Thread by @plainy

Adding a gardening component to the Coding class may be the most genius idea I’ve ever had. Four days in front of a screen, Wednesday outside. Today was SO HOT, but kid, snacking on carrot he pulled up as we weeded and tilled, “this tastes so good, like I earned it”

PS, that vegetable garden is one of the most satisfying things in the world. Every school and every grade should grow food.

Research growing season/climate/region, choose plant vs. seeds, dig/till/weed/plant, then harvest and celebrate periodically. It’s so wholesome and satisfying and it makes everyone happy

All the problems and conflicts along the way are such great learning moments, fodder for writing, community building, plus we’re so freaking proud of ourselves when we defeat bugs/weeds/sharing space with another class with a solution

Also, food

I dunno. It keeps me sane, these last few years, to have a class that grows strawberries and cucumbers and whatnot. Kids love bags of dirt and shovels, I can’t explain it

I just want to note that I got the idea from grad school at Middlebury, the Bread Loaf program. It’s 99.9999% English teachers, and my first summer this teacher/former chef did a presentation.I whined to him that it was too bad I couldn’t at my school

He just stared me, totally unsympathetic. “Why?” Me: money,time, maintenance, support, permission, etc
“Why not just get a bucket, put some dirt in it, and plant some seeds?”

It was such an epiphany, for that, and for my whole career. If you want to do a thing, just do the thing, otherwise you’ll grow old and die waiting for a grant and permission and the perfect conditions. Doesn’t have to be perfect to get started

Anyway, I wasn’t the only person who was really impacted by his presentation. Lots of us went home to our home states and schools and started big and small and tiny gardens.

A few teachers in the program are Navajo and live/teach on a reservation. They did get a grant, and did wonders with it. One summer, several teens from the Rez flew in to VT and trained us and presented their work. I still use stuff they taught

They talked about educating their community on how getting targeted by fast food was affecting health, the value of tapping into traditional food ways and planting techniques. Super impressive kids

Anyway, I went home to Texas super fired up. AND, I figured out one of my classmates not only taught English at a community college in TN, but also had an organic farm there. My first year gardening with kids, she mentored us through instagram

I later drove to her farm in TN to learn and see

Weirdly, the English lit grad program at Middlebury also has produced a lot of school gardens across the country? Because we learned from each other

Gardening doesn’t just have to live in science class!!

Anyway. The End. Go plant a plant.

(re: “Just do the thing”- sometimes it’s easier to get support/permission once you can show a successful product on a small scale. Start small, see if you can do it, then if you can, expand. Robotics class at school started from one kid in coding class making a raspberry pi robot