by Shuyan Wang
Shuyan Wang is a masters student studying Environmental Health at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. This spring, she is completing a practicum project with Great Kids Farm.
First Saturday Seedlings is an exciting event held by Great Kids Farm (GKF) every year. Spring is the perfect time of year to start growing vegetables and flowers; this is why the staff and volunteers at GKF will be giving away a variety of vegetable and flower seeds to school staff for free! If your school has a garden, raised bed, or even just a windowsill with sunlight, and you are interested in learning more about starting plants from seeds, you can come to the event and receive seeds for planting. Indoor gardening kits will also be provided. These kits will include: soil, cups, popsicle sticks for labeling, and recipes for teachers to learn how to cook delicious food with the plants that they grow. GKF will also be providing activity guides to BCPSS staff that they can then use in the classroom to help guide activities that teach kids more about plants, insects, the outdoors, and growing food. At the Seedling Giveaway, staff and volunteers from GKF will be available to answer questions pertaining to plant selection, along with information on the how’s, when, and why certain things are done in a school garden and/or what plants or planting tips are specifically suitable for your school.
BCPSS staff who have attended the April 6th seedling give-away have been busy planting the seeds and seedlings they brought back to school. They say:
“I think the Seedling Giveaway is a great event. We have already used a lot of them in our school garden. I can't wait for the next giveaway. The students were very intrigued with the bean seeds that I brought back. “
-Sharon F. Hodge, Violetville Elementary School
"I am always pleased with the seed/seedling giveaway. Our school created a raised bed and planted mint, tomatoes and basil our first year. Using the information given from Great Kids Farm, we placed basil and directions to make pesto in a baggie and shared with our school -community."
-Carol DeLoatch, Assistant Principal/Sustainability Chair, Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School
"We planted our seedlings in our school garden before break, and they look great. I plan to use our herbs to make a simple syrup for iced tea. I try to do some cooking demos a few times a season. We will also use herbs at our produce stand with hungry harvest. Students harvest herbs and bag them up and give them away to the community to go with their hungry harvest bags."
-Ms. Palomares, Science and Writing Teacher, grade 3, The Commodore John Rodgers School
"I have been receiving seeds, plants and gardening instruction from the Great Kids Farm since 2014. Your staff has always been extremely helpful. Our raised bed garden would not have been the success that it was without the seeds, plants, raised beds and tools from the tool library."
Jeanette Gaither LCPC, School Counselor, Angela Y. Davis Leadership Academy #729
At this coming event, there will be 50 varieties of plants and 30-40 varieties of seeds ready for you to pick up. It is beneficial for students to have hands on experience of planting. According to Ben Sommers, Farm to School Specialist: by providing resources to schools, Great Kids Farm can make initial connections in order to continue to collaborate with schools in the future and give students the best chance to be successful.
Photo Credits: Thank you to Baltimore Montessori and Gwynns Falls Elementary for sharing photos of your school gardens!