Grantham Elementary enjoys the fruits of a yearlong gardening and nutrition course

It’s a sure bet that any class where the students get to eat their schoolwork is going to be a hit.

On Monday, two groups of second graders from Clarkston’s Grantham Elementary ended a yearlong course in gardening, plants and healthy nutrition by making their products into a salad.

Alyssa Wilson and Tristan Abdul, both age 8, agreed that eating fruits and vegetables has been the best part of the school gardening project they’ve worked on since the beginning of the school year.

“I learned how to grow stuff and the different names of plants,” Alyssa said. “I like eating the snacks. It’s fun.”

“I learned that everything that is in a garden is healthy,” Tristan added. “Plus kale grows super-fast.”

But when asked whether he would consider growing a garden of his own, Tristan answered, “No, it’s just kind of boring to me.”

The school gardening project has been going on at Grantham for several years. Parkway Elementary began the venture in 2002, combining it with a hands-on comprehensive science class for fourth graders. That program is continuing.

Peggy Madonia, an Asotin-Garfield County master gardener and coordinator of the school garden project, said the effort, including planter boxes, a greenhouse, soil and other gardening equipment, has been supported by volunteers, grants, the Clarkston Rotary Club, the Lewis-Clark Healthcare Foundation and the master gardener foundation.

“We meet 12 times during the year beginning in the fall and we cover how seeds grow, we do our own seed mats, transplant seeds into soil and (the program) includes a nutrition component to every lesson,” Madonia said.

Students are served healthy snacks at each outing in an effort to encourage good nutrition.

The goal is to inspire “certainly a love of gardening,” Madonia said. “And that they may choose to have their own garden. We have several students who have a garden at home.”

This year, the students have been growing potatoes, onions, peas, beans, kohlrabi, spinach, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, Swiss chard and lots of herbs.

“We’ve been hit kind of hard by the deer roaming through here,” Madonia said. “I put in a few more herbs to ward them off.”

At the end of the school year, Madonia and the volunteers harvested the produce and donated it to the Asotin County Food Bank. This year, the school district will be sponsoring a summer meal program at Arnold Park.

There is a requirement that all who participate in the summer program sit and enjoy the meal at the site. Madonia said the produce from the Grantham garden will be offered to the families who attend that event.

Lindsay Gamlem, who teaches one of the second grade classes, said students are benefiting from seeing a growing project from the beginning to end.

“It’s been amazing for the kids to have a hands-on experience with something they can do at home or with their families,” Gamlem said.

“I think they’ve learned a lot about the differences between an herb and the other plants,” she said. “And then they talk about root vegetables and how that’s different from the plants that grow above ground. This will be powerful for them to see what they’ve grown and then they get to eat and enjoy it.”

Charlie Barnes, 7, said he liked gardening and was especially interested in kale.

“I haven’t eaten it before,” Charlie said, but he thought he’d give it a try.

Teresa Peterson, 8, said her favorite part of the gardening class was “the red wigglers. I like how they eat weird things and like paper and stuff.”

She said she has touched the little red worms and “they feel wiggly and weird.”

But it hasn’t put her off gardening. Teresa said she hopes to start her own garden where she will plant “watermelon and carrots and lots of healthy stuff. One day I want to be a vegetarian.”

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.