Food Security

People talk about food security and I use to say to myself that Americans will never be interested.  Today thousands of people are waiting in line at Food Banks.

Peter Jensen, is a Peace Corp. trainer in Africa.  This is a quote that he sent along today:  “This… right now… is the time to focus on small scale, high yield, nutrition focused, intensive, organic, home gardens. Right now!”

So you are home schooling.  And what are you teaching at home?  What could you be teaching?  I believe that we can best teach children science, math and technology through horticulture.  Teach the children because this pandemic is a hard lesson.  This may not be a one time lesson.

You can grow vegetables in a container.  You can grow a Square Foot Garden on a driveway.  Read Mel Bartholomew’s book on SFG.  Sunlight is important.

Don’t complain on Facebook how the kids are driving you nuts.  Teach the children.  They will love watching things grow.  They will love it and you might learn something about yourself as well.

Last night Mark Zuckerberg  and his wife Priscilla Chan were on CNN.  Priscilla said that Mark had just come in from gardening.  If a billionaire many times over thinks gardening is good for him and his family, it might just be a skill suited for you and your family.  Priscilla learned about gardening at Quincy High School when preparing for a State Envirothon competition.  The theme for the school’s project was: Food Security.  She and her peers made elevated raised beds for older people who could not bend over to garden. One of the places we visited in preparation for the competition was Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset, Massachusetts.  Holly Hill is a great place to purchase food but also just to visit.

 

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Home Studies

Annabella and her Dad are picking up a retrofitted composting container.  They will be composting at home soon.  Classes on horticulture start tomorrow.  Her Dad is taking on the role of teacher.  Annabella is a student at the Foster Elementary School in Hingham, Massachusetts.

The family already has Mel Bartholomew’s book Square Foot Gardening.  Tomorrow home school classes start for Annabella and her younger sister.  The classes will partly focus on horticulture.  I believe that science, technology, engineering, art and math – STEAM can all be taught through horticulture.  You might even want to add reading and writing to the mix.

For me this is very exciting because it means hands on learning and applied STEAM principles.  When school is in session, Foster students get to work with educators / farmers at the Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset.