Eggplants, in progress

This blog will cover the progress of Kateri, Christina and Sheila, as we progress through our Senior Spring at St. Olaf college. As seniors in the Environmental Studies department, part of our senior seminar involves a civic engagement project. We will be working to continue the development and implementation of "Eggplants," a youth gardening program developed by our fellow Senior, Anne Daily, last year.

We have hit the ground running, preparing for a wonderful spring of gardening with 3rd graders at Northfield Elementary Schools, Greenvale Park and St. Dominic's. We are currently in the process of applying for a grant which will give us $500 for gardening supplies (cross your fingers!), and are analyzing the previous curriculum to develop it as to include our own personal flair.

It has been a great process to apply for a grant, primarily because we have to work to define exactly what we want to achieve with the program. So far we have decided that we want to inbue our environmental beliefs on young minds, encouraging young students to take time outside, building intrinsic connections with the natural world. We will do so through gardening. By planting a garden and caring for a garden the students will get their hands dirty, learning of the earth's amazing capacity to provide for our needs. We will ensure that our program is not merely some environmentalist evangelizing, but that it is also based in science. As science students we are excited to explore ideas of plant morphology with students, the importance of weeding and the competition for nutrients, and the issues of monoculture and plant diversity as well. We will discuss the capacity for organic growth of plants in comparison with the preferred and chemically-intensive industrial methods.We will also bring in issues of local farming by taking a field trip to a small local farm.

Wish us luck! Let the gardening, and the blogging, begin!