Students Eat What They Grow

Emma Martin is a regular green thumb.

At the 10-year-old's garden at home, she and her family grow squash, lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries, cantaloupes and more.

So when Emma, a member of Upper Moreland's Eco Club, found out that she could bring her gardening know-how to school over the summer, she was sold.

Emma is weeding and tending crops for the third summer in the district's cubby garden, which is situated in a 120-by-20-foot plot behind the Upper Moreland Primary School.

Throughout the week, Emma, under the guidance of Cindy Van Druff, the district's food services director, helps about 20 extended school year students do their part to grow and harvest lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, six varieties of tomatoes, onions, zucchini, six types of peppers, corn and other crops. 

"You would just plant things and you would harvest things," Emma said during a recent stint pulling weeds from around the crops. "It's fun to work with the kids."

And the kids, in turn, roll up their sleeves every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to weed and harvest, according to Van Druff. Tuesdays are chef day and students have the opportunity to "cook whatever they harvested."

"They don't understand that food's not grown in the grocery store," Van Druff said, adding that the garden blends other lessons as well. "It has science. It has math. It has reading and skill building."

Besides weeding lessons learned, this week's crops will yield a stir fry featuring garlic, onions, cabbage and zucchini grown in the garden, Van Druff said. Future chef days will include the making of pickles and salsa, she said. 

Some of the crops, including green beans and zucchini, can be frozen and the latter used in muffins, for instance, Van Druff said. Tomatoes and peppers are "fresh" through November and will be used to help feed district students, she said.

Upper Moreland School District is among the schools that participate in the state's 
farm to school program. Seeds were planted three years ago for the district's garden via a grant, according to Van Druff. The three-year grant will continue to bear fruit in coming years, she said since marigold and sunflower seeds are "reclaimed" and transplanted to the classrooms. Local farms have donated seeds and Van Druff said she keeps costs down by buying any remaining seeds on sale.

The garden is broken into three sections. The first area houses raised beds, while the middle section features a butterfly garden ("we need butterflies and bees for pollination," Van Druff said) and the third portion consists of farm rows.

Hallie Koff, a teacher helping Van Druff with the gardening program, described it as "a full cycle" of teaching kids where their food comes from, as well as what's involved in planting and cultivating that food. 

Ninth-grader Jason Murziski, after spending some time mulching, learned that mulching and readying the ground for new crops can be a dirty job. But Jason, a green thumb in training, didn't seem to mind. 

"It's a fun time for kids to be on their own," he said.

How you can help
Garden helpers are welcome to harvest crops and pull weeds at the cubby garden located behind Upper Moreland Primary School Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. If interested in helping email Cindy Van Druff at cav@umtsd.org.