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Students and teachers at Braemar House School have been bitten by the gardening bug with the creation of three vegetable garden beds on the grounds of the Baxter Street private elementary school.
"We're incorporating the gardens into our curriculum from the youngest (students) through to Grade 8," said Grade 3 teacher Ann Hunter.
Students from all grade levels have had a hand in the project, from helping to design the beds, to mulching and planting, to regular garden maintenance.
If Braemar's two lettuce beds prove successful, each of the 100 students will also eventually be sent home with a head of lettuce, said principal Annette Minutillo.
Braemar House School is one of five area schools that received $1,000 from the Brant Healthy Living Coalition for the School Food Garden Start-Up program. Other schools receiving the start-up money for this school year were St. George-German, Mount Pleasant, Sacred Heart in Paris and Tollgate Technological Skills Centre.
Parker Hoyes, 9, of St. George, is one of the avid student gardeners at Braemar House School. He and other Grade 3 students help keep the lettuce beds free of weeds, and Parker loves spotting new sprouts in a third circular garden where students planted corn, squash, beans and pumpkin.
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Parker, a budding green thumb who says he has 20 plants growing in a windowsill at home, is out every day checking on the progress of the school garden.
Teachers have been learning. too, Minutillo said.
When it was learned that the lettuce beds were in danger of being raided by rabbits, two chicken wire coverings were hastily assembled to protect the tender crops.
Teachers are able to incorporate the garden project into various areas of the curriculum, Hunter said.
Math skills were honed when older students planned and plotted the gardens and the amount of soil needed, while young students measure plants and chart their growth.
Grade 3 students have taken on the job of maintaining the gardens and each child keeps a garden journal to record the appearance of sprouts, plant growth, and observations about the natural world, such as the weather and the discovery of interesting insects, Hunter said.
Lesson plans on nutrition follow naturally with the planting of vegetables as well, she said.
Public health nurse Diane Peart said the school garden project has been a resounding success. Each school has come up with its own garden designs and has received accolades from parents and teachers alike.
"There's a lot of excitement," Peart said.
The grants were a one-time financial boost for projects at the five schools, so each school will be on its own to find ways to keep the gardens growing in years ahead. The popularity of the project has resulted in participating schools receiving donations to help them continue the gardens, she said.
The Brant Healthy Living Coalition plans to give out grants to three more schools this fall.