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Incarnation junior high students tend tomatoes in the school garden. — Credit: PAULA DOYLE

The fourth grader ran to show his teacher the spring green insect he had just plucked fromthe plant bed, the first caterpillar ever found in the garden at Nativity School in El Monte.

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School gardens: A growing trendMay 29, 2014 - Paula Doyle

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Jenny Reyes and her class of 21 fourth grade students were in front of the school this May22 morning, tending to six raised beds planted with snow peas, carrots, cucumbers andflowers.

A few students were fertilizing plants with “worm tea,” harvested from the 10,000 wormsthey care for in trays stacked for warmth between the front brick wall and the garden shed.

Sister of St. Louis Stacy Reineman, principal, started the garden five years ago, and itreceived a boost three years later when one of the school dads who happened to be alandscape architect offered to put in raised beds with decent soil.

"What comes out of the garden goes into the lunch program," explained Sister Reineman."All of the unused [greens] go back into feeding the worms, and it's just a continuum.Everything has come together this year."

The school cook, who prepares a hot lunch every day, loves the fresh vegetables, accordingto the principal. "We'll announce it when we're serving" something from the garden, suchas recent harvests of radishes, strawberries, broccoli, lettuce and cauliflower, noted SisterReineman. "It gets fascinating what they're eating because it's coming out of the garden."

Between the garden and lectures by Reyes on "Healthy Eating" given to grades K-4 duringelectives week in March, the students know that eating lots of fruits and vegetables is goodfor their health, and also tasty.

"They love when they come out in the garden on Thursday mornings," said Reyes. "Manyof my children have never had this [garden] experience. This is so wonderful for them; it'sjust amazing."

Part of the garden curriculum is teaching the children about water conservation duringCalifornia's drought. At planting time, the students carefully anchor the hoses for the dripirrigation system that has been installed in each of the raised beds.

"The thing I like about the garden is you can get dirty and it helps the environment; theradishes I ate from here were delicious," said Joshua Udave.

"My favorite thing about the garden is it's a time where we can do what we want with theplants and care for them," shared fellow fourth grader Dylan Hernandez. "It's goodbecause what we learn here we could plant anywhere, [like] our homes [or] volunteerplaces."

Outdoor science classroom

A year-and-a-half ago, Incarnation School in Glendale created a garden when a tree in thecenter of the grass patch on the asphalt playground fell over during a rare windstorm.Juana Salazar, science teacher, saw it as an opportunity for an outdoor scienceclassroom/garden.

The project has taken off from the first two raised bed kits that the City of Glendaleprovided to the present garden of nine raised beds, one for each of the K-8 grades. Eachbed contains herbs, flowers, fruits or vegetables, and students make scientific observations

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May 30, 2014Sunday, June 8Mother Cabrini Chapel & LibraryOpenHouse, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 3801 Scott Rd., Burbank.(626) 372-7812.

Lay Ecclesial Movements Mass, ArchbishopJosé Gomez presiding, coordinated by Office ofNew Evangelization, 3:30 p.m., Cathedral of OurLady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., L.A. (213)637-7542.

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of the plants and insects living in the mini ecosystems.

"It has been such a powerful learning tool for my students," said Salazar. "The garden hashelped the kids make real connections with the scientific topics we cover in class." Youngerstudents use their five senses to practice inquiry skills while older students can observebiological principles they are learning about in class.

"Gregor Mendel (considered to be the Father of Genetics in the scientific community)planted pea seeds and made observations of their traits and, in the past, my seventh gradestudents could only see pictures of these traits," noted Salazar. "Now, they are able toidentify and observe whether the pea plants [in the school garden] have inheriteddominant or recessive traits."

"The most interesting thing about the garden for me was the cross-pollination," saidseventh grader Matthew Conde. "It's like conducting another science experiment and it'sfun doing these things. [Planting] is all new to me. I'm really happy and excited for thegarden, and I can't wait for it to fully develop" with more crops and perhaps a bench forvisitors inside the fenced enclosure, he added.

"We had a salad one time, and it was really nice," said fellow seventh grader MilaMendoza, who especially liked eating the cherry tomatoes. "I really like having an outdoorscience classroom. It's more fun and interactive for us, and it's a better experience."

"It's been a sort of a sense of responsibility that we've learned because we have to take careof the garden," said seventh grader Olive O'Beirne. "It means we can't forget like withother things. We have to make sure we're watering, otherwise we don't get to enjoy thefruits of our labor, like getting to eat the tomatoes or the peas."

"It's amazing how the garden really can entertain the students for a very long time," saidSalazar. "It beats the worksheets and the paperwork that kids don't care for. I love it. It'sbeen a dream of mine to have this outdoor classroom."

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