will,” he said. But when it’s time to harvest from the schoolyard garden, he will not hesitate to take a bite. “I will eat the stuff I make. That’s something I will do.”
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