Oklahoma Teachers Go “A Gardening”

At Tulsa Garden Center's Farmers' Market, AITC's Jamey Allen (L) and Mary Ann Kelsey stand amidst the bounty from Jennifer Cooper's (right rear) farm.

—Doug Walton

In late May, thirty-four Oklahoma schoolteachers came together in Stillwater to learn about gardening and farming in Oklahoma and to get ideas for sharing this knowledge with their pre-K through 8th grade students.

The teachers, who came from all over the state, signed up for two full days of touring and experiencing some of the essential components of a healthy food system.

Sponsors of the tour were the Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom (OAITC) program and the Kerr Center.

Over the course of this traveling workshop, entitled “A Gardening We Will Go,” teachers toured three northeastern OK counties by bus.

They visited three different small-scale family farms, two farmers’ markets, three public gardens, and a winery within a registered historic landmark.

One of the trip’s many interesting stops was Three Springs Farm, where Emily Oakley and Mike Appel raise two acres of vegetables in southwest Tulsa. The couple sell their produce at the Cherry Street Farmers’ Market and through their thirty-six member CSA.

Teachers watch a cooking demonstration at Stillwater Farmers' Market.

CSA or Community Supported Agriculture is an arrangement whereby customers sign-up with a farmer to receive a certain amount of produce on a regular basis throughout the growing season.

A pre-season agreement is made directly between farmer and customer, often with the customer paying for all or most of their produce at that time.

When Emily asked the teachers if they were familiar with Community Supported Agriculture, none were. But as she described the workings and benefits of CSA—the shared risks, the much needed farm income in late winter, the connections between farmers and eaters, the weekly basket of fresh produce and the pleasures of eating with the season—the teachers’ curiosity grew.

Back on the bus several asked, “How do I find one of those CSAs in my area?”

Another enlightening tour stop was Wayne and Connie Whitmore’s farm in Coyle.

L-R Mary Ann Kelsey and Annie Ortiz of Stillwater Schools check out a custom-made asparagus harvester at the Whitmore Farm.

The Whitmores showed the teachers how well their wash line could clean up their freshly picked yellow squash, destined for their booth the next morning at the Stillwater Farmers’ Market. Some teachers had a try at hand-snapping some of the ready-to-harvest purple asparagus.

Teachers also met Wayne and Connie’s two college-aged children, who have been engaged in their family’s farm all of their lives, and who are now studying agriculture at OSU.

They demonstrated the use of the family’s custom asparagus harvesting vehicle, which allows three people to sit and pick asparagus stalks while moving slowly down the field.

The tour was planned so that participants would visit farms, meet farm families and then see them sell their produce at farmers’ markets.

For instance teachers enjoyed seeing the abundant variety of unusual and enticing vegetables such as kohlrabi, bulb fennel and watermelon radishes on the tables of James and Jennifer Cooper’s stand at the Tulsa Garden Center Farmers’ Market.

Then they visited the Coopers’ Nuyaka Natural Farm near Beggs, where this young energetic couple and their full-time farmhand from Equador have turned ten acres of Bermuda grass pasture into bountiful fields of produce and flowers in little over a year’s time.

Sharon Carmichael of Owasso Schools tries her hand at rototilling.

These interactions allowed teachers to experience the connections taking place within the local food system and helped prepare them to pass on this knowledge to their students.

One participating teacher summed-up her response by saying, “I want to support them [local farmers] myself and by informing others of their importance.”

Throughout the two-day workshop, a number of experts also gave presentations on a wide variety of garden-related topics.

Dr. Douglas Needham, a floriculture professor at OSU, skillfully led the teachers through some fun hands-on plant propagation suitable for classroom use.

David Hillock, an OSU Extension Horticulturalist, helped teachers plant a new bed of mixed flowers and vegetables at the OK Botanical Gardens in Stillwater.

Teachers also learned about Tulsa County’s Junior Master Gardener program and heard about the progress of farm-to-school initiatives facilitated by the Oklahoma Food Policy Council.

From the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Mike Schulte discussed the growth of farmers’ markets and Chad Goss informed teachers about the organic certification process.

Barbara Denney, an OSU Extension educator, showed pictures and talked about her successful school gardening project working with troubled youth near Jay in Delaware County.

“Since our gardening project began, children’s use of the salad bar has doubled and our school cafeteria’s director even sold the deep fat fryer,” she said.

Her experience supports a growing body of evidence that shows kids are more interested in, and eat more fruits and vegetables, when they grow, harvest or prepare their food.

Research on farm-to-school programs from around the country has shown that students are more likely to choose farm-fresh fruit and vegetables when given that choice along with standard cafeteria fare.

Many educators now recommend a mix of nutrition education, school gardens/experiential agriculture and food education to help children develop healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

Some advocates also contend that once people get more connected with farmers and understand more about how and where their food is grown, they begin to prefer to eat locally grown foods over foods of unknown or distant origin.

In fact, two meals on the trip actually featured Oklahoma grown and processed foods. Mexican food catered by Bloomin’ Botanicals of Stillwater included local beef, pork, tortillas, green chiles and onions.

Lunch by Jodi Walls Catering on Riverside included local chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.

In between speakers, meals and even on the bus, Ag in the Classroom teacher trainers and workshop organizers Jamey Allen and Mary Ann Kelsey cheerfully shared many tips with the teachers.

Mary Ann and Jamey reviewed several lessons and activities focusing on fruits, vegetables and gardening.

They also frequently reminded teachers to check out www.agclassroom.org/ok, where all their lessons can be found. The website is managed by curriculum writer Pat Thompson from OSU’s 4-H Program in Stillwater.
The tour was one of many educational activities that are part of the Kerr Center’s “Building a Foundation for Community Food Security in Oklahoma” project, funded by the USDA’s Research, Education and Extension Service.

A primary goal of this project is to increase the public understanding of our food system and to develop an awareness of how our food choices affect our own lives and those of others within our communities.

Plans are already underway and funding is secured for taking another 35 schoolteachers “A Gardening We Will Go” next summer.