Like most gardens on the Central Coast, Miller School's vegetable garden suffered from the recent freezes.

But for James Barnett, a first-grade teacher at the Santa Maria school, it's all been a learning experience.

The extreme weather fostered discussion about why some plants died because of the frost and others did not, Barnett said.

In this case, the perennial succulents survived because they retained a lot more water than the annuals.

The garden, which sits behind several portable classrooms, could be described as dormant right now, although several spring plants - carrots, iris, daffodils, and a couple of rosemary plants to attract bees - have emerged from the damp soil after the recent rains.

“This is a project where teachers can come out and not have to worry about caring for the garden,” since most of the work is done by a couple of volunteer parents and first- and second-graders, explained Barnett.

He began working with the school garden project about five years ago, but in the last year, with the help of a volunteer parent, the effort has evolved into a virtual classroom.

Advertisement

“She (the volunteer) showed them how to plant seeds, and then showed them some Van Gogh (garden) prints,” which led first-graders into a drawing activity, Barnett said.

He stressed that the garden is a good learning tool because it gets the kids outdoors to do things with their hands, to observe the bugs, the life cycles, the seasons and the plants.

“It gets them into working, where they're exposed to the soil, bugs, and water,” Barnett said.

It is also a good tool for second-language learners, because they get to know words by making associations. The students learn vocabulary through physical contact with their surrounding, which helps cement those meanings, he explained.

The outdoor exercise also is good for writing.

“It gets the kids excited because it's fun, so they have a lot to say,” he said. “They want to tell about everything.”

Gardening has stimulated online research on what to do with aphids, which attack some of the plants, without harming the environment, while activities have included harvesting sun flowers and making seed packets.

Last year the class planted zucchini, and created the “golden zucchini award” for the best student of the day to take home as a prize.

“This puts a lot of fun back into the classroom, instead of drilling things into them,” said Barnett, who also hopes to tie in with the various cultures in his class, in order to create some ethnic flavor to the vegetable garden.

Miller School also has a Japanese garden in honor of a teacher who worked there. Retired teacher Susan Prober is working with fifth- and sixth-graders to refurbish the site, which includes a fish pond and benches for quiet reading.

Miller School recently won $1,000 worth of gardening supplies and equipment courtesy of the local OSH store, which will partner with the campus in creating a state-of-the-art school garden. Plans for the new instructional garden include tables, fruit trees and planting areas.

Allison White, spokeswoman at the OSH headquarters in San Jose, explained that the hardware chain recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, and owner Rob Lynch, who is a father of school children, thought it would be a good idea to support school gardens as a valuable hands-on learning activity.

“The partnership (between local stores and schools) is a way of saying thank you to the communities, a way of giving back to them,” noted White.

She added that each OSH store provides the equipment and supplies to start or renovate their school project. An OSH expert also comes out to the school to help devise a plan that will work, using the garden ideas of the school.

Then a garden associate helps the school select the tools, materials, etc. it will need throughout the school year.

White added that OSH hopes to continue the program and the application process can be found on the OSH and the California Department of Education (CDE) Web sites at beginning of the school year.

To qualify, schools needed to show the use of gardening in their curriculum and lesson plans, in promoting cooperation and hard work, as well as a long-term commitment to the project.

In addition, the CDE now has a $15 million fund for grants to promote, create, and support California instructional school gardens.

These non-competitive CISG grants are available to California school districts, direct-funded charter schools, and County Offices of Education. The grant period is from May 2007 to June 30, 2009.

Steve Pent can be reached at 347-4597 or at spent@santamariatimes.com

Feb. 17, 2007