Students getting back to the Earth with gardening programs

Nine-year-old Damon Rector rattles off the garden seeds he's planting this spring: peppers, tomatoes, cantaloupe and cucumbers.

“Of course, I would,” the Cedar Rapids Taylor third-grader replies, when asked if he will eat the fruits of his labor. “I'll eat anything.”

Damon may be more open to consuming veggies than some youths.

Local and national leaders all the way to first lady Michelle Obama want children to make better food choices, in part, to combat an obesity epidemic.

To do that, a growing number of schools and organizations, including many in Eastern Iowa, are teaching children where their food comes from through a variety of gardening programs.

“I really feel like we're coming into this at the right time,” said Matt Fee, youth development coordinator at Four Oaks Bridge in Cedar Rapids, speaking of the Brucemore-Bridge Gardening Club.

More than a dozen youths in the after-school program, including Damon, planted seeds in the greenhouse at Brucemore, 2160 Linden Dr. SE.

Fee said students will plant the seedlings in one of the historical estate's gardens, help tend the plants and harvest the vegetables to take home to their families or share with friends at the Bridge.

Brucemore gardener David Morton and April Kamp-Whittaker, Brucemore director of learning and museum projects, have another project with students from Jane Boyd Community House. Those youths will plant and tend a community garden close to their homes in the Wellington Heights neighborhood.

Across town, non-profit Matthew 25 Ministry Hub, a faith-based group, has partnered with several fourth-graders at Taylor Elementary School to start a Friends of Change group.

Matthew 25 helped finish a greenhouse that sits at the back of the school, 720 Seventh Ave. SW, and provided seeds and supplies for the students to start vegetables to plant at the group's urban farm.

Taylor Principal Brian Christoffersen said the greenhouse also is used in science class and before- and after-school clubs.

“We've been doing quite a bit with helping kids reconnect with the outdoors and nature in general,” he said.

That includes raised garden beds, a trail, butterfly garden and a Nature Explore Classroom that is under development at the school.

Other gardening programs have sprouted in the area, including several in the Iowa City Community School District.

Coralville Central, Kirkwood and Longfellow Elementary schools and West High are starting edible gardens. Penn Elementary in North Liberty is building a greenhouse.

Three existing gardens are getting ready for spring as well at Tate High, Hills Elementary and Grant Wood Elementary/Fairmeadow Park.

The district's Farm to School Chapter, a project of the Johnson County Local Food Alliance, provides resources for the projects, which involve teachers, staff, students, community groups and businesses.

Autumn Allen, a Kirkwood Elementary paraeducator, said teachers will incorporate gardens into their lessons, from math, science and environmental classes to inspiration for writing, history and art assignments.

Statewide, 20 schools will join in a Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth pilot with Iowa State University Extension.

Iowa is one of four states that will develop the $1 million, federally funded pilot. Eastern Iowa schools participating include West Liberty Elementary School, Muscatine Community School District and Hiawatha Elementary School.