Oklahoma School Teachers
go "A Gardening"
— Doug Walton
 In late May, thirty-three elementary school
teachers and two child nutrition educators attended the
traveling workshop "A Gardening We Will Go," sponsored
by the Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom program and the Kerr Center,
with support from the USDA's Community Foods Grant Program.
They came together from across the state to see and learn about
successful projects helping students and communities connect with
locally-grown food, gardening, and health.
When participants were asked in pre-workshop surveys what they
knew about farm-to-school programs, school gardening or sustainable
agriculture, most replied in a manner such as: “nothing,” “very
little,” “wish I had a better understanding,” or “I
have a lot to learn in this area.”
For the next three days, the group visited family farms growing
fresh produce, farmers’ markets, school gardens and public
demonstration gardens in northeastern and north central Oklahoma.
Along the way, teachers also heard presentations on healthy classroom
snacks, plant propagation, local food systems, school gardening
and Ag in the Classroom lessons and resources. They also ate several
meals featuring Oklahoma-produced vegetables, fruits, meats, even
breads.
Day One: The State’s University and the
State’s Food
The workshop kicked-off with a tasty lunch in Stillwater featuring
soups, salad and fresh baked bread, prepared and served by Dick
Ortez, farmer and former restaurateur.
During lunch, Ortez told teachers about his commercial processing
kitchen where he bakes breads and makes the salsas, jams and sauerkraut
he sells at the local farmers’ market. Ortez also described
how he uses his home-grown whole grains (wheat, rye and sorghum)
fresh-cracked in all of his breads.
The teachers next visited the Whitmore Farm in Coyle (near Stillwater),
where Connie Whitmore proudly showed-off the 600 foot rows
of blackberries and strawberries her son planted as a teenager,
stating “these five rows have put him through college.”
After getting a full tour of the 10 acre farm, the teachers helped
pull and bunch sweet onions for the Whitmore’s stand at the
Stillwater Farmers’ Market.
From Coyle, it was back to Stillwater for an Oklahoma-grown Sante
Fe-style Mexican dinner, featuring ground buffalo enchiladas. The
meal was prepared and catered by Leah and Bobby Aufill of Bloomin’ Botanicals
in Perkins. The pinto beans and chili peppers for the meal were
grown by the Aufills.
Dinner was followed by a tour of
the Oklahoma Gardening television’s gardens; a hands-on lesson
in plant propagation with Dr. Doug Needham at the OSU instructional
greenhouse; a walkthrough of the Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom website
by curriculum writer and webmaster, Pat Thompson; and an overview
of funding sources for school gardens by Dr. Charles Cox, Oklahoma
4-H Program Leader.
All workshop participants received a copy of the recently produced
Planning Guide for Edible School Gardens, compiled and edited by
environmental educator Susie Shields of the Oklahoma Department
of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The Guide is a compilation of resources
addressing all aspects of planning and running a successful school
garden in Oklahoma. CD copies are expected to be available from
DEQ this fall.
Day Two: Going and Growing
After an early breakfast, teachers visited with farmers while shopping
the Stillwater Farmers’ Market. The group then took a bus
ride to the Tulsa County Extension office, where they learned
about the Leach School Garden in Delaware County near Jay, Oklahoma.
Barbara Denney, OSU Extension Educator in Delaware County, gave
an inspiring slide show about this innovative after-school project
she helped start in 2004.
“In the garden,” Ms. Denney said, “kids learn where their
food comes from, and they get to have fun while doing so.” She
told how the school cafeteria saw a doubling in the use of the
salad bar after the garden began.
Ms. Denney also explained the hands-on a
tivities she’s
done with the Leach students, such as bread, tortilla and dumpling
making.
After getting a taste of school gardening and cooking activities,
teachers went to see the garden at Eugene Field Elementary in Tulsa,
a school with over 95% of its students living in nearby low-income
housing projects.
Students escorted pairs of teachers as they proudly showed off
their own plants and those of their classmates.
The students also shared their garden journals, where they had
recorded seed germination, rates of plant and weed growth, and
their own thoughts about their gardens.
Rita Combs, a second grade teacher from Chickasha said, “Geraldine
was
our guide. She said the garden was her favorite part of the fourth
grade.”
The next stop was Three Springs Farm, where Emily Oakley led
an informative and passionate discussion about the three pillars
of sustainability (economic, environmental and social). Emily pointed
to various farming and marketing practices she and her partner
Mike Appel use to increase the sustainability of their two and
a half acre market farm.
The couple sells at Tulsa Farmers’ Markets and through a
CSA(a subscription farm; customers get a bag of produce each week
during the growing season).
Emily’s advice to “know your farmer like your doctor,” struck
Debbie Arthur, a third grade teacher from Fletcher, as particularly
memorable.
After Three Springs, it was on to the Tulsa Garden Center where
the teachers strolled through the rose garden and the Wednesday
evening farmers’ market. Everyone cooled off while listening
to Laura Williams, Nutrition Educator with Tulsa Public Schools,
as she demonstrated a nutrition lesson for grade-schoolers about
fruits and veggies based on a story titled “Tops and Bottoms.”
Ms. Williams also gave tips on conducting healthy snack tasting
in the classroom.
The last stop of the day was Nuyaka Natural Farm, near Beggs, where
James and Jennifer Cooper grow 12 acres of certified organic vegetables,
herbs, fruits and flowers that they sell through local restaurants,
a CSA and at the Tulsa Farmers’ Market.
James led a tour through a few of their diversely planted fields,
allowing each teacher to pull their own head of fresh garlic to
take home with them.
Meanwhile, Jennifer and some fellow chefs put the final touches
on a farm-fresh dinner featuring organic beef and lamb kabobs,
Swiss chard wraps with pesto and grains, ratatouille with roasted
fennel, spring green salad and fresh bread from the Farrell Family
Bakery in Tulsa. Most ingredients, including the meats, were Oklahoma-grown,
and the vegetables were grown on the Cooper Farm.
Day Three: I Can Do This!
Following another early breakfast, Stephanie Curtis, Nutrition
Education Trainer with the Oklahoma Department of Education,
told teachers about educational resources available for promoting
healthy food choices at school and home.
The final stop of the trip was the school garden at Eisenhower
Elementary in Enid. Trish Long and Roberta Nehring, the two teachers
who helped create the impressive garden, described how they got
started and how they use the garden as a hands-on lab to teach
many school subjects.
They also suggested helpful resources and partnerships for starting
and maintaining school gardens in everyone’s own community.
The group also had a chance to “get down and dirty,” while
helping thin out some mint plants, pull weeds and turn the compost.
On the bus ride back to Stillwater, teachers completed their workshop
surveys and final journal entries, as they reflected on all they
had seen the past three days. One teacher commented that school
gardening, ag in the classroom, and farm-to-school programs “bring
Oklahoma-grown agriculture into school lunches, and it brings learning
good food choices into the classroom.” Another said that
these programs “should be in all school districts.” Another
declared: “I can do this!”
Lisa Hayne, a first grade teacher from Moore, wrote “I really
learned more than just gardening. I am now more aware of the importance
of where your food comes from, more aware of nutrition and the
diverse variety of foods out there. So many kids aren’t aware
of these things and may never be. It’s up to me to share
these things with them.”
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